ESPN Sprint Cup

NASCAR added two drivers to the Chase for the Nextel Cup this year, which everyone assumed would generate more excitement.

Oh, the irony. Had it remained at only 10 spots, the series would have a whale of a battle for the final playoff spots.

Kevin Harvick is 10th, one point ahead of Martin Truex Jr. And Truex is only eight points ahead of Kurt Busch in 12th. But Dale Earnhardt Jr., the driver in 13th place, is 158 points behind Busch.

It's bad luck for NASCAR and a bad situation for Richmond. Unless something surprising happens on Sunday at California Speedway (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), the annual drama to decide the Chase field is looking like a big dud.

The Chase format has produced some thrilling moments for the September Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway, the final event for drivers to make the playoff.

But next week's event on the Virginia short track isn't looking so hot. It's possible the Cup drivers could head to Richmond with all 12 Chase spots already spoken for.

Earnhardt has a lot of ground to make up. Ryan Newman is 14th, 175 points behind Busch. The most points a driver can gain on another driver in a race is 161 points.

Harvick and Truex could factor into this deal, also. But it's clear that the 12 Chase spots could be clinched before the Richmond event.

Even if there theoretically is an open spot, Earnhardt or Newman needs to win at Cali and hope the drivers higher in the standings have really bad days for either to have a realistic shot of making the Chase in Richmond.

Team concept
Dario Franchitti saw the good and bad side of having teammates in the final laps of the IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.

The bad part came when Marco Andretti and Franchitti collided moments after Andretti exited the pits. Franchitti was leading the race, but the collision damaged his front wing and caused him to fall back to third.

It allowed Scott Dixon to win the race and take over the lead in the championship by four points over Franchitti.

Franchitti hit the brakes and tried to slow down, but it was too late.

Andretti should have given Franchitti room. That incident might have cost Franchitti and Andretti Green Racing the season championship.

So Marco earns the bad teammate designation, but all that could have been avoided had the people back on the pit box (especially father and team owner Michael Andretti) told Marco to avoid contact with Franchitti.

Things could have turned out worse for Franchitti if not for the good side of the teammates situation.

Tony Kanaan was behind Franchitti and easily could have passed him. Kanaan elected to hold his position, keeping Sam Hornish Jr. and Danica Patrick behind him.

Kanaan knew every point counted for Franchitti. Kanaan also knew it was too late for him to make a run at winning the race, the only thing that would have kept him in contention for the championship.

So Kanaan did the right thing and protected Franchitti. He did it fairly. Kanaan wasn't blocking Hornish or Patrick. He held his line, so IndyCar officials said he didn't violate any rules. The IndyCars are back on the track this weekend at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix on Belle Isle (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). It's the next-to-last race of the season.

Sticky situation
If Joe Gibbs Racing is switching to Toyota next year, when will the team announce it?

Some people thought it would happen this weekend because the race at California Speedway is only 40 miles from Toyota Racing Development headquarters in Costa Mesa.

But JGR president J.D. Gibbs said the team doesn't have an announcement planned in Fontana. For JGR officials, it's a touchy situation if they do take Toyota's offer.

JGR drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin have clinched Chase spots. If JGR announced a move to Toyota now, it could cause friction with Chevrolet down the stretch this year.

Chevy officials might pull back on technical support for the JGR cars and withhold information from a team they know is going to a competitor in 2008.

But was the race good?
Spin control was in full swing for NASCAR on Monday. Numerous reports of the Bristol race Saturday night said the new concrete surface made the race boring compared with past years when the event resembled a demolition derby.

So NASCAR sent out a release Monday saying Saturday's Sharpie 500 had more than double the number of green-flag passes as the spring race at Bristol on the old surface.

So what do you want? A lot of wrecks or a lot of passing?

One problem with the additional passing: Most of it didn't happen up front. Kasey Kahne led 305 laps and race winner Carl Edwards led 182.

Ashley Force makes a final showdown
Ashley Force has made it to the championship round. Unfortunately, it isn't the championship round of NHRA POWERade Funny Car, a spot the rookie driver was hoping for this season. Force fell short of making the eight-driver field for the new playoffs, which start this Friday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals outside Indianapolis and wrap Monday with eliminations (noon-3 p.m and 7-10 p.m., ESPN2).

However, she did make the final round for hottest female athlete in an AOL poll. Force was one of 64 athletes -- 32 women and 32 men -- who were part of the playoff.

Force was seeded fourth but won in an upset over second-seeded Danica Patrick in the semifinals. In the final, Force takes on softball player Jennie Finch, who beat out Maria Sharapova in another upset.

The male racers didn't fare as well. Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Dan Wheldon all lost in the first round. Tom Brady and Andy Roddick made the finals.

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.