POINT BREAK LEADING INTO THE HOMESTRETCH OF THE CHASE DOESN'T GUARANTEE THE CUP -- JUST ASK KENSETH AND JOHNSON.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Staff Writer

When asked how important it is to be first in points when the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' Chase for the Championship starts, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth quickly recalled how the first Chase played out.

Johnson was the points leader when the Chase started in 2004. Kurt Busch made a late-season run, took over the points lead in the first race of the Chase, and held on to win by eight points in the season finale at Homestead- Miami Speedway.

Those eight points burn in Johnson's memory like a blown engine. Kenseth can only imagine how painful it is to lose a title by eight points after leading the series for most of the year.

Johnson finds himself in a similar position as the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series makes its annual Labor Day visit to California Speedway. He is again No. 1 in points with two races to go before the Chase starts.

Kenseth is second, seven points behind Johnson, and winner of the past two Cup races. Kenseth and Johnson are the only two drivers who have clinched spots in the Chase and it looks like both will be battling for the top spot over the next two races.

But no matter how big the lead is -- if Johnson still has it when the Chase starts in two weeks at New Hampshire International Raceway -- it will be changed to five points, per Nextel Cup rules.

``I know doing well going in could the difference between winning the championship or not,'' said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports.

That's why even though Johnson

and Kenseth are locks to make the Chase, they still will be jockeying for position to be in first when the Chase starts.

``Every point counts,'' said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford Fusion for Roush Racing. ``You'd like to be the lead guy. Will the five points matter at the end of the year? I don't really know. Last year, the fivepoints wouldn't have mattered. But two years ago, the first Chase, it came down to the last lap of the last race. So I think that every point is important.''

Johnson has been No. 1 in points for 16 straight races. Only Kenseth has been able to take that spot away from Johnson this year. Kenseth was in first place twice, but he hasn't been there since the April 22 race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Kenseth closed to within 58 points of the lead after winning the race at Michigan International Speedway two weeks ago. If that happened during the Chase, and Johnson was first in points, Johnson knows he would have lost his lead.

``The points break is so close, only 45 points from first to 10th,'' said Johnson, who finished 13th at Michigan. ``I was going to leave there second in points if I didn't give it everything I had.''

Kenseth trimmed Johnson's lead to a mere seven points Saturday by winning at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Johnson finished 10th.

The topic of changing the rules to qualify for the Chase has come up repeatedly this year. There has been talk about letting more drivers in, awarding bonus points for winning races, perhaps even giving drivers who win a race an automatic bid into the Chase.

As it stands, the top-10 drivers in points and any driver within 400 points of the leader after the first 26 races qualifies for the Chase.

Johnson said he would like to see a bigger cushion than the five points between drivers once the Chase starts.

``I think we work so hard for 26 races, to have it only be a five-point break, it just isn't enough,'' said Johnson, who has yet to miss qualifying for the Chase. ``If they came to me and asked me, that would be one of the areas I would look into and adjust if I was king for a day.''

Kenseth said giving drivers in the Chase some breathing room is not what NASCAR wants. He said, if anything, NASCAR would want to make the points race even closer, and give more drivers a chance to win a title in a playoff format.

``I'm pretty sure they'll make it easier for people to get in and try to make it even closer,'' Kenseth said. ``They want it as close and exciting as they can, down to the last race, for obvious entertainment reasons.''

One rule that Kenseth would like to see changed though is to get rid of the top-10 drivers and let only the drivers within 400 points of the leader in the Chase.

Kenseth said he would hate to see Johnson lose the championship to a driver who was 1,000 points out of first in 10th place (like the Busch Series this year), when the Chase started.

That 10th-place driver would move up to 45 points out of first and have 10 races to make up ground.

Kenseth said that would be unfair.

``Would I do it different? Yeah, if I was in charge, I'd do it different,'' Kenseth said. ``But the thing is, I'm not in charge. I don't think it matters what I think.''

Johnson said even though he would like to be the top driver when the Chase starts, a lot of what happens after that is out of his control.

``If there's any momentum, it would be on the mental side, knowing that we've overcome the summer stretch that's been tough on us in the past,'' Johnson said. ``I still think we're a lot better this year than last year, a lot stronger, a lot more mature. We're going to be serious challengers for the championship regardless of how we go in to the final 10.''

Kenseth said the season feels a lot like his championship year of 2003, the last year of the Winston Cup and before the Chase format was put into place. His races have been consistent, his luck has neither been too good nor too bad. He has won more races, but he said the consistent finishes have kept in the hunt for a championship, much like his 2003 campaign.

``We've had some bad things happen to us that were maybe out of our control,'' Kenseth said. ``But I think a lot of our luck has been pretty even. It feels a lot like that season.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

29 photos, 5 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Matt Kenseth, left, has won four races this season, including Saturday's Sharpie 400 in Bristol, Conn. Points leader Jimmie Johnson also has won four races, including the Daytona 500.

(3 -- color) JIMMIE JOHNSON

(4 -- color) MATT KENSETH

(5 -- color) KEVIN HARVICK

(6 -- color) KYLE BUSCH

(7 -- color) JEFF GORDON

(8 -- color) DENNY HAMLIN

(9 -- color) JEFF BURTON

(10 -- color) TONY STEWART

(11 -- color) DALE EARNHARDT JR

(12 -- color) MARK MARTIN

(13 -- color) KASEY KAHNE

(14 -- color) GREG BIFFLE

(15 -- color) CARL EDWARDS

(16 -- 29 -- color) no caption (race cars) Box:

(1) SCHEDULE

(2) in the chase

(3) in the top 10

(4) in the hunt

(5) 2006 NEXTEL CUP RACE WINNERS