NASCAR's Race for the Chase heating up

It should be pretty interesting to see what the outcome of the points battle for the Chase will show.  With just four races left to either make it or not, there are some hoping to stay hanging in the top-ten and there are others hoping to make it in.

The way I see it, the top four are pretty much safely in, barring problems for consecutive weeks for third and fourth.  Fifth place Mark Martin should be safe as long as he stays consistent and doesn't have any problems.

Ninety-nine points separate sixth through tenth and and seventy points separate tenth through fourteenth, so the points within the Chase and out of it, could easily be shaken up in just one race.

Newman, McMurray and Edwards are trying to hang in the top-ten, one bad race and they could be on the outside looking in. Sadler, Jarrett, Gordon and Harvick are on the outside looking in, but any of them could make it in the top-ten in just one race.  Carl Edwards is sitting in tenth and right now, he's the one that everyone on the outside is looking to do better than. 

We might not see that much of a shakeup at Michigan this weekend, but we could see a big shakeup the following weekend at Bristol.  Two of the drivers on the outside that want to make it in are known for bumping and pushing out of their way on the track (Gordon and Harvick), that's something I'm sure we'll see as we get closer to Richmond.

No matter how you look at it, we won't know the full Chase lineup until after Richmond.