MIKE BRUDENELL: Won't somebody else please join the Chase?

All right, Tony, let's see some of those patented moves.

Carl, give us another backflip.

Kevin, a charge to the front wouldn't hurt.

As for Denny, Kurt, Matt and Martin -- you're not in the Chase for your good looks, gentlemen.

With four races remaining in the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship, NASCAR's 10-event playoff series has become the "Jeff & Jimmie Show," with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson sharing victories in the last three races and likely fighting it out for the title down the stretch.

Clint Bowyer (Richard Childress Racing), who is 115 points behind leader Jeff Gordon, appears to be the only competitor among the 10 other eligible Chase combatants with a reasonable chance of catching Jeff Gordon and Johnson.

Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. are a long way back, as are Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton.

Another victory by Jeff Gordon or Johnson on Sunday at Atlanta, the Chase becomes, well, boring.

Tony Stewart is capable of winning a couple of races in a row, and so is Edwards. Kyle Busch could make it interesting with a big day Sunday. But if NASCAR officials expects fans and TV to buy into the Chase format in the future, they'd better hope things heat up fast.

I don't favor the Chase and would rather see all 43 drivers eligible for the championship -- not 10, 12 or 15.

Right now the Chase for the Championship is a two-horse race with most of the field trailed off, in what we are told is the most competitive motor racing series in the world.

Something doesn't jive.

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