Carl Edwards pulled off his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup victory when he won the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

And Edwards - who won his fifth race of the season on Sunday - fired this warning shot across the bows of his Chase competitors: "We're winning races.

"We're gearing up for the Chase. I'm feeling stronger than ever. We're here to win championships. That's what we're shooting for."

Edwards managed to hold off current points standings leader Kyle Busch on the final two-lap shootout after Denny Hamlin's car blew out its engine.

Hamlin was less than complimentary about his chances of making the Chase. "We came here with a new engine package," he told the US media. "We're a bubble driver. We just make stupid choices.

"We can't keep our cars together; we have dash malfunctions, motors breaking. At this point, we don't even deserve to be in the Chase."

But Hamlin wasn't the only Chase contender who had trouble at Michigan.

Kasey Kahne's engine gave out on lap 137 but he managed to finish and record a 40th place, which dropped him three places to 11th in the table.

Hamlin who also dropped three places to 12th, is less than 30 points ahead of 13th placed Clint Bowyer. If either Kahne or Hamlin are in 13th place by the end of the Chevy Rock 'N' Roll 400 at Richmond in three races time, they will not have the chance to win the title.

Standings-wise, Busch, Edwards, 2007 Championship Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton are the top five. Tony Stewart moved up one place to sixth after stopping in 12th, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick jumped up three places to seventh and eighth after finishing fourth and eighth respectively.

Jeff Gordon fell three spots to ninth after finishing a miserable 42nd, while Matt Kenseth profited from the troubles of Hamlin and Kahne to sit in tenth.

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