Oct 13, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (2) and Denny Hamlin (11) race during the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-US PRESSWIRE

At 35 points behind the leader, Brad Keselowski, Kasey would have to finish on an average of seven positions ahead of of Brad on every race to just come up with a tie. Yeah, I know, if Kasey wins or leads a lap, this average would change. I still can’t see the #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy doing it this year.

Clint Bowyer is just getting the knack of winning, and has no chase experience to speak of, and I don’t see him as a threat to win it all in South Beach.

The Chase, in my opinion is between two cars. The Federal Express Toyota and that darn Lowes Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski has impressed me in the Chase so far, but I don’t think he has the wisdom to win it all. He is a force to be reckoned with, but I don’t think it’s this year. He has some championships in his future, but the other two team have been there and done that. I have Brad in the pool at The Watering Hole, but am only being realistic with my hopes.

At the remaining tracks, Brad Keselowski has no wins in his short career. Jimmie Johnson has 13 wins and Denny Hamlin nine. Jimmie won at Kansas last year before Tony Stewart went on a tear and won three of the last four races to win his third championship. One factor that makes Hamlin better than 2010 is the addition of the crew chief that Tony didn’t want. You know. Darian Grubb.

So as we go down the home stretch to Homestead, I think we have a “Two Horse” race that will be between Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. Now Jimmie has never lost it when he was really in it, and I think he  also has one of the best crew chiefs in the business, with Chad Knaus,  but I really beleive it is time for Denny Hamlin to win it all.

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Oct 7, 2012; Talladega, AL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) drives back to the garage area after picking up teammate Jimmie Johnson (48) after a crash on the final lap during the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-US PRESSWIRE

If a driver is able to get his car started, and can drive it to the garage, he is left to blow the whistle on himself. This is the same problem that has been facing the NFL and Football in general, over the past few years. Only after pending lawsuits against the NFL from former players who have residual problems incurred during their playing days. I think Nascar needs to get more active in providing a mandatory testing program to protect drivers from themselves.

This needs to start with some kind of rules change where a driver doesn’t have to drive in every race in order to stay in the points picture. They need to have some kind of rule that gives drivers the right to throw out a couple of low scores due to missing races, or make it mandatory for drivers to sit out a set number of races every year. Not sure of exactly how to do it, but some method needs to be in place where a driver can sit out without losing ground on the field.

The other factor needs to be some baseline testing that includes mandatory testing for all drivers involved in a crash before they can return to the track. They can quickly look at video to determine how hard someone’s car was hit. If they think a driver took a pretty hard impact, then he needs to get tested.

Obviously they have impact sensors on the cars, or Dale Jr. would not have known how many G’s each of his crashes had obtained. Nascar can review these numbers quickly and make a decision as to whether the driver can continue or not. A driver who has just had a hard blow to the head should not be involved in the decision whether he is capable of continuing to drive a race car at 200 miles per hour, inches away from fellow competitors.

Dale Jr. was probably not going to win the championship this year. He was behind the curve, and probably too far back to catch up with the leaders, but we all know, had he still been close, he probably would not have raised his hand and opted out for two weeks. This is a precarious position for Nascar to be in. It’s all up to the driver and his team as to if they opt out or not. This decision should be in someone else’s hands.