Chase is on for precious spots

Kurt Busch should be the driver everyone outside the top 12 is pursuing for the final spot in the Chase.

Instead, the former Nextel Cup champion is the one lagging behind.

When Busch was docked 100 points for reckless driving in early June at Dover, Del., the penalty dropped him six spots to 17th and out of a place for the 12-car, 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship.

Those points could now deny him a chance to race for the title.

"Yeah, that's what everybody will write about if we don't make it," Busch said. "There's been times where we've let quite a few points get away from us. Hopefully, the 100 from Dover won't come into play."

Busch, now 13th (13 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.), is one of a handful of drivers vying to claim one of the few slots up for grabs in a six-race stretch that starts today with the 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., and ends at Richmond.

"It's real nerve-racking," said Clint Bowyer, who is in 10th place. "It's up to us to ensure that we're in it."

For drivers at the bottom of the top 12, like Martin Truex Jr. (11th), this stretch is like the college basketball conference tournaments: Win and you're in. Lose and, well, you'll need some help.

"I think everyone's on the Chase bubble," Truex said.

Even Jimmie Johnson has put himself in a vulnerable position by dropping from fourth to ninth in the last three races.

"There is a concern. We don't want to be in this situation," said Johnson.

NASCAR Busch -- Kevin Harvick held off hometown star Patrick Carpentier to win the series' inaugural race in Canada yesterday, but disqualified driver Robby Gordon defiantly tried to claim the victory.

It was a controversial finish that thrilled the crowd, infuriated NASCAR, and probably jeopardized Gordon's participation in today's Nextel Cup race at Pocono Raceway.

Gordon took the lead from Marcos Ambrose after a restart with four laps to go, but Ambrose quickly reclaimed it by bumping Gordon out of his way. Gordon went into a spin and the field raced by him as he idled on the course at the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Because the caution flag was waving before Ambrose spun him, Gordon believed he was the leader on the restart or, at worst, in second position. But NASCAR ruled he was 13th. Gordon refused to move out of second place on the restart, earning an automatic disqualification. When the field went green, he quickly pushed Ambrose out of the way and roared into the lead. But NASCAR refused to acknowledge him.

Gordon refused to forfeit his position on the track when ordered to by NASCAR late in the race. Officials said he intentionally knocked Ambrose out of the race, then refused to pull off the track as ordered.

He also celebrated as if he had won the event -- behavior that is expected to earn him a suspension before the Pocono event.

"We are still determining what will happen at Pocono," said Steve O'Donnell, vice president of NASCAR's racing operations. "It's too early, it's something we're still discussing."

Formula One -- Fernando Alonso was dropped from the pole of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest and will start sixth after a ruling by FIA.

World motor sport's governing body overruled stewards and determined that the two-time defending Formula One champion and his McLaren team had delayed teammate Lewis Hamilton during a pit stop.

FIA also ruled that any points McLaren earns in today's 70-lap race will only count toward the driver standings -- and not the constructors championship.

IndyCar -- Points leader Dario Franchitti will start today's Firestone Indy 400 at the Michigan International Speedway right where he'd like to finish -- out front.

Franchitti won his first pole of the season, turning a lap of 218.308 m.p.h.