There are only three races left this season and Jimmie Johnson has a commanding lead over Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle right now. Jimmie is going to have to have a major catastrophe to lose the championship this season. NASCAR is going to have to ask themselves if they need to reformat the Chase when Johnson wins his third straight title.

            This week we head to Texas and the running of the Dickies 500. Jimmie has a win and 2 runner-up finishes in his last 4 Texas starts. I look for him to get another win this weekend and put the Chase virtually out of reach during the remaining 2 races.

            Carl Edwards won here this spring and has been the most dominant driver on the one and a half mile tracks this season. Carl will do everything he can once again this weekend but Johnson can follow him across the finish line again and still hold a very comfortable lead.

            Matt Kenseth had a fast car at Atlanta and has done even better at Texas over the last few years. Matt hasn’t won here since 2002 but since then he has finished 2^nd three times and 3^rd once. This is a team that would like to get a win this season to build a little momentum heading into next year.

            Denny Hamlin had a great car last weekend also and he runs well at Texas. During his short career, Denny has only finished out of the top 10 once at Texas in 6 starts. This is another team that is looking to build momentum for next year.

            Dale Earnhardt Jr. should do well once again at Texas this weekend unless he loses it towards the end of the race once again. I think what this team needs is a new crew chief. Not that Tony Eury Jr. isn’t a good crew chief it’s just that he and Junior don’t really have the chemistry together in my opinion.

            Jeff Burton has run well at Texas lately, winning in the spring of 2007 and then following that up with two straight 6^th place finishes. Jeff was running alright at Atlanta last weekend until a late race wreck ruined his day.

            Kyle Busch needs to turn things around this weekend. He admitted to not being totally focused when he comes to the tracks now that he is out of contention for the Chase but this is the time for teams like this to start working towards next season. If you start getting lackadaisical now it will only hurt you as other teams just keep on improving.

            Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray both had great runs last weekend at Atlanta and I look for both of them to try and score an upset this week at Texas. Both of them have the skill and equipment to do just that.

            Yahoo Picks for Texas

            Group A

            Jimmie Johnson (starter)

            Carl Edwards

            Group B

            Jamie McMurray (starter)

            Juan Pablo Montoya (starter)

            Greg Biffle

            Kasey Kahne

            Group C

            AJ Allmendinger (starter)

            Brian Vickers

            Top 5 Overall at Texas

1.      Jimmie Johnson

2.      Carl Edwards

3.      Matt Kenseth

4.      Denny Hamlin

5.      Kyle Busch

Dark Horses: Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray

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