STEWART FIRMLY IN MIX FOR CHASE.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK MOTOR SPORTS

Some observations as the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series heads into spring break and week off from racing:

Tony Stewart has led the most laps of any driver and is the only driver to lead at least 20 laps in every race so far this season. He has led 784 total laps and won once in the first seven races.

Greg Biffle is second on the list of laps led, with 404, but his best finish has been seventh and his chances of making the Chase for the Championship are slipping with each 42nd-place finish.

Stewart led a race-high 99 laps at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday and finished third in the race. He is safely in the top 10, with a spot in the Chase, and looks like he has a good chance to defend his Nextel Cup Series title of a year ago.

"I'm really proud of our team," Stewart said. "We made some adjustments and made bigger steps then we're accustomed to making."

Biffle can't catch a break. He led twice for 49 laps at Texas, but tangled with a struggling Kurt Busch and finished 42nd. It was his fourth race finishing 31st or worse. It also knocked him to 23rd in points and, more importantly, 406 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. The drivers in the top 10 or within 400 points of the series leader qualify for Chase when it starts after race No. 26.

Biffle's place in the standings is not indicative of his season. After being so close last year to winning the Chase, it would be a shame to see him miss it because of some poor results that were out of his control.

--Of the drivers in the top 10, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears are the most impressive and most surprising.

Mears started hot and has maintained his consistency through the first seven races.

"We just got off to a really good start opposed to the bad luck we had to start last year," said Mears, driver of the No. 40 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing. "We had a good finish at Daytona and two good finishes to back it up. It got us in a position in the points where we could maintain rather than fight back to get back in the top 10."

Busch has raced smart, unlike his older brother Kurt, to open the year, and posted some impressive results.

He has two top-five finishes, four top 10s and an average finish of 10.9 in the first seven races.

But this could be the breakout year for Kahne, who is in his third year with Ray Evernham Racing. He has won a series-high two races already, a feat matched only by Johnson.

"You work as hard as you can whether you're in a mini-sprint or sprint car or the Busch Series and just try to learn every time you're on the track," Kahne said after winning the race in Texas. "Right now this is the best race team, and I feel like I'm doing the best driving that I've ever done, and I think the race team is doing the best setting up the cars and giving me the best cars possible to drive."

--Thanks to Kahne and Kurt Busch, Dodge drivers have won three of the last four races. Kahne also won the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Busch predictably won the race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

--Before the season started, there was much debate over which body to use on the Dodge cars. Some teams, including Busch's Penske Racing South, experimented with the old Intrepid body.

Evernham stuck with the Charger and now has two wins to show for his loyalty.

"We blamed a lot of the inconsistency last year on we couldn't figure out what the car really wanted," Evernham said after the Texas Motor Speedway race. "We weren't communicating as a team, and we felt like there was more potential with the Charger. My guys have worked very hard in the offseason, testing it and working on things and they're doing a good job. They were right. The Charger we believe still has a lot more potential in it than the Intrepid."

--After getting all five of his drivers in the Chase last year, Jack Roush has only two in the top 10 at this early junction.

And to be honest, he should only have one.

--Mark Martin, who was supposed to be retired from Cup racing, is doing things drivers half his age only have the enengy for.

He is leading the Truck Series standings, has two wins and has yet to finish outside the top five. His Cup team is in fourth place. He even found time to mix in a Busch Series race.

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Photo:

Greg Biffle, with hand to face, is second on the list of laps led so far in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series, but his best finish has been seventh, and his chances of making the Chase for the Championship are slipping away.

Donna McWilliam/Associated Press

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