The Winston Cup championship race has the look of a blowout.

Heading into Michigan this weekend, Matt Kenseth's 258-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. appears insurmountable. Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition during the 2003 season and now heads to a track where it doesn't seem likely he'll falter.

Kenseth has finished among the top-five twice in his last three Michigan visits. That includes a win in last season's Sirius Satellite Radio 400.

Nonetheless, Earnhardt Jr. clings to hope and will arrive in the Irish Hills of Michigan with heightened confidence. His third-place Watkins Glen (N.Y.) finish on Sunday was his career-best at a road course.

"It was exciting to go to Watkins Glen and have a car that was able to run at the front. That's a statement about the work we've done to eliminate the weak spots we've shown in the past," Junior said. "You can't say, 'Oh those guys are only good on the restrictor plate tracks,' and write us off everywhere else."

During the modern era few drivers have been able to overcome a deficit as large as the one facing Junior. Darrell Waltrip won the 1981 title after trailing Bobby Allison by 341 with 17 races remaining. In 1992, Alan Kulwicki trailed Bill Elliott by 278 points with just six to go, before he made a charge for that season's championship.

For Junior, those championship campaigns suggest that he is still within striking distance. But the task for third-place Jeff Gordon is more daunting.

Four weeks ago Gordon figured to be a serious championship contender. Heading into a stretch that included New Hampshire, Pocono, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen, he seemed poised to make a strong run at title No. 5. After all, Gordon does have a combined 13 victories at those tracks.

However, what was a make it or break it point for Gordon turned out to be a bust. Instead of gaining, he lost 231 points to Kenseth and dropped from second to third in the standings. During those four races Gordon finished 24th or worse three times, wrecked two race cars and was plagued by fuel mileage problems.

"Fuel strategy hasn't been on our side recently," Gordon said. "We favored the conservative approach at New Hampshire and it didn't work. We gambled at Watkins Glen and that didn't work."

	Jeff Gordon just wants to win one at a time.

Now Gordon finds himself a distant 396 points behind Kenseth. With his championship hopes fading, Gordon's focus has changed.

"We need to forget about the points and just concentrate on racing," asserts Gordon, who has two Michigan wins. "We can't get down on ourselves. We just need to keep plugging away and the results will come."

Gordon's fuel mileage issues have the potential to create further problems this weekend. Michigan's forgiving layout lends itself to infrequent cautions and long green flag runs, which places heavy emphasis on miles per gallon.

"It has traditionally been a fuel-mileage race," explains four-time Michigan winner Mark Martin. "One good thing about Michigan is that it is easier to pass there than at a lot of the other tracks. So if you do have a better car, at least you can pass some of the cars. You have a chance to have a good showing, even if you have to come in for gas or something."

Michigan's wide sweeping corners offer more than an opportunity to pass.

"It really helps the racing," adds Kevin Harvick, who has finished among the top-five in three of the last four races. "If your car is not working, or it's a little too tight, the banking is a little bit flatter in (Turns) 1 and 2 and you can kind of de-wedge the car getting into the corner by driving down flat. If it's a little loose, you can run all the way up against the wall, or in the middle, or wherever you want to run."

While most drivers welcome the visit to Michigan, others fear it will contribute to a developing trend in the sport.

"Between fuel mileage and track position being factors to win races, it's making Winston Cup racing boring," Tony Stewart said. "It's pretty disappointing when the best cars don't always have a chance to win because of fuel mileage or bad track position. It's a trend that I hope comes to an end soon."

Kurt Busch took advantage of track position when the Winston Cup series visited Michigan back in June. Busch started fourth, took the lead from Jeff Gordon with 24 circuits remaining, then beat back the challenges of Bobby Labonte to pick up his seventh career win.

"We are looking for nothing less than a repeat of that performance this weekend," said Busch. "Michigan can be a very challenging track as far as hitting the right setup goes. We have struggled there before in the past but the track really came to us during the race this spring."

Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.