nascar 2009 <> for week #24

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just 3 more races until nascar's chase for the sprint cup begins here in nh at loudon ... officially or not, tony stewart (1), jeff gordon (2) and jimmie johnson (3) and their hendricks horsepower will race for a championship ... as of now, ryan newman (9), greg biffle (10), matt kenseth (11) and mark martin (12) are in the top 12 but very much on a bubble ... sitting just outside the top 12 are brian vickers (13), clint bowyer (14) and kyle busch (15) ... if i had choices ... mark martin would make the chase ... biffle and kenseth would fall out of the top 12 ... and be replaced by brian vickers and kyle busch ... but instead of me choosing the top 12 ... nascar will run the races at bristol tonite ... atlanta on sunday of labor day weekend (9/6) after a off week ... and richmond 3 weeks from tonite (9/12) ... to decide the 12 drivers who will chase for the 2009 championship

closer to home ... after richmond we will reset our pool for the chase for $$$ ... if our reset were to occur today ... it would look like this

• 1 floyd -- 120 points (100 for 1st place + 20 for winners picked)
• 1 jim -- 120 (90+30)
• 1 jason -- 120 (70+50)
• 4 tom -- 90 (80+10)
• 4 robin -- 90 (60+30)
• 6 rich -- 60 (50+10)
• 7 kevin -- 40 (40+0)

congratulations to brad keselowski ... keso has put jr motorsports on the nationwide circuit map ... dale, jr gave brad an opportunity ... rick hendricks gave brad the best engines ... brad has gone head to head with the sprint guys on the nationwide circuit and won races ... and he won at taladega on the big stage earlier this year ... for his efforts it sure looks like brad keselowski will drive roger penske's #12 car in 2010 ... replacing david stremme on the sprint cup circuit ... in pre-race interviews last night ... brad smoothly deflected all questions about contracts and next year ... based on the big grins i saw ... i'm guessing the paperwork is done but for signatures

pool picks FOR WEEK #24 <> sharpie 500 at bristol (for most points <> for race win)

• floyd -- matt kenseth (17) <> carl edwards (99)
• jim -- david ragan (6) <> greg biffle (16)
• tom -- casey mears (07) <> kyle busch (18)
• jason -- jeff burton (31) <> tony stewart (14)
• robin -- clint bowyer (33) <> mark martin (5)
• rich -- jeff burton (31) <> tony stewart (14)
• kevin -- greg biffle (16) <> jimmie johnson (48)