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The 2012 NASCAR season has one weekend remaining and by surprise, it’s Brad Keselowski who has all the pressure in his court this weekend.
I am not shocked that Keselowski made The Chase, but I didn’t see him winning the Championship coming into the year. Perhaps, by mid-season, everybody knew, Keselowski would be a force to reckon with.
What caught us all off guard was the fact that Jimmie Johnson blew a tire and pounded the wall last week at Phoenix. It looked like Johnson was about to become Mr. Six-Time, leaving him one championship shy of the elite, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
With a 20 point lead, Keselowski can finish 15th or better and Jimmie Johnson can do nothing but watch the celebration. And by all accounts, both teams and drivers deserve the title, but 267 laps are left to figure it all out.
What’s just as interesting lies on the fact that Clint Bowyer was about to make this a three-way fight again, becoming within 30 points of the Championship lead. It would have taken drastic measures of something happening to Brad and Jimmie, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Jeff Gordon took care of that scenario as he crashed Bowyer with less than two laps remaining last week. Gordon and Bowyer have had their share of disagreements this season, but the two crews fighting in the garage is another matter.
NASCAR is likely to hand down fines and at the same time, NASCAR is loving the promotional side of this whole thing. Gordon has been involved in many of these circumstance, ask Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, etc.
So, there is a lot to consider this weekend in the final race of the year.
Unfortunately, the fall sports playoff schedule was short lived for the schools in Rutherford County this season. Thomas Jefferson boys soccer was the last hope, but fell at home in the third round of the 1A playoffs. The Gryphons made the elite eight last season, but Elkin spoiled the fun and took a 3-2 victory last week.
There’s a shakeup in my NFL Rankings this week. Here are the top 6: 6) Steelers/Ravens, 5) Patriots, 4) Packers, 3)Bears, 2) Texans, 1) Falcons
Second tier: Giants, Broncos, 49ers, Seahawks, Vikings, Colts.
For right now, the Dirty Birds remain on top, but whether they are NFC champ/Super Bowl material is yet unanswered. I like Atlanta’s relentlessness, but they had two golden opportunities to win this past weekend and couldn’t get it done.
And as for the BCS, an Alabama loss is interesting, yet I still believe they could get back into the championship fight. Of the three undefeated teams in college football, Oregon is by far the team to beat. I believe Kansas State will go unbeaten and Notre Dame will have to get past Southern Cal to even have a shot at a National title.
In the ACC, Florida State, Clemson and N.C. State are the three toughest teams this season. And for those interested, Clemson host N.C. State on Saturday at 330.
