Gettin Loose...11/4

So I decided to change it up a little bit this week for "Gettin Loose" in that I am going to do it today instead of doing on Friday of last week. I know I didn't get to pick a winner or a sleeper for last week but that will start up again at the end of this post for Phoenix.

First lets talk about Texas and the amazingly gutsy call by Carl Edwards at the end. To try to make it 69 laps on one tank of fuel is crazy. That craziest thing about it was that his crew chief told him that he should pit. He took it on himself to slow down and make sure he had enough to make it to the end. What a call and what a driver! It allowed him to gain 60 points on Johnson and now he is back and has a real chance again. That's the kind of driver Carl is. He is racing for the win. If he would have run out of gas he would've taken himself out of the chase. He is a go for broke kind of driver and it paid off big time on Sunday.

Johnson finished 15th and I am not really sure why. I wonder if he was points racing and just figured a decent finished would have sealed it up. And ya know what, maybe it did. He is up 106 with two races left but with Edwards winning two in a row I wouldn't be points racing just yet. I don't know, maybe his car just wasn't that good but I know that he better race a little harder if he wants to rap it up early.

A few other side notes from Sunday in Texas:

-For the first time ever, that I have seen anyway, a driver intentionally wrecked another. That's right, David Gilliland pretty much intentionally wrecked JP Montoya and then in an interview said it was an accident. HAHA! yea, did he watch the replay. What an idiot!

-With his 6th place finish, Kyle Busch is now not last in the Chase points standings.

-Denny Hamlin is now last in the Chase points standings.

-Jaime McMurray got his 3rd straight top 10 and is really making himself look good coming down the stretch.

Now lets talk about next week. The guys go to Phoenix. Its a flat fast 1 mile speedway. The favorites are all going to be the guys at the top of the standings. Johnson, Edwards, Biffle, Gordon, Burton, Bowyer and Harvick have all done very well at the track in the past. Its going to make for an incredibly exciting race. A few big questions are going to be: How conservative is JJ going to be? Can Carl win again? Will there be a sleeper that comes out of nowhere and gets a win? Can Gordon get a win for the first time all season?

We are coming down to the end and I think that's going to make for some incredible racing. Let me make my picks so that you can tell all your friends how smart I am come Sunday afternoon.

Lock of the Week: Jeff Gordon. He has historically run really well here and along with Edwards, he made the right decision to stay out last week. He finished 2nd and that momentum along with the need to win this year will propel him into victory lane this week in Phoenix.

Sleeper of the Week: Kevin Harvick. Harvick likes this track a lot and he has been running very consistently all year but hasn't' had that memorable win yet. He is going to be right there this week and may be able to pick up a win and start his run at next year's title.