How will team orders play with bubble mates at RIR?

RICHMOND, Va. -- "Team orders" are legendary in Formula One, but in NASCAR racing, the concept of being told to give up a racing position to benefit a teammate is virtually a foreign concept.

But now NASCAR is at Richmond International Raceway for the cutoff race to determine the 12-man field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and the possibilities boggle the mind. Ten men in the standings, between fifth place Carl Edwards and 14th place Kyle Busch, are separated by only 122 points.

The 10 are members or affiliates of teams that comprise a total of 28 cars.

Let's say the laps are winding down in Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400, and hometown hero Denny Hamlin is leading, with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch running second.

Hamlin is already locked into the Chase field, in fourth. What if Busch, who co-holds the mark for most wins this season, four, with 10th place Mark Martin, but is 37th points out of the Chase, has to win to get in?

Does Hamlin get "the call?" When asked, he just shook his head.

"If I were leading, I don't think they'd bring it up -- they'd never put me in that position," Hamlin said. "We haven't talked about anything this week and what we need to do to try to help [Busch]."

That's a good thing, because Hamlin, who has made no secret of his ache to win a Cup race at his home track, said he wouldn't give way.

"Not a win," said Hamlin, who last year dominated Richmond's spring race only to suffer a flat tire and fail, falling to 24th. "I'd give him second if I was second, but not a win, for sure. That's about all you can do, if you're not racing for a win. If it's gonna put him over the top, yeah, you're going to give up a position."

But not a win. Three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson -- already locked into the Chase -- was blunt in his assessment.

"If you're leading the race, I'm not pulling out of the way to make sure Mark Martin makes the Chase if he's in second -- that just isn't happening," Johnson said. "But if I'm running 20th and he can use the three points, it's like leading a lap so I guess I see what you were referring to as far as teammates will work with one another to lead a lap. But for the win, man it could be anybody -- it could even be my mom back there -- and she's not getting by [laughing]." (Continued)