Qualifying is complete for this afternoon's Ford 300.  We've crowned one champion, as Johnny Benson captured his first Truck Series Championship by a whopping 7 points over Ron Hornaday last night.  Now, it's time to crown a champion in the Nationwide Series.  The kid they call "Sliced Bread" nabbed the pole for this race, but Carl Edwards will start along side of Logano on the outside of the front row.  Edwards knows what he has to do in order to win back-to-back Busch/Nationwide Series titles, and the front row qualifying effort was the perfect way to start.

Meanwhile, Clint Bowyer didn't do bad in qualifying, but he didn't do that great either.  He wants to stay close to Carl Edwards, but when they start the race, Bowyer will roll off 13th.  If Edwards were to lead the most laps and win the race like he did in Phoenix, Bowyer would need to finish 8th or better to win this championship.  He's been consistent all year, and he should be able to get a top 10 finish again.  However, he just needs to be sure he doesn't force the issue because Edwards is starting up front.  That can lead to mistakes, which he can't afford.  Bowyer just has to take his time.  He knows what he has to do, and he has a long time to get it done.  He's got 200 laps to pick up 5 positions.

Edwards will do everything in his power to win the title for the second year in a row, but he may come up just short.  It's been Clint Bowyer's championship to lose all year, and it's still his to lose today as the season comes to a close.  So who's winning this one?

My Pick: Carl Edwards - Edwards will lead the most laps and win this race, but he will come up just short of the championship by about 20 points to Clint Bowyer, who won't lead a lap, but will finish no worse than 6th.

Dark Horse: Brad Keselowski - He's starting 6th, and he'd like nothing more than to end the season on a good note.  He's been the one driver who has run with the Cup Series drivers in this series all year long, and he's going to finish 3rd in the final points standings, a great year for a guy who just a couple years ago was a nobody.

The coverage starts at 4:00 PM ET on The Deuce.

BK over and out