NASCAR Cup Series

The cliché holds true this week as “it all comes down to this”. Six guys have already claimed their top-10 spots when The Chase begins next week at Chicago – Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth…that’s 2 Chevy’s, a Ford, and 3 Toyotas in case you're keeping score.

With a track record qualifying lap of 20.674 seconds and average time of 130.599 mph, Jeff Gordon put his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS in the pole position for Saturday night’s 56TH Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). This was Gordon’s first pole of the season, giving him 21 straight seasons with at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) pole - which breaks the record he had shared with David Pearson of 20. This was also his sixth pole in 42 races at RIR, and 73rd career NSCS pole in 715 races - which makes him third on the all-time list.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER: YOU RACED YOUR WAY INTO THE CHASE LAST YEAR WITH THAT LAP ARE YOU ON THE WAY TO DOING IT AGAIN? “Well this is only part of it, but that’s certainly a great run and we’ve had a really good AARP Drive To End Hunger, Hunger Action Month take action and we just did. I’m excited about the day that we’ve had. "

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – “I will be glad when tomorrow night is over. This is obviously a big weekend for us and we got a decent qualifying effort here. We are in the top-10 and that is what we need to do, be in the top-10 all night long. That will get us top-10 in points and that will get us in the Chase. We need to play smart here and do the right things and get ourselves in this thing.”

"It wasn't bad. We need to get to drawing better if we're going to have any kind of shot at the pole. It just seems like we've been in the first 15 cars all season long and certainly in this qualifying session it hurt us a little bit. It was good lap. We were a little bit off in qualifying trim in practice there. Good pick-up there for us, but unfortunately the track picked up at the end. All in all, we'll be just fine."

Michael Waltrip remembers a time when his company, Michael Waltrip Racing, was only brought in conversation because of how awful things were going. Back when...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in what is arguably his best season in several years. Currently seventh in points and is all but locked in to the Chase. He has 14 top-10’s and five top-5’s. The question is -Is it good enough?

This past week the NASCAR silly season still had a full head of steam. The major announcement this week was from Richard Childress Racing. RCR announced that Jeff Burton would not return as the driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Burton cited the fact that, “…. There was a lot of funding that wasn’t in place.” Later that same day, the team announced that Caterpillar would return for the 2014 season, though the number of races for the sponsor was not announced.

MICHAEL WALTRIP, team owner, Michael Waltrip Racing - What would it mean to have all three MWR teams compete for the championship? "We're certainly proud that our cars -- all three -- have a chance to race for the championship. If Brian (Vickers) wins tomorrow night -- that could do it. We come here focused on winning the race with all three cars and it would be a really cool evening for our first one-two-three finish of Michael Waltrip Racing."

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion is one of three Ford drivers with a chance to make the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Biffle met media members at Richmond International Raceway to discuss his chances.