The Associated Press

JOLIET, Ill. - If these were the old days, Matt Kenseth would be getting nervous.

He is fifth in the standings, 356 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, after tough finishes in four of his last five races. He hasn't won since March and has one top-five finish in the last six races.

But these aren't the old days. NASCAR retooled its championship to put more emphasis on winning and end having winners wrap up the title long before the season ends - as Kenseth did last year.

Now the field is reset with 10 races to go, and all drivers in the top 10 can make a run at the sport's biggest prize.

With 2,189 points, Kenseth is 94 ahead of 10th-place Kevin Harvick. But he would like to pad that margin with a couple of solid finishes in his next few races - and give his team some momentum entering the final 10-race shootout.

Jeff Gordon comes to Sunday's Tropicana 400 with back-to-back victories. He has started from the pole in his last three races.

Though Gordon has yet to win on the 1 1/2-mile track at the Chicagoland Speedway, he's the only driver to complete every lap run there.

Kenseth is looking forward to this weekend's race.

This is the closest the NASCAR circuit comes to his hometown of Cambridge, Wis.

CHAMP CAR: Bruno Junqueira is getting tired of finishing second.

Second place is where the Brazilian driver has finished the past two seasons in the Champ Car World Series, losing to Cristiano da Matta in 2002 and Paul Tracy last year.

And second place is where Junqueira has finished in four of the first five races of 2004.

Junqueira is in the series lead heading into Sunday's Toronto Molson Indy.

In other news, the series added a Sept. 25 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to its 2004 schedule.

FORMULA ONE: Michael Schumacher will be the leader in this weekend's British Grand Prix as he tries for his 10th win in 11 races.

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