Atlanta the benefactor of close battle for Chase berth

It's no secret that the road to the Chase runs through Atlanta.

That's new this season, in case anyone has forgotten. Sunday's night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- the Pep Boys Auto 500 -- appears to offer more promise in the way of excitement than it ever did in its previous home as the sixth stop in the actual 10-race Chase.

For starters, it will be run under the lights on Labor Day weekend. Officials at AMS and their parent company, Speedway Motorsports Inc., gladly traded off their Chase date for this prime piece of real estate on the Cup schedule -- and now they're poised, or at least optimistically hopeful, of taking full advantage.

The drama being produced by the current Cup point standings should help. Eight drivers within 89 points of one another are vying for the final six spots in the Chase, which will include the top 12 drivers.

So as they head to Atlanta this week for the next-to-last race before the Chase cutoff, half the playoff field is yet to be set. That could produce some fireworks Sunday night.

Having established that, which drivers amongst the eight who enter Atlanta mired in a standings logjam stand the best chances of surviving and putting themselves in a better position when they subsequently head to Richmond a week later for the final race of the regular season?

There are clues, to be sure, in the past performances of each on the racy 1.54-mile AMS track.

The Elite Eight

The eight drivers involved, currently occupying seventh through 14th in the standings, are Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Juan Montoya, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers. (Continued)