Four drivers, especially, must have this one circled.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose – four drivers outside the top 10 – have Wild Card hopes, much of which depend firmly in a successful trip to Infineon Raceway.

After race No. 26 at Richmond International Raceway, the top-10 drivers earn berths into the 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Spots 11 and 12 go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20 in points.

With two wins this season, Gordon would own the No. 1 Wild Card spot if the Chase began today. The road-course king, who owns an all-time series high nine road course victories, has five wins at Infineon – but none since 2006. He has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five Infineon races.

Stewart, despite a seventh-place finish at Michigan, fell out of the top 10. Don’t expect him to stay there for long – he has two Infineon wins, and top 10s in the last four races there.

Montoya, likewise a road-course guru, nabbed his first career win at Infineon in his rookie year of 2007. He has finished in the top 10 every year since.

Ambrose, currently seven points outside the top 20, was the tough luck loser at Infineon last year. He held the lead with seven laps remaining, but stalled during a caution period, giving up the top spot. Jimmie Johnson went on to grab his first road-course win; Ambrose finished sixth. Ambrose has two top 10s in his last two Infineon races, including a third in 2009.

The four drivers also hold the top four spots in the NASCAR pre-race Loop Data Driver Ratings: Tony Stewart leads the series with a 110.4 followed by Juan Pablo Montoya (108.6), Marcos Ambrose (108.4) and Jeff Gordon (100.2).