Winless series champ still a playoff possibility

LOUDON, N.H. - Winning wasn't a priority for Juan Pablo Montoya in the months leading up to the Chase for the Championship. His strategy to race for points, not trophies, worked when he made the cut to start the playoffs.

The only thing that matters to Kyle Busch is winning. He's tied with Mark Martin with a series-best four victories, but he will watch the 10-race Chase from the sidelines.

When the playoffs start this Sunday at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there will be four drivers in the Chase without a win and five not in the Chase with a win.

The Sprint Cup Series has never had a winless champion, but with one-third of this year's class still looking for their first trip to Victory Lane, the scenario is more probable than ever.

Martin leads the newly-restacked standings because of his four victories. Kyle Busch's four wins weren't enough. The difference was Martin had 14 top-10 and only two finishes of 30th or worse, while Busch had nine top-10s and four finishes outside the top 30.

"I think we've seen the past few years that there have been guys that have had a lot of wins, won races, not make the Chase," Busch said. "I think you still have a successful season in the Chase, in the sport and the recognition it deserves if I'm not in it, in Mark Martin is not in it, if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not in it, it's still a success."

Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman also used consistency - and no victories - to make the Chase this year.

Just because they haven't won yet doesn't mean they will finish without victories, said three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson. And he doesn't think anyone can win the championship without a win.

"I still do look at Carl (Edwards) as a big threat," he said. "He's been consistent. We all know they haven't had the speed that we're used to seeing and he's still been able to hand tough in the points. Ten races is three months of racing basically plus another month, so three to four months worth of racing a lot can happen. I still think that Carl is a threat and anybody who's in the Chase over a 10-race period of time."

Busch, Matt Kens

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