History of Chase, sign of things to come?

Here are the Chase scenarios after Dover from the past four years:

In 2004, the inaugural Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) led the standings heading to Dover. He posted a ninth-place finish, while Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet), third in the standings, finished third in the race. Gordon moved up two spots to the top of the standings, and Earnhardt fell to third.

In 2005, Dover again played the spoiler for the points leader. Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) led second place Greg Biffle by 20 points heading to Dover. Stewart finished 18th, one lap down, while Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet), fifth in points, won the race, propelling him four spots into the lead and relegating Stewart to fifth.

In 2006, Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet) won the opening Chase race in New Hampshire and opened up a 35-point lead over second-place, Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota), the largest ever during the Chase heading to Dover. But Harvick finished 32nd after an engine failure, and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet), fourth in the points, won the race and moved up three spots to take the standings lead.

In 2007, Johnson headed to Dover atop the standings while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon was second. Johnson finished two laps down in 14th, but Gordon finished one lap down in 11th. Gordon managed to edge Johnson and take the lead, while Johnson fell to third.