I apologize for the lateness of this preview racefans.  I had to make a quick run to town that almost ended with a little old lady being seriously hurt.  You see, she stepped in front of me in a parking lot as I was pulling out of my parking spot.  She had a large awkward cart she was trying to control and it went the wrong way.  I had to brake and pull to the right to avoid hitting her and subsequently bumped against the vehicle next to me.  Then I had to spend an hour at the Insurance agent.  The good news is, she didn't even know how close she came to being squished between my truck and the shopping cart, and the lady whose car I did bump was ever so understanding.  Bad news? While I expected to be home hours ago, I have literally run through the door to get this preview done.

It has all come down to this weekend in the Sprint Cup and tomorrow evening we will know exactly who is going to be Chasing the Sprint Cup.  As we've said before, only 4 cars are locked into the Chase at this point.  There are 8 more spots to fill and although those higher in the standings, at this point, stand a better chance of being in the Chase than those 10th and back, a catastrophic finish in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 could change the top 12 drastically. 

Kasey Kahne has momentum after last weekend at Atlanta and with his jump of 5 spots forward in the standings shows us how easy it really is to move forward or backward during the course of one race.

Matt Kenseth has the final, 12th spot right now, and as he is usually a quiet, consistent finisher, stands a great chance to get in the Chase and keep his streak of being in the Chase every year since its conception alive.  Only 20 points behind Matt is Brian Vickers, a driver no one thinks of immediately when thinking of a Chase spot, but Brian has proven he is here to be a contender, every week. 

Kyle Busch, with four wins this year, sits 17 points back of Brian Vickers, a points standing no one would have predicted at the beginning of the year.  Only Mark Martin can match him for wins this year, and Mark isn't out of the woods either, sitting only in 10th.

Richmond is a short track, at 3/4 mile, and is a fun track to race on.  It's asphalt, not concrete, so doesn't fall into Carl Edwards strengths.  Carl hasn't won here.  Kyle won here in the spring race, so is a driver to watch.  However, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnston and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have multiple wins at Richmond, and Kasey Kahne, Matt, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and last week's dominator, Kevin Harvick, have also won here.  Ryan Newman also won here, and Clint Bowyer, who was knocked out of the Race for the Chase last weekend, won her last year.

Of the current drivers, Brian Vickers is the only one with a record on the track, that for qualifying.  Other records at the track are held by Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Richard Petty.  Both Tony and Kasey got their first wins at the track.

The Sprint Cup race gets underway tomorrow night, under the lights, at 7:43 ET.

The Nationwide cars also race here, a little later on this evening. Denny Hamlin just claimed the pole position for that race, and if you were watching the qualifying, you heard the announcers voice their opinions against the Start and Park cars.  Morgan Shepherd attempts to qualify and run every single Nationwide race he can get to.  He is running for position, for points and for the love of racing.  He qualifies his car in race set up, when required, and starts the race intending to run every single lap.  The start and park cars qualify, run a few laps and park for the night or day.

I agree with them - it's wrong.  However, it is what it is, and the competition for top spot is between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.  Kyle leads Carl by 221 points, followed by Brad Keselowski 292 behind Kyle.  At this point the race is really between the three of them, as Jason Leffler is over 600 points out of first.  That race gets underway on ESPN2 at 7:43 pm ET (what's with the :43???)

The Camping World Truck Series races tomorrow from Gateway, and Ron Hornaday, driving for KHI, has a commanding lead of 225 points over Matt Crafton.  As always, Speed will carry that race.

So, what's your pleasure?  Summer's over, the Chase and the last ten races of the year are about to begin.  Whose your pick?