CHASE BEGINS FOR STEWART, BUSCH {SOURCE TIM HADDOCK MOTOR SPORTS.

If Tony Stewart can repeat his performance in the July race at New Hampshire International Speedway, he may be able to see the forest through the Busches.

The forest in this case being the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship.

And the Busches being the brothers, Kurt and Kyle, who seemed to be Stewart's biggest challengers when the Cup drivers visited New Hampshire during the summer.

``It seemed like Kyle Busch was able to stay with us longer on every restart,'' said Stewart, who won the July race at New Hampshire. ``Then at the end of the day, both of the Busch (brothers) - the shrub and the bigger Busch (Kurt) - were both good enough to stay with us. Kyle was almost good enough to get by, and Kurt actually got by.''

Stewart enters Sunday's race at New Hampshire, the start of the 10-race Chase for the Championship, as the Chase leader. He has a five-point lead over Greg Biffle and a 45-point leader over Ryan Newman, the 10th-place driver in the Chase.

If history is any indication, the winner of the New Hampshire race will have a marked advantage in the Chase. Last year, Kurt Busch won the New Hampshire race, vaulted from seventh to first, and went on to win his first Cup championship. The New Hampshire race was Busch's only win in the Chase for the Championship.

Busch compared taking the early lead in the Chase to a golf tournament.

``If you start off and you're 4-under or 5-under, the other guys are waffling around with a bogey and a par, they're not going to catch you,'' said Busch. ``It's up to the leader to make those mistakes. We did have a big mistake, though, at Atlanta with the motor blowing up. That took away our solid advantage. So when you have a bad race early on. it's just that much more difficult to overcome later.''

Without Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon in the Chase, Stewart and Kurt Busch may be the biggest stars in the NASCAR 10-race playoff.

Stewart has to be considered a favorite to win the New Hampshire race this time around. Busch won both New Hampshire races last year. And the year before that, Jimmie Johnson won both New Hampshire races.

Stewart's New Hampshire victory in July was part of his summer surge, when he won five races between June 26 and Aug. 14 and took over the points lead.

He remembers having a car at New Hampshire that needed time to get traction on long runs, but also was able to pass cars early in the race.

``But in the middle and latter stages of the race, the guys got their cars better and it got to where our car really wasn't that strong,'' Stewart said.

Those gaps in performance allowed the Busch boys to catch Stewart at New Hampshire.

Kurt Busch actually is in better position in this Chase than he was last year. Not only is Busch fifth in points - opposed to seventh last year - he also has his four Roush Racing teammates in the Chase.

Penske Racing South teammates Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman are the only other drivers who can say that. Not that Wallace and Newman have acted much like teammates at all this year.

The other three Chase contenders are racing solo. Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte missed the Chase. Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammates, including four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, missed the Chase.

Jeremy Mayfield, in. His Evernham Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne, out.

Still, one is better than none. Just ask Teresa Earnhardt, Richard Childress and Robert Yates.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Mayfield sits seventh in the Chase, the same spot from which Kurt Busch started his championship run.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

RACE WEEK

BY TIM HADDOCK