Gordon plays down Busch favouritism

The four-times Cup champion believes Edwards is more ready to win a first title than Busch, because the Joe Gibbs Racing driver still makes occasional mistakes despite his progress relative to previous seasons.

"I think Carl is more ready than Kyle," Gordon said. "I think Kyle has - he has the ability to go really hard, really fast, and he's made big improvements in my opinion this year over last year.

"Last year when he drove for us, there wasn't a single practice that they didn't have to knock out the right side on the car. This year it seems to be like every fifth race that happens.

"So he's still doing it a little bit, which isn't a bad thing he's pushing that hard; that's why he runs fast and they've won a bunch of races so he's gotten more comfortable."

Gordon believes Edwards' experience puts him ahead of Busch in terms of their chances to win this year's title, although he puts his teammate and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson ahead of both.

"He's close," Gordon added about Busch. "He's as good as anybody out there right now. I'd certainly put him at the top or in the top three or four guys in my opinion of who really has a shot this championship or the best shot at it.

"But I would put Carl ahead of him as far as being ready experience-wise, and I'd put Jimmie ahead of both of those guys with just his experience of winning the last two."

A month ago, Gordon said Busch seemed to be losing his momentum as the season edged closer to the Chase. However two days later, Busch claimed his eighth victory of the season at Watkins Glen.