iNSIDE SCOOP: Contenders All

Now there are 12.

Chasers, that is, and those 12 will battle for three races, beginning at Kansas on Sunday. It's called the Contender Round, and it is table-setting for the round of eight, known as the Eliminator Round.

That means the lowest four in points after Talladega will be eliminated, leaving eight drivers to battle for the four spots in the finale at Homestead-Miami next month.

What it is, is pucker time.

If you're in the top 12, you have to be concerned about making the final eight. With Talladega in the mix there, you have to be popping Alka-Seltzer and drinking ginger ale. That place is a one-stop shop for antacids of all stripes, especially if you need to finish well to move on.

It doesn't get any easier in the Eliminator, either. You've got Martinsville, which is the travel-sized brother of Talladega in terms of indigestion, and Texas has been known to catch up a few guys in the dark of the night. Phoenix? Same story, but a cross between the two.

If you're still standing after Phoenix, you're one race away from a title. No gimmick, no BS, just 267 laps for all the marbles. No pressure there, huh?

This is like Dancing With the Stars, without Michael Waltrip.

The good thing about this is, everyone is even at 3,000 points. Win and you're in the Eliminator. It's all about the finishes now. Finish in the top eight, you're good. Mulligans? We don't get no stinking mulligans. If you blow up, spin out or commence to wreckin', be ready to remove that yellow number from the top of the car and paint the splitter the color it used to be. You'll be focused on 2015.

After three races and the drama we saw at Kansas, with Kasey Kahne squeaking into the Contender round by the slimmest of margins, these next three are going to be even tighter.

If NASCAR wanted to ratchet up the tension and make this must-see TV, then they've done a great job. Even Jimmie Johnson, who has won six of the 11 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup titles, can't wire this thing. Used to be, he'd get the ol' 48 on rails and ride to the top three, winning a few of them along the way, and be the champion come Homestead.

Not anymore. You've got to finish high every race, which he can do, but hasn't done with the frightening regularity of years past.

Brad Keselowski and Paul Wolfe have overtaken Jimmie and Chad in that regard. They've got their stuff wired tight, and they're winning races. Ditto for Joey Logano and Todd Gordon. Jeff Gordon cracked the Chase winner's circle at Dover, that smacked of the old days when Ray Evernham was on the box.

Matt Kenseth is proving that you don't have to win to move on. He's not won all year, but here he is, in the top 12. 

If Kevin Harvick and his bunch can put together a whole race, they'll win this thing going away. The only cars as consistently fast as Happy has been this year are owned by Roger Penske.

Whatever the Contender Round produces, it's going to be fun to talk about. Don't you think?