AUTO CLUB 500 RACE COULD SORT OUT CHASE UNKNOWNS LEAD STANDINGS COMING IN.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK

Staff Writer

FONTANA -- David Stremme summed it up best by saying the Chase standings are "so messed up right now."

He's part of that mess.

Stremme, the second-year NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, is ninth in points after a strong finish in the Daytona 500. He joins a host of unfamiliar names in the top 12, which includes Reed Sorenson, David Ragan and David Gilliland.

The top 12 drivers in the standings after the first 26 races qualify for the Chase, NASCAR's 10-race playoff system to determine its series champion.

Today's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway is race No. 2. NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are buried in the standings, and each needs a strong race to get back in the Chase running. But Jeff Gordon said it's way too early to start worrying about making the Chase.

"The race really begins at these types of race tracks," said Gordon, a four-time Cup champion and driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "Right now, it's all about evaluating our equipment and our team. Every race is important. Don't get me wrong. But it's not like we're panicking or anything."

Neither is Johnson, Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate and winner of last year's Chase. Johnson sits 38th in the standings, a result of crashing midway through the Daytona 500 and not finishing the race.

"It's so early in the season. Everybody has crashes, and everybody has bad luck," Johnson said. "So we're in no position to worry or panic."

If he has one more bad race, maybe it will be time to panic.

NASCAR made some changes to the Chase before the season started. One of the changes was to increase the number of Chase qualifiers from 10 to 12. Another was to award more points to race winners.

There are more chances for drivers to make the Chase. More than likely, a Stremme or a Ragan will be in the Chase this year. And more than likely, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. will climb back into contention.

"It's always nice to get a good start to the season," said Gordon, who is eighth in the Chase standings. "But if anybody can recover, those two guys can."

Ragan, the rookie driver for Roush Fenway Racing, said making the Chase is one of his team's goals, just not one of its primary goals. His team, however, has a history of making the Chase. He is in the No. 6 Ford in which Mark Martin qualified for the Chase the past three years.

And he is driving for a team that qualified all five of its drivers for the Chase one year. His teammates, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, are Chase veterans and championship contenders every year.

"We know we're facing Jeff Gordon, Stewart, my teammates, Kenseth and Biffle," Ragan said. "They've been in the Chase, they've won races. They know how to do it."

Ragan added that he is not surprised to find himself among the Chase contenders.

"It's something that's expected," Ragan said. "Being a rookie in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, we're excused a little more for certain situations. I'm expected to race well and try to contend and do the best I can."

Stremme said there will be two immeasurable factors that will contribute to who makes the Chase this year and who doesn't. One is the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow, which will make its debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. Another, which is more specific to Ganassi's three-car Cup team, is the addition of driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

Stremme said Montoya, the former CART and Indianapolis 500 champion who has made the transition from Formula One racing to NASCAR, has brought more of a championship-style mentality to the team, one that was missing last year.

Stremme also said his No. 40 Dodge team is much improved from a year ago.

"Last year I was just horrible. The team just wasn't that good," Stremme said.

"I feel this year we're a lot stronger. I feel like I belong here. I feel my decisions are a lot more confident."

But making the Chase is not something Stremme wants to think about at this stage of the season. He is more concerned with finishing races, contending for wins and being competitive.

"We stay close to the top 10 or in the top 10, I'll be ecstatic," Stremme said. "Toward the end of the season (last year), we were a lot better. We just gotta keep that going into this year and keep building on that."

Stremme is already calling Bristol his mulligan race. He has no idea how the Car of Tomorrow is going to affect the standings or how it's going to react in race conditions. But if he can make it to that race and is still in Chase contention, it will be an indicator of how the season will progress.

"The next four or five are going to show where everybody's at," Stremme said. "It's not going to be the guy that wins races. It's going to be the guy who has the best overall finishes."

Johnson has a similar philosophy. The California Speedway race is not going to ruin anyone's chances of making the Chase. But it will be an indicator of how the next six or seven races will play out.

"We only have four plate races, and coming here is the start of what the bulk of the season is built on," Johnson said. "So we're excited in a couple of areas. One, we need to get back up in the points, and two, it's going to let us know how the first quarter of the season is going to go."

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Second-year driver David Stremme is ninth in Chase points after a strong finish in the Daytona 500.

(2) Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 car, will start from the pole position in today's race after turning a fast lap of 185.735 mph Friday.

(3) NASCAR rookie David Ragan is off to a surprising start, after finishing fifth in last week's Daytona 500.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) NASCAR NEXTEL CUP AUTO CLUB 500

(2) LINEUP