Carl Edwards used the bumper to beat the dominator, and if Kyle Busch could have caught back up to the 99, you can bet your pup tent he'd have returned the favor.

That opportunity will come at some point, and Bristol may well have set up a Chase-long skirmish between the sport's best two teams that we'll track from Left Coast to South Beach. We'll call it Hurricane Ed.

Meanwhile, both drivers made it clear—if that's how he wants to play, that's how we'll play. My whole life I've heard "Payback is hell." Maybe this year, it'll be "Payback is Homestead."

--Marty Smith, ESPN.com, Aug. 27

So count ESPN's NASCAR expert among the growing legions who think the 2008 Sprint Cup Championship is going to go right down to the wire at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16.

With the recent on- (bumping) and off-track travails (name-calling), Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are doing their part to make the championship finale at Homestead-Miami a must-see event on Nov. 16. Not that Edwards has tunnel vision on just the No. 18.

"It's very cool to have our team running so well, to be on top of our game," Edwards said after bumping Busch out of the way at Bristol to net his sixth win of the '08 NASCAR campaign. "It's really fun to have somebody like Kyle that's so fast, and there have been a couple races where it's been me or him. I think that brings out the best in a lot of people."

Agreed, said Matt Kenseth: "I think anytime there's any kind of conflict in any sport it makes it more interesting to watch," said the No. 16 Ford Racing driver who heads into Richmond this weekend slated as a Chase qualifier. "As long as I'm not part of it, I love it. I think it's fun to watch."

"If it comes down to just him and I for the championship [at Homestead-Miami], that'd be fine," Edwards added of Kyle Busch. "But I have a feeling some of these other guys are going to have something to say about it….I have a feeling Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon and Tony—all those people are real good at their jobs, and I think they're probably all gonna be very tough."

Indeed, this is more than the Kyle and Carl Show, as this year's Sprint Cup Chase field is likely to include a roster of fan favorites, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and a couple of Jeffs (Gordon and Burton) among its Top 12.

And Johnson, whose win this past weekend at California was his third of the 2008 season, is one driver who has created plenty of season-finale excitement while seeming to take to the Miami lifestyle. He's the reigning two-time Sprint Cup Champion and will be going for a South Florida three-peat in November at Homestead-Miami. He's also got an opinion on all the attention the Kyle-Carl confrontation is attracting.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it: Carl's like the good guy, Kyle would be the bad guy," Johnson said last week. "[They are] two totally different personalities, but I think the fans respect what they are on track and what they're doing.

"I hope to be in there and have you guys talking about three guys here pretty soon and be the [politically correct] guy—which I guess I've been labeled for whatever damn reason—in the middle of it showing you I'm not so PC and I can get in there and spin people out, too."

Not sure if that's a threat or a promise, but it sure sounds like that alone would be worth the price of admission at NASCAR's Nov. 16 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Especially considering that price of admission starts at just $55.