<table> </table> RICHMOND, Va. | It has neither the history of the Daytona 500 nor the scary drama of racing at Talladega. But the fall race at Richmond International Raceway has become one of the most popular on the schedule.</p><p>The reason, of course, is that it&#8217;s the final race before the season-ending, championship-deciding Chase playoff.</p><p>The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship celebrates its fifth anniversary this fall, and again today, the Chevy Rock &amp; Roll 400 will play a pivotal role in determining the series champion.</p><p>Over the last five years, the Chase has grown in acceptance, going from being seen as a gimmicky affront to tradition to being an exciting way to finish the season.</p><p>And the race at Richmond has found a very special place on the schedule.</p><p>Jeff Burton, old school by about all criteria (and solidly in the Chase), put the race in perspective.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in the political season; this is the primaries,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is the last weekend of the playoffs. &#8230; This is your last opportunity to get yourself in the championship hunt. There&#8217;s a lot riding on it. The focus all comes to this race because it&#8217;s the last one. It will be the final determining factor of who gets in and who doesn&#8217;t.</p><p>&#8220;The reality is that it&#8217;s one of twenty-six. That&#8217;s the reality of it. It&#8217;s hard to look at it like that, because this one race &#8230; means everything.&#8221;</p><p>Jeff Gordon has won four Sprint Cup championships. None have come under the Chase playoff system.</p><p>He calls the Richmond race dramatic, almost theatrical.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s about story lines,&#8221; Gordon said. &#8220;A lot of us have been thinking about this race for a while, especially the guys that haven&#8217;t been locked in, knowing it is a big race for us. Then you&#8217;ve got the guys trying to stay in the top 35 (in owner points). That race has heated up and is a great story. And you&#8217;ve got Kyle (Busch), Carl (Edwards) and Jimmie (Johnson), who have been the guys to beat here recently and are trying to get those coveted bonus points and momentum.</p><p>&#8220;To me, there are just a lot of good story lines here, and that&#8217;s maybe what makes this a great race &#8212; all the story lines.&#8221;</p><p>Busch, who is first in points and will head to the first Chase race in New Hampshire next week with a nice stack of bonus points, said the excitement involves more than drivers fighting to get into the playoffs or for owner points.</p><p>The drivers locked in to the Chase, Busch said, will be driving today like they have nothing to lose.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s almost like an all-star race,&#8221; Busch said. &#8220;No points (for those with berths secured) are really on the line.&#8221;</p><p>The start of the race was pushed back a day by Tropical Storm Hanna, and it won&#8217;t be held under the lights.</p><p>But drama deferred is not expected to be drama denied.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> 1 <strong>CLINT BOWYER:</strong> He&#8217;s the guy on the bubble &#8212; the guy who cannot drive too aggressively or not aggressively enough.</p><p>2 <strong>KYLE BUSCH (front above):</strong> He would love to win to increase his bonus-point total. He was second at Richmond in May.</p><p>3 <strong>JEFF GORDON:</strong> He will be trying not just to seal his entry into the Chase, but also get his first victory of the season.</p><p>4 <strong>JIMMIE JOHNSON:</strong> A victory today would make him the driver with the most momentum heading into the Chase.</p><p>5 <strong>DAVID RAGAN:</strong> He will start the race 13th in points but just 17 points behind Bowyer.</p><p></div> <hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> Where: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway</p><p>Start: 1 p.m. today | ESPN</p><p>Last year&#8217;s winner: Jimmie Johnson</p><p></div> <hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="subhead">nascar Sprint Cup </span></strong></p><p></div>