One year ago today Carl Edwards had firm control of his Sprint Cup Series title hopes. He was the favorite heading into the Chase, having led the point standings for much of the year and performing at a level of consistency that hadn’t been matched.

But here, on September 3, 2012 Edwards sits looking for a miracle just to get into the Chase. Following another disappointing race, an engine failure and 36th place finish, he’s on the outside looking in. Out of the top 10 in points; winless to boot.

[media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit]Yet Edwards, who earned many fans and praise for his class in defeat during last year’s championship battle, showed the same on Sunday night. Climbing from his No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion with his head held up and never give up attitude.

“This is not the interview I wanted to do after the race. Our Subway Fusion was pretty good,” said Edwards in the garage. “I was having a lot of fun driving. I love this racetrack, but it looks like a piston or something. It started to making noise about 25-30 laps ago and it’s just hard to put into words.

“That’s just how our season has been going and I don’t know what the reason is. We treat these engines like gold and we hardly ever have engine troubles. These guys do a great job – Doug Yates and everyone at Roush Yates Engines – but we’ll go to Richmond and go win that race and somehow maybe a miracle will happen. We’ll make the Chase and go win this championship. That’s our mission.”

A tall task for Edwards who sits 14th in points, he entered the night sitting 12th. His only shot to make this year’s Chase is to win the race and hope everyone he’s fighting have really bad days. It’s not impossible, but this late in the game, the preverbal fat lady is starting her first note.

But Edwards expected it, this is what he’s been fighting all year. Doesn’t make it any easier though, sometimes he’s not sure what to say. Or how differently he can answer any of the same questions. But he does, he keeps talking. Honestly and openly.

“I don’t know what to say. Somebody is trying to teach me something here,” he said. “I hope we get this out of our system soon because it sure is fun to go win these races and be in the hunt. This is not fun.”

In 25 races Edwards has just 11 top 10s, and only two top fives. It’s been brought up over and over, the championship hangover. The second place curse. Edwards has heard it, he’s acknowledged it and says it has nothing to do with what he’s going through this year. But after Sunday, even he has think there’s more to the story.

He hasn’t won since March of 2011 at Las Vegas. This season he’s led just 256 laps, 206 of those coming at Richmond in the Spring. Edwards had dominated that race and looked to be headed toward victory, until a late race restarted took it all away.

NASCAR says he jumped it, Edwards says he was told he was the leader. Either way, he finished 10th. From there the problems got worse, eventually he got a new crew chief. While Edwards and the team continued to keep their heads up, show up with a smile on their faces and work as hard as they could, nothing changed.

Sunday night they were running in the top 10 when the engine started to go sour. He started to slow and tried to get out of everyone’s way. The radio communication was calm as the team attempted to diagnose the problem. Edwards running only as hard as he had to, trying not to blow it up.

“We still could be within distance. Anything can happen,” said Edwards of his Chase chances. “I don’t ever quit and this team doesn’t ever quit, but, man, that’s getting kicked when you’re down. That’s not what we needed, but we’ve got big shoulders. If there’s anybody that can take it, we’ll take it and we’ll go out and do our very best.

“Like they say, a bad day at the race is better than a good day doing almost anything else. I really enjoyed the race tonight. I had a good time and I’m just trying to come to grips with how pivotal this is for our season, how bad it is, but that’s just the way it is.”

Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch hold the two Wild Card positions. Kahne has two wins; Busch holds one. Jeff Gordon, 13th in points, also has a win. Edwards sits behind them with nothing but a hope and a prayer. Still gracious in defeat but looking to be the ultimate victor.

And so, he’ll pump up his guys. He’ll keep encouraging them, as he did even from inside the car on Sunday night as he sat on pit road with the hood up. The race, and most likely the Chase, continuing without him.

“We don’t give up. We won’t quit,” Edwards said. “I told my wife today, ‘There’s something in Vegas I’m not supposed to go do.’ I just can’t believe this. We’ve never had this bad of luck. I’ve been trying to live right and do the right things, so I hope there’s a reason for all of this, but it’s just so frustrating.

“It’s so amazing how many things can compound and go bad, but we’re still standing up and everybody is alright. We’ll go racing at Richmond for the win. There’s no better place. This is as good as it gets and Richmond is almost as good as this place for us.”

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Should Jeff Gordon fail to make the Chase after next weekend’s race at Richmond he might look back to one lap during the 2012 season. Not the many bad weeks he had to start the year, not the hard fought yet mediocre finishes, but one lap in Atlanta.

The last lap where Gordon didn’t do what he says he should have. Or at least what the 41-year-old Gordon should have done. He finished second to Denny Hamlin in the AdvoCare 500, coming up short on the final lap after getting to the outside of the No. 11 going into turn three.

He settled for second, it seems. Instead he could have taken the win from Hamlin. Moved him out of the way and went on by and possibly into the Chase.

“What a battle. You know going into this race that it’s gonna be a fight,” Gordon said afterwards. “The track is just so slick and your car has a lot of grip for about five laps and all of sudden it starts going sideways. We just never could get my car tight enough.

“On the short runs we were really fast which worked to our favor, to get second place and almost that win. I’m just mad at myself right now. I don’t know, I guess I’m getting soft in my old age. I’m too nice. Fifteen years ago I would have just moved him right up the race track, I don’t know why I didn’t do that.”

On a night when Gordon and DuPont commemorated their 20 years in the sport, the No. 24 Chevrolet out of Hendrick Motorsports put on a show. Starting fifth and leading six laps early on, the fastest car on the track when the sun was still up. But once he lost the lead Gordon ran quietly in the top 10.

Then came alive again the deeper the night went. The second to last restart, with 46 laps to go, was a turning point as Gordon quickly made his way back into the top five and into second as the laps wound down. But Martin Truex Jr. had driven away and Gordon needed another caution in order to have a shot at the win.

He got it, along with a final pit stop in which he came off pit road third. The last restart was exactly the one Gordon wanted, he laid back and pushed Hamlin into turn one and then tried to grab the lead on the last lap.

It was all going according to his plan as Gordon wanted to get to Hamlin’s quarter panel and try to make something happen. Yet, when he got there, he was carrying too much speed and ended up pushing up the track. Hamlin earned his fourth win of the season and second straight, Gordon still has his lone win from Pocono.

More importantly, he still has a shot at the Chase. Heading into the final regular season race next weekend at Richmond, he’s 13th in points, 12 behind Kyle Busch. Busch won at RIR in the Spring and currently holds the second Wild Card spot. In order to make the Chase, Gordon will either have to win the race or finish ahead of Busch.

“Well, you don’t want to have to go beat Kyle Busch at Richmond, he’s pretty strong there,” said Gordon of his Chase chances. “We’re really going to focus on our own program like we always do. We focus on tuning the car, communicating and working the setup the best we possibly can. And try to have the fastest racecar out there and if we can do that, then we try not to make any mistakes. Driving on pit road and pit strategy. If we don’t have the fastest car then we have to switch it up.

“Puts little more pressure on the crew chief or maybe even on me if we try some tire strategy, fuel mileage strategy, whatever we do track position wise. You can’t predict any of those things, you just got to go out there and race. Got to race hard.

“I’m not going into it thinking that we got to finish 12 positions ahead of Kyle. I’m thinking we got to win. And if we don’t make it, as long as we put our best effort forward, we didn’t make it and we go try to win races in the final 10.”

Richmond is set up for a championship showdown. Only two spots remain up for grabs, the top 10 drivers all locked in after Atlanta. And Gordon knows all about trying to make the Chase at Richmond, he’s had to do it before. Most notably in 2005 and he failed to make it into NASCAR’s playoffs.

It’s what makes that one night in September an intense race and a crazy night. Now he’s back in the thick of it, his team has the pressure on, they’re going with guns loaded and ready to fight until there’s nothing left to fight for.

Gordon hasn’t won at Richmond since 2000 however, and admits his team badly missed the setup in the April race. Going back he has higher expectations and confidence. And, as he joked with Brad Keselowski on Sunday night, he’s going to race and end things differently on the final lap.

“It’s not going to happen twice,” he said.