FanHouse Sylvania300

It's hard to believe it -- doesn't it feel like Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500 like a week ago? -- but the 2008 edition of the Chase for the Sprint Cup is now officially at full throttle following Sunday's first round of the ten race swing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Unless you were living under a rock Sunday or perhaps digging out from Hurricane Ike, -- which, obviously, is a perfectly good excuse to miss the first race of the Chase -- Greg Biffle made a quiet, yet steady, statement that he's in no mood to be counted out of a championship run.

Naturally, Biffle's win Sunday at New Hampshire -- his first since Kansas in '07 -- will put him towards the top of the "Chase Winners" category because, well, you can't do a whole lot better than win a race (but I do give him props for the direct shot with the champagne spray in the picture. That takes talent!). The real importance of this post, though, is to summarize how the rest of the Chasers handled their first foray into the 2008 championship battle.

Did Kyle Busch -- who led the point standings nearly all year -- prove his worth? Was Clint Bowyer ready to take off his disguise of barely making the Chase (he finished third in the championship battle a year ago) and put on his "I'm here to play for keeps" hat? And what about Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Was he ready for his first Chase with Hendrick Motorsports?

It's all here, folks, so jump on in and find out who were your Chase Winners and Chase Losers following Sunday's first round at New Hampshire:

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson started Sunday's first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the odds-on favorites to battle for the championship.

And then Greg Biffle showed up, took the spotlight, and won Sunday's Sylvania 300 by passing none other than Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps.

Kyle Busch wasn't real happy with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota over the course of the two practice sessions in preparations for this weekend's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but thanks to the weather he started on the pole for Sunday's Sylvania 300.

The good luck didn't last long.

Are you a little confused about this NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup thing that SportsCenter keeps talking about? Don't wanna seem clueless when your buddy says Jimmie Johnson is going to win his third Chase in a row?

No worries! FanHouse has got yo' back for all things NASCAR -- even if you're not the biggest fan.

Here's some quick hits about the background of the Chase, the format, and what it takes to win it:

Purpose of Chase: Determines Sprint Cup Champion

Year Created: 2004

Reason Created: Some blame Matt Kenseth, some blame NASCAR's new title sponsor in '04, but regardless of reason, the Chase was created to enhance excitement in the final ten races by creating a close championship run.

David Ragan is ready to drive the truck.

Or, he's at least ready to drive the colors of the truck.

Roush Fenway Racing & UPS announced on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that Ragan would sport the brown and white colors of UPS on his No. 6 Ford starting in 2009 as the sponsor makes it's second high-profile move in three years.

Why do I get the feeling that just finishing on the lead lap in this weekend's Nextel Cup race at Talladega will be considered a major feat?
1. Jeff Gordon - I'd bore you with stats, but that would be incredibly boring. Almost as boring as having Gordon at the top of the power rankings every week.
2. Jimmie Johnson - Ditto. The only thing keeping these two out of victory lane is "The Big One." Or any number of little ones.
3. Tony Stewart - Please let him finish in the top 3. Please let the media ask him stupid questions. Pleeeeaaase.

Everything after that is a crap shoot. Nobody has an advantage when it comes to staying out of trouble at Talladega in the COT.

Purposefully unranked for good luck. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - One of the few active drivers who knows how to find victory lane here, but Fanhouse power rankings have a way of lessening a driver's chances to win. Junior has predicted his own victory tomorrow. We don't want to get in the way of that.

Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Busch isn't on top with his teammates, but the lame duck is holding his own in the Chase, just 35 points behind the leaders.

After being seeded in the 9th position in the Chase, he leaves New Hampshire in the 5th place in the points standings after pulling off a 4th place finish in the Sylvania 300 in the car he loves to hate:

"That's just the COT. They're always evil. ... I guess it just doesn't fit my driving style or whatever."

Well, then he better learn to fit its style.

Seriously, what is his deal? The COT has been mostly good to him--and contributed significantly to him making the Chase. He ought to show a little appreciation in return.

In a post-race interview Sunday, Tony Stewart was asked his thoughts on the fact that there were two guys in the Chase that finished ahead of him in the first Chase race:

"That's why they got in the Chase. It doesn't take much rocket science to figure out why they're all there. The top seven (finishing) drivers are all Chase drivers. It doesn't take much to figure out why and how they all got here."

Matt Kenseth seconds that, "Duh":

" ... they're the top 12 in points and probably got there for running good, so that doesn't surprise me."

Indeed the top 7 drivers in the Sylvania 300 is a who's who of the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship drivers.

1 - Clint Bowyer
2 - Jeff Gordon
3 - Tony Stewart
4 - Kyle Busch
5 - Martin Truex Jr.
6 - Jimmie Johnson
7 - Matt Kenseth

And we'll probably see a lot more of that before the season is over. Tired of hearing about the Chase drivers? Try writing power rankings for the same ones week in and week out ...

With a 3rd place finish, Stewart held onto the 3rd position in the standings just 10 points behind leaders Johnson and Gordon, but Bowyer is on his tail just five points behind and the rest of the Chase field could bury him in just one race.

Alternatively, Smoke could be leading after the next race. At this point, even a rocket scientist couldn't tell us.

Kurt Busch kicked off his Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship with a different kind of momentum than Clint Bowyer--they kind you don't want to follow you to the next race.

While Bowyer picked up eight positions, Busch took a downward slide from 5th to 12th compliments of a dropped cylinder busted carburetor a little over a third of the way into today's Sylvania 300.

Busch started in the 3rd position and ran in the top 5 before falling victim to engine trouble that he battled the rest of the day with a resulting 25th place finish, the lowest of any driver in the Chase.

Busch, while disappointed, found a silver lining:

"It'd have been nice -- maybe at Charlotte where I don't run so good -- to have a motor failure. It's tough, but all in all, we still finished 25th. We could have finished 43rd."

True dat.

The only driver in the Chase to the Nextel Cup Championship without a win is winless no longer.

What a race for the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet team! And what a killer burnout--probably the best of the season. After starting on the pole, Clint Bowyer dominated the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway to score his first career win.

It couldn't have come at a better time, either, when everyone couldn't shut up about him being the only winless driver in the Chase.

"It's just unbelievable. Hopefully this proves we earned a spot ... It just says a lot about our race team and our chances in this Chase."

Bowyer went from being an underdog to running with the big dogs in just one race--he gained eight spots and now sits 4th in the standings just 15 points behind the leaders.

What a boost of confidence for that team. Can they carry the momentum to Dover and beyond?