A Pause to Reflect

The Brickyard 400 is coming up next weekend, and we need a moment to take a breath, shake our collective heads and focus on what lies ahead.

As in, the Chase is almost here.

As in, it's getting chippy among the cars and stars, and it will get downright ugly before the 12 combatants are determined at Richmond.

Watch the drivers in the 20th through 13th spots if you want to see what desperation on wheels looks like. The top 10, or at least the top five or so, are solid enough in the points to start looking ahead a bit.

Those sixth through 10th are a bit uneasy, and the 11th and 12th are like long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs. Sooner or later, something is gonna happen and they aren't going to like it.

My bet for the two wild-card drivers is David Ragan and Tony Stewart, unless the latter gets hot and goes on a Smoke attack here in the next little bit. Ragan has proven he's capable of making the Chase, and might be the third Roush Fenway driver in. I don't think Greg Biffle is making it this year.

Montoya, Joey Logano and Jamie Mac aren't going to make it either. 

That's just me. It might be completely off the mark. It's been known to happen (just ask my wife!). 

The bigger question that has to be answered is what's the direction NASCAR is going in? There have been multiple occasions on the season where stuff has happened and NASCAR has not had a ready response, or enough of a response to assure fans and participants alike that it's under control.

Sponsors leaving is a bellweather toward the health of the series. Crown Royal is gone at the end of the season. Aflac is likely going to leave as well. UPS is up for renewal. Home Depot has to go big or go home. 

Bank of America is getting ready to get out. Others are thinking the same way. It's a brave new world...without the money that has been the fuel of the sport's growth. How NASCAR addresses this is going to tell you a lot in the next 17 weeks.

The offseason will be a big determining factor as well. TV contracts are up soon, and that's going to be another whole can of worms.

We'll find out, and as it usually does, there will be winners and losers. Let's see how this plays out and hope for the best, shall we?