Rick Minter's OBSERVATIONS
Some key storylines as the Cup Series heads to Phoenix: Two races remaining

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With two races to go, the Chase for the Nextel Cup has become, for all practical purposes, a five-driver contest with two at the top.

With his runner-up finish to Tony Stewart in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Matt Kenseth, who is 17 points back in second place after finishing 12th on Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who recovered from an early-race encounter with the Texas wall to finish sixth, is third in the standings, 78 points out of the lead and two points ahead of Denny Hamlin.

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Kevin Harvick, who finished third at Texas, is fifth, 105 points back heading into Phoenix, where he's the most recent Cup winner.

While no drivers have been mathematically eliminated from title contention, the bottom five in the standings face overwhelming odds. Jeff Gordon, in sixth, is 157 back, and Jeff Burton, who led the standings for four weeks, is seventh, 184 back, after wrecking at Texas. Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne all are more than 225 points out of the lead.

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Warning signs

Some of the new drivers and teams planning to enter the Nextel Cup Series full time next season could face some difficulties if their performances in limited appearances this year are any indication.

Team Red Bull's new driver A.J. Allmendinger has yet to compete in a Cup race. He missed the field at Atlanta when rain washed out qualifying, and he was too slow at Texas last week. Bill Elliott drove the Red Bull car at Charlotte but failed to qualify.

Elliott, who has helped Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing prepare cars for next year, missed the field at Texas in Waltrip's car.

David Ragan, set to take over Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford at Roush Racing, has had a rough introduction to the Cup Series. He crashed in his debut at Dover, wrecked several drivers at Martinsville, then wasn't allowed to run the Cup race at Atlanta because of his erratic driving the week before.

He was allowed to compete at Texas, but was too slow to make the starting field.

A fresh start

Kertus Davis has proven that it is possible to go from field-filler to a fully sponsored ride.

For most of his NASCAR career, Davis has raced in the Busch Series, driving the No. 0 Chevy fielded by his father, Johnny Davis. Outspent by the bigger teams, many with Nextel Cup affiliations, the Davises sometimes had to park their car early to shave dollars off the tire bill and save the engine for another day.

The whole effort was intended to help Kertus land a ride with a big team. Last week, Kevin and DeLana Harvick made the Davises' struggles worth it. They hired Kertus to share driving duties in their Dollar General-sponsored No. 77 Chevy with Kevin Harvick and Bobby Labonte.

Davis will drive 13 Busch races, Labonte 18 and Harvick four.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime," Davis told reporters. "This is what I have worked for my entire racing career, and I want to thank Kevin and DeLana as well as Dollar General for believing in me as a driver."

Truck update

Craftsman Truck Series driver Todd Bodine heads into the final two races of the season with a 137-point lead over Johnny Benson in the series points standings. Barring a major problem, he'll win not only his first major NASCAR championship, but the first for his entire family, including brothers Geoffrey and Brett. Geoffrey won 18 Nextel Cup and six Busch races, while Brett won one Cup and five Busch races. Todd has 10 wins in Busch and 10 in trucks.

While Geoffrey won the 1987 IROC

championship, the closest the brothers

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have come to winning a

NASCAR title was in 1986 when Brett finished second to Larry Pearson in the Busch standings.

Todd said a championship for him would mean a lot to his entire family.

"We've endured a lot," he said. "There have been a lot of ups and downs - from losing rides to Geoff almost getting killed at Daytona."