Brad Keselowski

When Brad Keselowski won his first Sprint Cup race in 2009, fans said "Who?" When he won last summer at Kansas, people asked "Really?". But after running off three victories and finishing fifth in points last season, people expect BK to be a contender in 2012. Keselowski relished the underdog under the radar roll last season, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with being a front runner this year. He told me on the Sprint Cup Media Tour that being a front runner will be a different challenge, but one he looks forward to. He's the biggest question for Keselowski, how will he deal with being the "A" driver for both Penske Racing and Dodge.

After falling back to 40th early in the race due to damage on his car, Tony Stewart stormed back to win the Ford 400 and the Sprint Cup Championship. The two actually ended up tied in points, but Stewart won the title due to the tie breaker, which is wins. Stewart has five, Edwards has one. It was the first time in the history of the sport, the points race ended in a tie. "Are you kidding me?" Stewart said after crawling out of his car. " We said all week if we went out and win the race, we didn't have to worry about what he did. If this doesn't go down as the best chase in NASCAR history I don't know what does.

Tony Stewart passed Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps to go Sunday and surged into contention for his third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship with three races left. The victory was the third for Stewart in the first seven races of the 10-race playoffs. Stewart moved from 19 points behind leader Carl Edwards and in fourth place to just eight points behind in second as several contenders got caught up in a season-high 18 caution flags. Edwards struggled all day, but rallied to finish ninth and held on to a lead that he seemed likely to lose.

Rebounding from hard contact with the wall early in Friday night's Dollar General 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards held off Kyle Busch on a five-lap green-flag run to the finish to win his eighth Nationwide Series race of the season and the 37th of his career. Busch came home second followed by Trevor Bayne and Elliott Sadler, who claimed the final $100,000 Nationwide Insurance Dash4Cash bonus and cut into the series points lead of ninth-place finisherRicky Stenhouse Jr. Brian Scott ran fifth, followed by Brad Keselowski, whose dominating run was foiled by a cut tire late in the 200-lap race.

He's baaaack!   Jimmie Johnson answered all questions about his readiness to contend for a sixth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup title with a dominating performance in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.   Johnson held off hard-charging Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered-flag finish set up by Jeff Gordon's blown engine on Lap 265. Johnson beat Kahne to the finish line by .548 seconds in a race that went five laps past its scheduled distance of 267 laps.   The victory was Johnson's second of the season, the 55th of his career and the 20th in 74 career Chase races.

Driving a No. 22 Dodge that felt as if it were on rails, Brad Keselowski dominated Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway to win his fourth Nationwide Series race of the year and the 16th of his career. The reigning series champion passed runner-up Carl Edwards with just over 13 laps left and pulled away to win by 2.795 seconds. Elliott Sadler ran third, followed by Paul Menard and Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Keselowski had a 10-second lead over Menard when the engine in Josh Wise's Chevrolet exploded on Lap 142. The No. 22 Dodge hit pit road for tires and fuel and quickly stretched out his lead.

This week NASCAR is headed to my old stomping grounds, Kansas City and the Kansas Speedway. Having grown up about a half an hour from where the track now sits, its amazing to see the transformation the area has undergone. Not just the track, but the baseball stadium, Sporting KC's soccer field and all the restaurants and shopping. Plus a casino that will open next year. It's truly a unique track on the circuit. As for the racing this weekend, midwest race fans will get to get a look at Danica Patrick this weekend.

Tony Stewart made it 2 for 2 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, pulling ahead when Clint Bowyer ran of gas with two laps left to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. Stewart is on a roll when it matters most, following last week's Chase opening victory with another strong performance at New Hampshire. Both of his victories this season have come in the Chase and have propelled him to the top of the points standings. The outcome was a complete reversal of last fall's race at New Hampshire.

So there they are, the 12 drivers that will battle for NASCAR's top prize, the Sprint Cup. Exactly the 12 you had in right? Me, not so much. So first off let me apologize to Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt, Junior, Brad Keselowski and all their fans. Clearly I underestimated the strengths of your team this season. Now that the field is set, let me take another crack at picking the field. Who will step up their game, who has used up all their chips just to get in it? These are my thoughts, take them with a grain of salt....