Contending drivers have one thing on their minds - winning

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Forget the math or the infinite number of potential scenarios to determine who will win NASCAR's Nextel Cup title.

There should be only one strategy for the five drivers still eligible to win the title Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway: win the race and don't worry about what the other competitors are doing.

With five racers separated by 82 points headed into the final event of NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship, a crew chief could go mad trying to crunch the numbers to figure out what his driver has to do to win.

So why even bother?

"We'll have a 'Go for broke' attitude," said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. "We have nothing to lose, we'll give it everything we've got and hope to come out on top.

"We have to win."

Kurt Busch heads into the finale with an 18-point lead over Jimmie Johnson. Gordon trails Busch by 21 points, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 72 out and Mark Martin is 82 points behind.

The race is so tight that even if Gordon wins and leads the most laps, he can still lose the title if Busch simply finishes second.

The only sure bet is Busch. If he wins the race, he wins his first series title no matter what the others do.

Under the current scoring system, a win earns 180 points, a last-place finish gets 34 points and all the positions in between are staggered. Five-point bonuses are given to any driver who leads a lap, and an additional five-point bonus is awarded for leading the most laps in a race.

So if Busch wins the race, he is guaranteed 185 points. Even if Johnson, or Gordon, or anyone else finishes second and earned two bonuses -- five points for leading one lap, and five more for leading the most laps -- it would still only equal 180 points, not enough to overcome the lead Busch already has.

"I think if I'm Kurt, I would be really nervous," said Earnhardt. "He's in the situation where, you know, it's really basically up to him and his team to win or lose it."