ESPN Sprint Cup

A few weeks ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a chance to step up to the challenge after Kyle Busch punted him at Richmond.

He didn't do it. Fans were furious and wanted Junior to get a little revenge, but Earnhardt has finished behind Busch in the three races since that night.

So has almost everyone else, because Busch has won two of those events. But now it's a couple of the Roush Fenway boys -- Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle -- who are trying to make a run at Rowdy.

Biffle has finished second and third the past two races, moving up six spots in the standings. His new contract is all but signed, and his team now knows he's in for the long haul.

Stability makes a big difference for the guys in the trenches. When a driver's future with a team is uncertain, the crew's future is uncertain. Teams always say it doesn't make a difference on race day, but it does. Being in limbo never is a good thing in racing.

Now, everyone on the No. 16 Ford team can settle in and work on getting Biffle a championship this season. Look for him to continue to run up front in the coming weeks.

While Busch continues to dominate the headlines, people have forgotten about Edwards. Big mistake. The consistent Edwards has finished ninth or better in seven of the past eight races, including each of the past four events.

He was second in two of the past three races. Unfortunately for Edwards, Busch won both those events. But Edwards remains Busch's biggest threat.

Edwards would rank third in the standings, ahead of Earnhardt, if not for the 100-point penalty from his Las Vegas victory.

The next two races are good ones for Edwards and Biffle. Edwards has won at Pocono and Michigan; Biffle has two victories at Michigan.

Busch hasn't won at either track, but all four of his victories this season have been at places at which he hadn't won in the past.

If Edwards and Biffle have any advantage, it's the fact that Roush Fenway has done a better job than any other organization in figuring out the new car.

It's quite a surprise because RFR was way behind everyone else on the new car a year ago, but general manager Robbie Reiser deserves a huge amount of credit for developing an aggressive testing plan that brought the organization back to the top.

The problem is RFR still doesn't have the horsepower that the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas have. No one does.

But Busch isn't winning because he has better engines. He's winning because he's better than anyone else in Cup at driving these cars.

Can Edwards, Biffle or anyone else outdrive him?

Some folks out there may say, "What about Jeff Burton? He's the guy ranked second in the standings."

Burton's ranking proves this points system still has its flaws. Burton has gone six consecutive races without a top-5 finish. His three top-5s are the fewest among the top seven drivers. He's a ghost out there, staying in contention without contending to win most of the time.

Burton is playing the system to perfection. He hasn't finished worse than 13th all year. Consistency gets it done. But it won't be enough to win the championship if Busch keeps winning races.

Force to be reckoned with
Many drag racing fans thought John Force's winning days were over when he suffered the worst injuries of his stellar career last year at Dallas. He was 58 years old, and his legs were a mangled mess. (He broke his left ankle and had a severe abrasion on his right knee, not to mention a dislocated and broken left wrist.)

Force has spent a career fooling the doubters. He was a winner again Sunday at Topeka, Kan., his first NHRA Funny Car victory since the September accident.

His toughest test of the day was a first-round pairing with his daughter Ashley. The finish was so close that Ashley thought she had won it, only to learn moments later her old man edged her on a holeshot.

John now ranks third in the standings, only 42 points behind Ashley in second. Winning a 15th championship this season at age 59 is a realistic possibility.

The NASCAR Way
The IndyCar Series needs to learn a lesson from NASCAR by trying to end races under green.

One of the things NASCAR gets right is the green-white-checkered finish when a caution comes out near the end of a race. The event gets one shot at a green-flag finish, even if it means running extra laps to do it.

The fans who pay hard-earned money to come to the race, along with the ones who invest an afternoon watching it home, deserve to see the event end under racing conditions if possible.

That didn't happen in the IndyCar event at Milwaukee last weekend. An accident with three laps to go caused the race to end under yellow.

Ryan Briscoe might have won anyway, but an overtime restart would have given the fans a chance to see Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon right behind Briscoe's rear wheels for a couple of high-speed laps at the finish.

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