A look at where the 12 drivers stand heading to the third race of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup title. The Price Chopper 400 is Sunday at Kansas Speedway:

1. Mark Martin: How long can he keep Jimmie Johnson behind him? Could be heading toward his fifth championship runner-up finish.

2. Jimmie Johnson (minus-10 points): Kansas is where he made his move last year, leading 124 of 267 laps in winning from the pole.

3. Juan Pablo Montoya (minus-65): Former CART champion rising to the occasion. Has top-five finishes in both Chase races.

4. Kurt Busch (minus-75): Rose a position with second straight top five but must do better than fifth and fourth to gain on the leaders.

5. Tony Stewart (minus-106): Won Kansas in ’06 but has finished 39th and 40th the past two years at the track.

6. Denny Hamlin (minus-108): Was on a roll until he finished 22nd at Dover, losing three spots. Has never had a top-10 finish at Kansas.

7. Ryan Newman (minus-110): A fifth straight top-10 finish is not good enough to win a championship in this format.

8. Jeff Gordon (minus-122): Leads in top-five (five) and top-10 (six) finishes at Kansas. Has two wins.

9. Greg Biffle (minus-138): This is one of his better tracks: Has a win, a second and a third within the past four years. Winless this year.

10. Brian Vickers (minus-151): Finishing 18th at Dover hurt. Will settle for making Chase and winning Michigan as season highlights.

11. Carl Edwards (minus-153): Ran well at Kansas last year but couldn’t overtake Johnson with a daring last-lap passing attempt.

12. Kasey Kahne (minus-189): Count him out. That’s what posting a DNF (engine failure at New Hampshire) will do in the Chase.

— Curt Cavin