Juan Pablo Montoya qualified strong this week - will it lead to a Sunday victory for him?

This-one-and-a-half mile quad-oval is very similar to Lowe's Motor Speedway and is located in the northern part of Fort Worth. It is considered to be one of the fastest non-restrictor plate tracks on the circuit. That in itself will make this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway exciting, and once you add in all the chase drama, I would say it is safe to say this is one race you will not want to miss.

Turn one is still a little tricky for drivers even though they have removed the bump that plagued it, so look for some cars sliding up into the wall as they drive too hard into it. There will be some fast and hard racing this week. The ‘take it easy and protect yourself’ way of thinking will be gone for all of the chase contenders, even Jeff and Jimmie. Racing for the win will be the order for the day for all forty-three drivers.

We are down to three races left in the season, and then a break that will have me watching the calendar come February.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are not known to run well at Texas; as a matter of fact, they have only one win between them at the last three tracks we'll be seeing this year. That being said, I still think they both have an excellent chance of winning. The hard part is picking between them. I flipped a quarter, heads Jeff Gordon and tails Jimmie Johnson. Tails, Jimmie Johnson. This means that not only will Jeff Gordon remain winless at Texas Motor Speedway, but he will also lose the lead in the points.

Carl Edwards has only one top ten finish here, but that was a win. There has been a lot going on with him the past few weeks, and I hope he is still focusing on the driving and ignoring everything else. This weekend will be a test of that.

In the April race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. led 96 laps before his engine blew. Now, I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but if his engine holds out for him, he has a solid chance of winning this race.  

Martin Truex, Jr. has never finished worse than fifteenth in his four starts here. More often than not lately he is a serious contender for a win, and I don't think this week will be any different.  He has three more chances to fulfill my prophecy that he will be the first new winner this year to get his second win.

I had my top four picks all settled well before qualifying, but was stuck on whom to pick for my fifth choice. Denny Hamlin – here’s hoping I do not jinx you as I did the first part of the season and like I did last week. It was not the water in the gasoline, it was me picking him for the win, sorry about that. His average finish here is seventh and he qualified seventh. This is a fast track and he handles the car well at high speeds on tricky tracks.

Casey Mears is ranked fourteenth in points. I had to do a quick double take when I noticed that. Not that I think he isn't a good driver, it was just a shock to notice how he was moving up the list in points.  He qualified ninth and even though I was going to pick Juan Pablo Montoya as my dark horse, something tells me Casey will be the one to watch this week.

Starting Grid