NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins this weekend in Loudon, NH.  The season thus far has been building up to this point.  Points are essentially reset for the top 12 drivers as of last Saturday’s race in Richmond.  The next 10 races are all about the Chase drivers.

The drivers contending for the 2009 championship are…

• Mark Martin
• Tony Stewart
• Jimmie Johnson
• Denny Hamlin
• Kasey Kahne
• Jeff Gordon
• Kurt Busch
• Brian Vickers
• Carl Edwards
• Ryan Newman
• Juan Pablo Montoya
• Greg Biffle

As you can see by the above list, Dale Earnhardt Jr didn’t make it in.  I really haven’t yet figured out who I think has the best chance to win the championship.  Although, my gut says Tony & Jimmie are very good early favorites to win it all.  It will boil down to whoever can have the most consistent (good consistency, that is) finishes for the remaining 10 races.  Who are you rooting for to win?

The drivers spent the past couple of days doing a whirlwind media tour in New York City.  Here is a clip of one of the appearances.

Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Matt Kenseth won the rain-shortened 2009 Daytona 500.  Shortening that race due to rain is very much of a let down.  Number 1 – It’s the Daytona 500!  That just isn’t a race you want to see delayed or shortened because of rain.  Number 2 – If the last 48 laps were anything like the previous 50 or so, there would have been a lot of drama and action still to come. (more…)