Next is Dale Jr. in the AMP Energy/National Guard 88. Now, many feel him jumpin’ on over to the Hendricks Camp hasn’t turned out like they expected. I’m guessing his hardcore fans thought he’d rip everyone a new one and win everything in sight. Yeah, right. Well, remember last year, he done finished outside the Top Ten at sixteenth, so he’s feeling much better, now. This year, he’s been in the Top Ten ALL YEAR with one win and has pretty much been the poster boy of consistency. It remains to be seen if some of that 48 car, Late Season Mojo will help the 88 become a late season charger or not.

Clint Bowyer is the fifth seed in the Chase field with his Jack Daniels 07. Clint is the stealth driver of the Chase. He kinda sneaks up and catches everyone by surprise with top fives and his one win. He’s also racing his teamies, Burton and Harvick, for Big Dog bragging’ rights at Richard Childress Racing (RCR).

Jeff Burton in the AT&T 31 is another Chevy pilot with one win and will join his Chase action in seventh position. Remember, the RCR teams have shown a sort of step-by-step climb back to greatness and that means they can break out at any time. The same holds true for this no-nonsense, straight-talking Virginie boy.

Jeff Gordon in the DuPont/Nicorette 24 will start as the tenth driver in Chase standings. He’s had an off year with no wins so the four-time champ is having a problem pulling the trigger if ya know what we mean. We’re thinkin’ he’ll go for that fifth title and start looking to retire shortly after.

Kevin Harvick, in the Shell-Pennzoil 29 and the third RCR team car, is our last Chevy Boy in the Chase and will start eleventh. He’s kinda spurty in his performances, running in hot and cold streaks. At the last race before the Chase started, he nailed down another Top Ten and that could signal another jump up the Sprint Cup ladder.
There’s your line up for the NASCAR Chase. And don’t feel bad if Chevy ain’t dominating like last year. Remember, the Dodges didn’t even get ONE car into the Chase. Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark. Almost as bad was the deal with Ford pilot, Carl Edwards. Flipperoo Carl was docked 10 bonus points for failing post-race inspection after his Vegas win. Yeah, that might just leave a mark, too.
Prediction #1 - We’ll stick our turkey neck out and say right here that if Tie-Oda wins the Championship, you can look for some kind of rules change to slow ‘em down so the rest of the boys can race with ‘em next year. They already done that in the Craftsman and Nationwide Series.

Prediction #2 – Dodge just dropped the bombshell that they won’t be involved with the NASCAR Truck Series next year. That may just be the first crack in the NASCAR–Factories wall. With sales suckin’ so bad, ALL the brands are looking for ways to cut costs. Well, the truck series is the third of three so something had to give. Our prediction is more will follow, whether it’s in the trucks or the Nationwide Series (NNS).

Oh yeah, talking about NNS, NASCAR has already pushed back its intro of the NNS Car Of Tomorrow to give the troops extra time to absorb the costs. NASCAR would like to use Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers there but so far, Detroit ain’t diggin’ it. NASCAR is still reportedly testing the new COT Nationwide platform, though.  

 

© 2006-2010, MaxChevy and RacingNetSource