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LOUDON, N.H. -- The NFL's postseason doesn't last as long. Neither do the NBA or the major league baseball playoffs.

NASCAR's championship is an endurance test. Twelve drivers. Ten races. Ten weeks.

Jimmie Johnson proved last year that a poor finish in the Chase for the Championship opener doesn't doom a team. Kevin Harvick showed that winning the first race guarantees little.

"It's not about one week," Harvick said Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

It's about everything. It's why Matt Kenseth is concerned that his pit crew is using its second replacement jackman in the last month. The team's regular jackman is out with an injury. Kenseth says the pit stops haven't been as fast since.

A points system that binds the contenders within 60 points leaves little room for mistakes.

"It's pretty much zero," Kurt Busch said of the gap. "You can gain 60 points in a heartbeat."

That's what can make this drawn-out Chase stressful. Emotions can fluctuate in seconds. This yo-yoing of anxiety can even lead someone to play golf to relax, which Johnson does.

Not everyone understands the pressures. The two Chase newcomers -- Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. -- qualified first and second for Sunday's race. The only pressure they know about the Chase was delivering their lines Wednesday for David Letterman's Top 12 reasons to love racing. Bowyer's line: "We've got special mirrors that show objects the actual size they are."

Those mirrors will show an experienced field chasing them. Five former champions are among the 12 title contenders. Four of those champs are in the top five of the points standings. This is the most top-heavy the Chase has been in its four years.

"The intensity level has stepped up," Jeff Gordon said. "Everybody wants to make a statement and say we came to play."

Carl Edwards said he felt the increased tensions. Some of those angst-filled vibes were from him. He flattened the right side of his car in practice and went to a back-up car.

"We'll be more prepared because this is definitely an eye-opener," he said.

That's something in a state where it's not shocking to see a man walk through a town wearing a kilt or another playing a bagpipe outside a store.

The Northeast goes at its own hectic pace, as does the Chase. Three years, it has never been the same.

l In 2004, Busch won the opening race and survived a series of lucky breaks to nip Johnson for the title.

l Tony Stewart didn't win a race in the 2005 Chase but ran well enough to lead most of the way to claim the title.

l Last year, Johnson finished 39th at New Hampshire and trailed the leader by 156 points with six races to go before he rallied with five consecutive top-two finishes to claim his first crown.

Truex, a New Jersey native, understands this frantic feeling and likes it.

"It's an exciting time for myself," he said.

It could be for others. Jeff Burton led the points during last year's Chase until blowing an engine at Martinsville. Burton slid to seventh in the final standings. That experience could help him this year.

"I said last year we were laying a down payment down on a championship," Burton said. "Now it's time to get some equity back."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dlong @news-record.com