Where There's Smoke There's Fire to Win

      Wow!!!  How about that 14 team?  I think Smoke has found the key to his third cup title; just win all of the Chase races.  It’s still too early to concede the championship to Stewart, but Dover should be a pretty good indicator of how serious a contender he is.  A top five finish on a track where he’s had problems could be a bad sign for the rest of the Chasers.

      Who’s going to be Stewart’s biggest obstacle?  It could be the 29 or the 2 cars.  Harvick, while winning four races in the first 26, has not been exactly spectacular.  What he has been, however, is the picture of consistency.  Seemingly no where to be found, he has managed to show up near the front by the end of races all season.  Harvick is probably the favorite to douse Smoke’s fire.

      Kesolowski has been the Midas of NASCAR ever since breaking his ankle at a testing session this summer.  “Bad Brad” has literally driven himself from the land of the back markers into Chase contention, almost breaking into the coveted top ten.  If his meteoric rise in the standings doesn’t flame out, Kesolowski could very easily take home the Sprint Cup at Homewood.

      This leaves one last serious contender.  The “Rainbow Warrior” himself, Jeff Gordon.  Gordon has had an air of mature confidence all season.  Going into the Chase he had championship momentum, but fuel issues in the first two races of the Chase has cost him in the points.  He did manage to overcome these issues at Loudon though, and salvage a 4^th place finish.  That’s what champions do.   Twenty-three points, while nothing to sneeze at, are not insurmountable to this team.

      Where does this leave Carl Edwards?  He‘ll be driving his Roush Ford, trying to get his first title in 2012.  Edwards is a talented driver, but maybe next year Carl. 

      While the 11 has been imploding since the last race of the 2010 Chase, the 22 and the 48 have waited for the 2011 Chase to start the downward spiral.

      A dark horse in the whole shooting match could be the 18 of Kyle Busch.  His runs at Chicago and New Hampshire were less than championship quality, but man can that kid drive.  If he can keep his head straight and with a little luck……..

Congratulations to 15 year old Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of 2X Indy 500 winner Emmerson Fitipaldi, for winning the Limited Late Model Championship at Hickory Motor Speedway.  http://twitpic.com/6qmb5j