Despite racing to the top of the standings, Kyle Busch may find he has few rivals or fans rooting for him once the Cup playoff begins. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

There are 11 races to go before the green flag drops on NASCAR's 2008 Chase for the Championship. Gazing into the crystal ball, here's a look at who will make it into the playoff field (in order of who's most likely to be hoisting the Cup at season's end).

1. Kyle Busch

Busch has been the dominant driver of the season, and he's clearly established himself as the title favorite. He leads in wins (4) and has shown he can run in the lead pack on every type of track -- a must if you're going to win the championship. But Busch has an Achilles' heel. At 23, he's as temperamental as any other driver on the circuit, and his emotions often get the best of him, causing him to make heat-of-the-moment errors. Because of this, he doesn't have many friends in the series, and this could haunt him in the Chase if, say, someone exacts revenge on him for a previous slight. Still, Busch is the driver to beat.

2. Carl Edwards

Though Edwards is currently fourth in the point standings, he's the driver most likely to mount a challenge to Busch. He's notched three wins this season, and he's been the driver everyone has chased on the 1.5-mile tracks. Considering half of the playoff races take place at these types of venues, Edwards should be in title contention all the way to Homestead.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

This season Junior has been the one thing he wasn't in 2007: consistent. He won his first race of the season last Sunday in Michigan, and he already has seven top-five finishes, which is as many as he had all of '07. But to win the title, Little E and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have to find a tick more speed in their No. 88 Chevy. As it stands now, he would start 30 points behind Busch in the Chase because of the 10-point bonus a driver gets for winning a race during the regular season. As Darrell Waltrip told me recently, "To win the Chase this year, you're going to have to win races, period. Running in the top-10 each week just won't get it done."

4. Jimmie Johnson

The two-time defending champion has been oddly quiet this season. He has one win, but he and crew chief Chad Knaus haven't consistently run in the lead pack like they did the previous two years. But this could be by design. After all, this team is as wary of the burnout factor as any other in the sport, and it has a history of coming on strong in the weeks leading up to the Chase and then peaking in the playoffs. So don't dismiss the 48 team, even though it's currently fifth in the standings.

5. Kasey Kahne

Kahne has been the biggest surprise of the season. A year after being shut out of Victory Lane, he has two wins and is seventh in the points. What makes him a threat to win the title is his ability to close out races. When he has a car under him that's handling well, he doesn't just finish in the top 10, he wins. This is a mark of a future champion. It probably won't happen this year -- the Dodge teams as a whole have lagged behind he Toyotas, Chevys and Fords -- but Kahne's future is as bright as anyone's in the sport.

6. Jeff Burton

Though Burton is second in points, he'll be the first to tell you that his team isn't championship caliber -- yet. He can reel off top-10 finishes with the best of them -- he has 10 in 15 races, which is as many as Busch -- but he only has one win this season and, more distressing for this team, he's not seriously contending for victories. Burton's best shot to win the championship is if the leaders all suffer one or two 30th or worse finishes and he quietly plods along by finishing around sixth each week in the playoffs.

7. Jeff Gordon

Like his teammate Jimmie Johnson, Gordon hasn't shown the kind of speed in '08 that he did last year, when he won six races and had 21 top-five finishes. Gordon has yet to reach Victory Lane this season, and his biggest problem is that his car simply doesn't handle well when he's in traffic. Has Gordon, at 36, lost his edge? Unlikely, but this team has some issues to solve if it's going to be a serious player in the fall.