As of right now this is the year of Kyle Busch. The way things set right now, when the Chase starts, Kyle will have a large lead over the next driver. He would start 50 points ahead of Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne who have 3 and 2 wins respectively. Carl will not get 10 bonus points for his win at Las Vegas after he was docked 100 points for failing post race inspection.

            So I am going to stick with Kyle Busch to win this weekend at the Brickyard. In 3 races Kyle has never finished outside of the top 10 and he is hot. The only thing that can really stop him is someone else’s mistake, a mechanical failure or just plain aggressiveness.

            Two of the Indiana natives have 5 wins at the Brickyard between them. That’s half of the Sprint Cup races that have been run there with Jeff Gordon winning 3 times and Tony Stewart winning twice. Ryan Newman on the other hand has only finished in the top 10 here once in 7 races.

            Kevin Harvick is another driver who fairs pretty well at Indianapolis. Kevin has a win and 5 top 10 finishes in 7 races here. His worst finish is 19^th and this is the time of the year to start to shine for all of the drivers who are serious about contending for a title.

            Matt Kenseth came away with another good finish at Chicagoland after having early race troubles. Matt has been very good at the Brickyard with 5 top 10 finishes in 8 starts. Matt has been the runner-up twice and finished 3^rd another time.

            Kasey Kahne has only run 4 races at Indy and finished in the top 5 in his first 2. The last two races Kasey has really struggled here but then he struggled both of those years everywhere. This year he is back on top of his game and this weekend should be no different.

            Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top 10 only twice in 8 races at the Brickyard. Junior doesn’t like the flatter tracks as much as the higher banked ones because he likes to run the high line and it is tough to keep it off the wall and to pass on a track like Indy when you are running up there.

            Brian Vickers has really been coming on lately and could be a big surprise this weekend. This team is going to get a win before the end of the year and could be a legitimate contender to make the Chase next season.

            Mark Martin has always run well at the Brickyard with 6 top 10 finishes in his 10 starts there. I’m not sure if the DEI engines have the power it takes to visit victory lane here right now though. You need a lot of power to get down the long straight-aways at Indy.

            Carl Edwards has only run 3 races at Indy and has a best finish of 9^th. This team is starting to turn things around once again and just needs to get rid of their mechanical issues to give Kyle Busch a run at the title.

            Yahoo Picks for the Brickyard

            Group A

            Tony Stewart (starter)

            Jeff Gordon

            Group B

            Kyle Busch (starter)

            Kasey Kahne (starter)

            Mark Martin

            Reed Sorenson

            Group C

            Brian Vickers (starter)

            Travis Kvapil

            Top 5 Overall at the Brickyard

1.      Kyle Busch

2.      Tony Stewart

3.      Jeff Gordon

4.      Kevin Harvick

5.      Matt Kenseth

Dark Horse: Bobby Labonte

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

As always you can Email me with any questions, comments or suggestions at gutsamaniac@hotmail.com. Good luck once again this weekend!