It's make or break time for some would-be Chasers

IT'S LAST CALL to make the Chase.

Make the Chase and drivers in the 10-race playoff feel as if they're in the World Series. Fail to be a Chaser, and drivers feel like dopes wearing T-shirts and jeans at a formal party.

Entering Saturday night's race at Richmond, Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. hold the two Chase wild cards. Kahne is 12th in points with two wins. Truex is 13th with one win. (The wild cards go to the drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins).

With two wins, Kahne has clinched a Chase berth. Another Truex win would guarantee a Chase spot for the Mayetta, N.J., native.

These drivers will be gripping their steering wheels tighter than usual Saturday night at Richmond:

* Kurt Busch: 10th in points, zero wins. He'll make the Chase if he wins, or finishes second (leading at least one lap), or third with most laps led.

* Jeff Gordon: 11th, zero wins. He will be a Chaser if he wins, since he's the highest in points outside the top 10 who qualify for the Chase.

* Ryan Newman: 14th, one win. If he wins at Richmond, he'll bump Truex and clinch the second wild card.

* Brad Keselowski: 15th, zero wins. Even if the reigning Cup champion takes his first race of the year, a lot of things have to happen to other drivers for him to be a Chaser.

"Winning is our goal this weekend - it's what we want to do every weekend," Gordon said. "I've said all along that I think [Chase berths] will come down to the last lap at Richmond, and we're going to battle all the way to that checkered flag to try and earn one of those spots."

Kurt Busch hopes to race into record book Saturday night.

"No single-car team has ever qualified for the Chase, and we're in position to make history," he said. "That's pretty exciting for everyone associated with Furniture Row Racing."

Truex, racing again with a scaphoid fracture and sprain in his right wrist suffered in an accident in the Aug. 24 race at Bristol, Tenn., says he'll try to be aggressively smart.

"This NAPA team needs to go out and try to win the race," he said. "If we can't, we need to get all we can. We cannot make a mistake. To be honest, with the season we have had with all the ups and downs, I am so excited to still be in this thing. This NAPA team is not a 12th- or 13th-place team. In my opinion, we are a top-five team."

Jeff Burton's leaving Richard Childress Racing after this season isn't a surprise. Burton, 46, has not won a race since 2008 and is 22nd in points. In the next few years, Childress will bring aboard his grandsons, Austin and Ty, as Cup series drivers.

"I strongly believe in the No. 31 team as to what we can achieve this year, and for the team in seasons to follow," Burton said at a news conference yesterday at RCR headquarters in Welcome, N.C. "However, the financial realities for next year were obvious to both Richard and me. So, we talked about it and both made the decision to make this move for the team's future."

Said Childress; "Jeff has been nothing but a professional driver, an asset to RCR and a great person for our organization since coming on board in 2005."

Burton (21 career Cup wins) said he told Childress recently he planned to cut back from a full racing schedule after the 2014 season.

There's no slapping in NASCAR. Punching is OK. Slapping, not.

Mike Skeen's girlfriend, Kelly Heaphy, helped make them infamous after she slapped Max Papis following the Camping World Truck Series race in Bowmanville, Ontario, Sunday. Skeen and Papis were not happy with each other's on-track behavior during the final lap of the race.

Skeen, making his first truck series start, starts trading paint after a race with a veteran like Max Papis? Then his girlfriend slaps Papis and allegedly dislocates his jaw? Not the best way to launch a NASCAR career.

Heaphy is barred indefinitely from all NASCAR events.

Hearing about the slapping incident, a member of the great country group Alabama suggested on Sirius XM radio yesterday they should write a song titled "I Got Slapped in the Face at a NASCAR Race." Guaranteed hit!