Last year, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headed into September, there were five drivers who had not won a race yet.  Before last year's Sharpie 500, I wrote an article on The Five Winless Chasers of 2008.  When the top 12 was reset, they still found themselves winless.  Those 5 drivers were Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Kevin Harvick.  When the Chase began, Greg Biffle won the first 2 races at Loudon and Dover on a pass late in the race.  Tony Stewart then won at Talladega.  None of the 5 won the championship as we all know, and the other 3 stayed winless the rest of the year, with Jeff Gordon having his first winless season since his rookie year of 1993.  One year later, we're once again at the same point in the season.  Here we're going to take a look at each of the 5 winless Chasers from last year at this time, and see where they stand after 24 races, and as you'll see, oh what a difference a year makes.

Matt Kenseth

Mr. Consistency, the mild-mannered Kenseth started off the 2009 season by winning the Daytona 500, quickly making everyone forget the winless season he had in 2008.  He was the one who pushed Harvick to the victory in 2007, and Harvick repayed the favor this year just before the caution came for rain and the race was called.  The next week, he became the first driver since Jeff Gordon in 1997 to win the first 2 races of the season.  He won the pole at Darlington and it was a NEW TRACK RECORD!  But since his 2 wins at Daytona and Fontant, it's been a seesaw season for Matt.  He's currently the man on the bubble, 12th in the Chase and just 34 points ahead of Kyle Busch in 13th and 39 points ahead of Brian Vickers in 14th.  He and Jimmie Johnson are the only 2 drivers to make the Chase all 5 years since its inception in 2004.  In order to keep that streak going, he'll have to run very well at Atlanta & Richmond or Jimmie Johnson will stand alone with that Chase streak.

Kevin Harvick

Harvick won the Daytona 500 in 2007, and hasn't been back to victory lane in the Cup Series in a points-paying race since.  He did win the Bud Shootout this year in the exact same fashion in which he beat Mark Martin in the Daytona 500 in 2007, with a last lap pass.  The winless streak in points races though is now at 2 1/2 years and counting.  Although he finally won earlier this year in hiw own KHI #33 in the Nationwide Series, he's been the biggest disappointment of last year's Five Winless Chasers.  Richard Childress made a team swap with Happy and teammate Clint Bowyer, but it's still not working for Harvick.  He currently finds himself 24th in points with only 3 top 10 finishes so far in 2009.  It is by far the worst season statistically of Happy's 9-year Cup Series career.  There have been rumors that he would be joining Stewart-Haas racing in 2010, but Richard Childress told reporters that the man who replaced Dale Earnhardt at RCR in 2001 would be staying put.  It's time to look forward to 2010 for the 29 team.  Happy is extremely unhappy this year, and RCR, who had 3 drivers in the Chase last year, most likely won't have ANY in it this year.  Harvick is also the only member of 2008's Five Winless Chasers who is outside the Chase right now.

We continue our look at then and now on page 2.