Kasey Kahne finished second last week and won in California last year - can he do it again this week?

California Speedway is two miles of track that is extremely similar to its sister track, Michigan International Speedway.  This means we should see a lot of good racing this weekend.

The D-shaped track allows at least two good grooves of racing, so there will be side-by- side racing with moments of three lanes of traffic fighting for position, and that is racing at its best.

We are coming down to the wire when it comes to making the chase, and it seems as if the excitement NASCAR was hoping to get by changing from ten to twelve finalists will not be happening. Yes, there are mathematical possibilities that the top twelve may change by the time we get to New Hampshire, but the odds are not good.

For this reason, I think we are going to see a lot of drivers racing for the win alone, not the points they’ll get for finishing back in the field. It is going to be all or nothing for everyone.

Matt Kenseth has won two of the last three races here at California, and I could see him doing so again. He is going to want to have the extra ten bonus points for winning when it comes time to chase the championship.

I am going to stick with Roush-Fenway in my second choice and pick Carl Edwards. He has a win at Michigan, and to be honest, the only difference between it and California is the time zone.

Surprisingly, Jeff Gordon is not as dominant here as he is at a lot of other tracks, but he still makes a good showing with two wins. I think it is safe to say he too would like the extra ten bonus points to push himself out into the lead in the chase.

Kurt Busch is still on a hard charge since his turnaround at Pocono, and just because he has basically made it into the chase free and clear, he will not pull any punches when it comes to trying to win. He just won at Michigan, so odds are definitely in his favor.

Last week I was hoping to be wrong and see Kasey Kahne in the winner’s circle. But even though he didn’t win, a second place was a ‘win’ for him after the season he has had so far. He won at this track last year, and maybe he’ll take the momentum from last week and use it to turn this year around for himself.

Clint Boyer is my dark horse again. He finished third at California last year and his average finish here is seventh. So far this year, he is always good for a strong finish; this fact has kept him the top twelve despite the fact he is still without a win.

Questions and comments may be sent to jenniferpatterson@sportsgrumblings.com