Is Dale done? Or can he pull it out tonight?

Richmond International Raceway, a .750 mile track, sits outside of the capital of Virginia and is not only a fan favorite, but a driver favorite. It may be a small track, but it races almost like a speedway. The track is wide and gives drivers options on which lanes to run, and there is usually a fair amount of bumping and rubbing.

Drivers and fans love coming here because it’s not only fun to drive, but also fun to be a spectator. I’ll be pulling onto the grounds tomorrow morning before 7:30 and looking to set up camp for tailgating. There will be much eating, lazing about, and people-watching, which in my opinion is a lot of fun.

We have reached the last race before the chase for the championship, and unless something very drastic happens, I don’t think we’ll see a change in the top twelve. However, I don’t think this fact is going to stop one of my picks from winning.

It is going to be hard for me to watch the Hendrick cars start on the front row, and I’m even more worried I’m going to be watching the twenty-four car doing donuts before heading to the winner’s circle. Jeff Gordon may not have gotten the pole, but he has an excellent chance of getting across the finish line first.

Carl Edwards was second last week and he has qualified sixth. His practice speeds were not top ten, but lately he has been able to tune in his car as the race goes on and ends up finishing well. I also promised my youngest daughter I would get a picture of him doing his backflip if he won.

Tony Stewart, where have you been lately? Your late season run was interrupted by Kurt Busch’s and you seem to have had a hard time getting your mojo back. He needs a good finish to get the ball rolling the right way to start the chase off with some of that momentum back.

Speaking of Kurt Busch, he is truly on a rampage toward finishing off the season in the opposite way he started it. Ever since Pat Tryson signed on as his crew chief, they have been one of the teams to beat.

Despite qualifying twenty-first and then coming in forty-third during practice, I am going to pick Dale Earnhardt Jr. He won the last time I was here, and maybe he’ll get the car setup he needs to get him to the finish line and maybe, just maybe, he’ll do it before everyone else. I still don’t see how he can get into the top twelve, but a win would make things a little easier on him.

I am going to dig deep for my dark horse and pick David Ragan, the rookie in the number six car. He not only qualified eighth, but was second fastest in practice. He only needs to have the confidence in himself to keep the car in the front and run with ‘the big boys’.

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