Charlotte.com: David Poole
News, sports and entertainment from Charlotte.com

• More contenders exist than Chase slots
  Want to know the formula for deciding which drivers can make the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup? Well, that involves a little bit of algebra.You remember algebra, right? That stuff you were convinced you'd never use again. Just about the time you figured out what "x" was, your teacher started bringing "y" into the equation.Well, this formula is relatively painless. Here it is:19 + 2(x) = 12Actually, you can't use algebra to solve that. You could -- it'd be -3.5 if you want to be a stickler about it. But this isn't quite that precise. This is an inexact science, at best.No matter how you slice it, there will be more drivers who could fill the slots than there are slots in NASCAR's championship format.So, now, time to break down the equation.
  GROUP 1 -- COUNT ON ME
  Four drivers = Four Chase spotsStart with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Questions? Come on, after the years they had, is there any reason to think they won't cruise back into the 2008 Chase?You also have to put Tony Stewart in this group. Yes, his team will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, and Toyota had a tough time during its inaugural season. But none of the Toyotas that ran this year were built by Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the sport's best teams. Stewart will be fine.So will Carl Edwards. He and crew chief Bob Osborne have proven twice that they're good together, and we think they're good to go.
  GROUP 2 -- THE LIKELY SUSPECTS
  10 drivers = Six (maybe seven) Chase spotsYou're saying, "Wait, what about Matt Kenseth?" Yes, Kenseth has made every Chase. Yes, he's one of the most consistent drivers. But for the first time since he's been a full-time NASCAR driver, he'll have a new crew chief now that Robbie Reiser is managing Roush Fenway Racing's Cup program.Nobody's saying Kenseth won't make the Chase. He's actually right on the cusp of making that first group. But that tinge of doubt drops him into the next tier where it's harder to predict who'll miss the Chase than who'll make it.There are Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, Stewart's teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. There are the three Richard Childress Racing drivers, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, who all made the 2007 Chase. Then you have Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., who also made this year's Chase. We also put Ryan Newman, Busch's Penske Racing teammate, in this category.Then, of course, there's Dale Earnhardt Jr. He didn't make the Chase during his final year with Dale Earnhardt Inc., but he's moving along with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports. Plainly put, we think it's far more likely Earnhardt Jr. will be a legitimate title contender in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet than it is that he'll go another full season without winning.
  GROUP 3 -- SOMEBODY SPECIAL
  Five drivers = One (maybe two) Chase spotCasey Mears could be the breakout driver of 2008 as he moves to the No. 5 team at Hendrick. If he hadn't gotten off to such a poor start, he might have made the Chase this year.Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray stand to benefit from the fact their teams will be ready to compete with the car of tomorrow from the first week of the season. Biffle's looking to return to the form he showed while contending for a title two years ago, and McMurray wants to fulfill the promise he showed as his Cup career got rolling.Kasey Kahne has a new chance to get whatever ruined his No. 9 Dodge team's season behind him.Then, there's Juan Pablo Montoya. If he improves as much between the start and end of the 2008 season as he did as a Cup rookie, watch out.
  GROUP 4 -- WHO'D WE MISS?
  The rest of the field = Maybe one Chase spotHere's where the 2(x) in the formula comes in.Look, unless we list 43 names there's going to be somebody who pops up and runs unexpectedly well. We figure two of them -- guys like Bobby Labonte, Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers or even somebody else -- at least will seem like they're legitimate long shots as the season unfolds.
• Race community takes a pit stop for charity
  Stocks for Tots started with a very simple idea.Do some good.Nearly 20 years ago, Don Miller and Rusty Wallace were looking for a place to build a race shop. They were in Mooresville, near Exit 36 off Interstate 77, having something to eat and talking to a man named Pete Meletis, who was helping them look over some potential sites for what would become Penske Racing South."Somehow we started talking about kids," Miller said. "Pete was involved with this thing called SCAN, and we started talking about how good it would be if we could help."Stop Child Abuse Now was a cause that Miller and Wallace could quickly get behind. They figured they could bring race cars and people in racing together in the armory in Mooresville, and since it was around the holidays, they'd ask people to bring a new, unwrapped toy or make a cash donation.The first event was in 1989, and every year since Miller has found himself worrying about it."I get a little concerned every year that it's not going to be as good as it was the year before or as good as it ought to be," he said. "But somehow, it always comes off."Miller knows there's a lot more to it than "somehow." A small army of people, led by a key group for whom Stocks for Tots is an absolute labor of love, work for weeks to make sure things come off the way they should.They've got things lined up for another edition Tuesday night at the Charles Mack Citizens Center in downtown Mooresville. Dozens of drivers, crew chiefs and others involved in NASCAR, drag racing and various forms of motorsports will be there to sign autographs and help raise money for an excellent cause.They come for two basic reasons.First, they want to do some good. Second, Miller asks them to be there."There are just so many good people involved in the racing business, and they do so many good things that you don't always hear about," Miller said.He fits his own description, but his work is being noticed. During Champions Week in New York, he was named the winner of the inaugural NASCAR Humanitarian Award sponsored by Home Depot.Miller was genuinely surprised to win and genuinely humbled to collect a $100,000 donation to SCAN that came with it. That's a big bump for an effort that, in its history, has raised more than $400,000 and 40,000 toys.He has decided to retire from the Roger Penske-owned NASCAR operation he helped get off the ground. That, he said, will give him more time to worry about making future editions of Stocks for Tots even better.But it will also mean he'll have more time to do some good on a more personal level as well."I've got family all over the place, and they were all here in May," Miller said. "(Grandson) Jack is 8, and he's racing quarter midgets, so he was having a good time being around all the events going on during Charlotte's race weeks."We were talking one day about all of the things that were going on," Miller said. "I was saying that one day was qualifying day, then the next day was practice day and then Sunday was race day."Jack looked at me and said, `Grandpa, when is there going to be a Jack day?' That stops you pretty quick. I told him there would be a lot of Jack days real soon."IN MY OPINIONAuction, autographs, more in MooresvilleWHERE: Charles Mack Citizens Center, downtown MooresvilleWHEN: Tuesday's event begins with an auction and entertainment at 5:30 p.m. Doors to the citizens center open at 7 p.m.AUTOGRAPHS: Drivers, crew chiefs and other motorsports celebrities will sign until about 9 p.m. Wristbands are required to get a place in line for some of the top stars. Wristbands will be distributed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame in the Lakeside Business Park off Interstate 77 (Exit 36), then at the event beginning at 4 p.m.ADMISSION: Donations of $10 and an new, unwrapped toy.INFORMATION: Updated lists of those expected to attend, along with other information, can be found at stocksfortots.com.
• NASCAR awards show not there yet
  NEW YORK -- Credit NASCAR for how much it has improved its Nextel Cup awards ceremony over the past two years. This year's soiree at the Waldorf-Astoria on Friday night had more warmth and personality than the annual festivities have had in a long time.It began with Tom Brokaw's eloquent tribute to the late Bill France Jr. Tinged with humor and personable remembran