Perhaps there is no better race to follow Talladega for the twelve drivers in the Chase than the Lowe's Motor Speedway. This weekend the series heads back home to Charlotte, N.C. for Saturday night's Bank of America 500. The only night race in the Chase, this race marks the halfway point in this year's championship run.

Last week at Talladega, a number of Chase drivers took a big hit - in more ways than one. While Tony Stewart broke through and was given his first win of the season by NASCAR, seven of the twelve Chase drivers suffered a setback in the 'wild card' event. On a day when the Chase drivers were hoping to avoid someone else's mess, it was Carl Edwards who triggered the 'Big One' that took out five Chase contenders in all.

Bump drafting teammate Greg Biffle going into Turn 3, Edwards sent the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion sliding into their other Roush Fenway Racing teammate and fellow Chase contender Matt Kenseth. Once the smoke cleared, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were all involved.

The uncharacteristic mistake shook up the points standings and left one driver in particular steaming mad. Kevin Harvick made it clear to everyone listening that he was extremely frustrated with Edwards.

"It looked like the No. 99 (Carl Edwards) should have drafted all day because obviously he wasn't ready to start racing there until the end and made a mistake and tore up most of the field," Harvick said from the garage, "it looked like the No. 99 (Edwards) should have been drafting the rest of the day because obviously he didn?t know where the front of his car was."

These harsh words carried over this weekend at Lowe's as the two had a confrontation in the Nationwide Series garage. Words were exchanged and a shoving match ensued, but no punches were thrown and no penalties followed.

This confrontation shows just how much is at stake in the Chase. These drivers and teams work all year long just to have a shot at the title and when a driver makes a mistake like that emotions run high. Edwards' move ruined a lot of Chase contenders' day and shuffled the points on a day everyone was just hoping to survive.

After such a nerve wracking weekend at Talladega these drivers get a bit of a brake by heading home to Charlotte. Teams take a lot of pride in racing in front of the hometown crowd and a win here gives you bragging rights for quite a while.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson feels should feel more at home than most at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Not only does his primary sponsor hold the title sponsor of the track itself, Johnson has had a ton of success on the mile-and-a-half track in Hendrick Motorsports backyard. In fourteen tries at Lowe's, Johnson has five wins, eight top-5s and eleven top-10s. With Thursday's qualifying rained out, Johnson will lead the field to the green from the pole position. Despite all of his success at the track, Johnson doesn't expect to have a huge advantage.

"The track has changed a lot, especially with this new asphalt that is down and the tire we run on it," Johnson pointed out. "I think the advantage we had years back has kind of gone away. I mean, Kasey Kahne has had more momentum here I'd say than just about anyone so far in the last two or three years. We have been right there. We've been a good top-five car, but, I hope we can get that magic back and find it here, especially with the Lowe's Chevy at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It has been nice the last few years to have that. Kasey has been strong and I can remember (Denny) Hamlin being real strong based on the test. Carl (Edwards) was strong. The No. 16 (Greg Biffle) was strong. So, it is going to be nice to have that track position, but we are all there together in one big group and we will just race from there."

As Johnson mentioned, a number of Chase contenders have had great runs at Lowe's in the past and will be a threat come Saturday night. The three drivers Johnson mentioned - Hamlin, Edwards and Biffle - have all had strong runs at Lowe's, but have failed to finish the deal. Hamlin is recovering from one of the hardest hits of his career, while Edwards and Biffle will definitely be a factor Saturday night.

"This is a good place," Edwards said of Lowe's. "You can't knock Jimmie out. He's got some sort of magic here. It's tough, but Greg was so fast in testing and that's the hope for all of us is that the things that Greg tested and worked for him, that we can kind of lean on that and Bob Osborne can come up with a setup as fast. We'd like to have such a good run here to make up some of those points right now and not over the long haul."

After last weekend's incident, Edwards is now seventy-two points behind Johnson and only five points ahead of Biffle in third. Winless throughout the first twenty-six races of the regular season, Biffle seems to have hit his stride when it counts most. Two wins in the first two races of the Chase and a third at Kansas has put Biffle in a position to strike.

"We have really come on strong in the last eight races," Biffle explained. "We had a great run at Bristol, a great run at California. We really had a spectacular run for us at Richmond. Even though we finished 14th, I got the car up in the fence and wrecked it and the guys were able to fix it and we came back and finished 14th there. That was a great championship effort, and then to start the chase out like we did has been spectacular, and then the confidence here for Saturday night. I feel like we have one of the cars to beat on Saturday night. That's big-time confidence and a lot of momentum for these races, so I feel good about the race cars that we've been able to put together."

One factor that needs to be taken into consideration anytime the series heads home to Lowe's is Kasey Kahne. Although he missed the Chase, Kahne is always a threat at the mile-and-a-half track. In nine tries at Lowe's, Kahne has four wins - including the All-Star Race - three top-5s and four top-10s. Kahne surprised many earlier this year when he won the All-Star Race after transferring into the main event thanks to the Sprint Fan Vote. The Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver backed that up with a win in the Coca-Cola 600 the following week. This weekend the driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge will try to upset the Chase field and go for the clean sweep at Lowe's.

Racing under the lights in front of the hometown crowd always brings out the best - and worst - of many drivers. Not only will the Chase drivers have to beat each other, they will also have to tame the 'Beast of the Southeast,' which has known to bite a driver or two. If Johnson can continue his momentum and have a good run on Saturday night, this team will be tough to catch for the title. Edwards and Biffle will definitely be a threat for the win, but in reality, it will be anyone's game come Saturday night.

Coverage of the Bank of America 500 from the Lowe's Motor Speedway is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and your local PRN station. If you are headed to the track, be sure to keep an eye out for HardcoreRaceFans.com as you get ready for the race. We will be walking around outside the track handing out postcards and stickers, along with interviewing some of the most Hardcore of the Hardcore. See you at the track!