Kevin Harvick

To quote the great poet LL Cool J "we're going back to Cali, Cali, Cali, were going back to Cali, but just once this season. " OK maybe the song didn't go exactly that why, but you get the point. NASCAR races to the beautiful edge of the left coast, Fontana, California and the Auto Club speedway. This is the only date for this track in 2011, and honestly unlike what happened in Atlanta, I think this is the right call. There's no rich history at Auto Club speedway and southern Cal does seem all that interested in having to races.

The day belonged to Kyle Busch, but the victory in the Auto Club 400 belongs to Kevin Harvick. Busch lead 151 of the 200 laps at the Auto Club speedway on Sunday, but Jimmie Johnson took the lead woth 3 laps to go, just to give up the lead on turn four of the final lap to Harvick. The 29 lead just one lap, the last one but it was all he needed. Busch finished third. "I can see them growing bigger in the mirror, I could see them coming," said Busch. Those guys were just better.

This week NASCAR heads to Bristol, Tennessee. The night race at the world's fastest half mile is truly one of the greatest spectacles in sport. But after the spring race at Bristol, many had said the magic was gone. So the Tennessee track got a little work done. Not full on plastic surgery, more like a little nip and tuck. "We're excited to go there … they changed the track a little bit, so we'll have to be ready for anything," said Martin Truex, Junior. "I feel like we can go back there and run even better than we did the last two times.

A little bit of strategy and a whole lot of late race speed allowed Matt Kenseth to pull away late to win the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway. Kenseth led the final 32 laps Sunday to win for the second time this season. He joins Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch as two time winners. "I'm not a big one for kissing guys, but if (engine builder) Doug Yates was here, I'd probably kiss him right now," said Kenseth after the race. Mark Martin was second and Marcos Ambrose third.

So NASCAR will race for the only time under the lights during the Chase, Saturday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. I love Saturday night races, so I am a big fan of this even. Plus as much as people complain about the "cookie cutter tracks," the high banked high speed tracks like Charlotte or Atlanta or Texas are my favorites. "Obviously, a night race in the Chase is big for any race track," said Denny Hamlin. "But especially big being in the backyard of everyone's house. I just look forward to it. We run well there so I'm excited to go. " There are a lot of big guns that run well at Charlotte, none the least of which is the man who stunk up the show last week in Kansas, five-time champ Jimmie Johnson.

NASCAR heads to it's "wild card" race in the Chase. But for Kansas native Clint Bowyer, Talladega has been anything but wild. He has won each of the last two fall races in Alabama. And you have to think he is one of the favorites again. "This is a big weekend I think for our sport, for our Chase and everybody involved in it," said Bowyer. "This can be a game changer.  This is one of the tracks that can separate somebody and possibly win you a championship. " With everyone in the chase running so well, one bad race can be their chase.

Okay, let's talk playoffs. There are technically eight drivers still alive to make the NASCAR Chase for the Championship. But unless your name is Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch, you basically have to win and get some help to get in. "We're confident coming into this weekend," said Busch. "We feel like we've always done well here.  We have really good notes that we have a good basis for being able to run well here and have a good foundation to start practice with.  We'll continue to do some of the same things that we've always done here in the past to make our car what it needs to be for the race on Saturday night.

Chicago may be the Second City, but it's first up in the Chase for the Championship. Getting off to a good start at the Chicagoland Speedway is critical, not only because it's first race of the chase, but also because it's the first of five 1.5 mile tracks in the championship. "You want to come out of the gate strong and get the best possible result you can," said Jeff Gordon. "If that's a win, great, if that's fifth, great. A lot can happen during the Chase. To me, 10 weeks is a lot of racing.