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The 2012 season has came and went.  The season ended with a fury for some and a fizzle for others.  Brad Keselowski captured his first Sprint Cup championship and Jimmie Johnson came up short on his quest for a sixth championship.  The season literally ended in a fury for Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.  Some contact at Phoenix turned into a forced accident which then transpired into an all out brawl that left Gordon at the bottom of a pile of members from both teams.  Pretty exciting stuff for NASCAR junkies.  Gordon, who most thought should have been suspended, then won his first career race at Homestead the following weekend.

Interestingly enough, Bowyer finished in second place in the standings and just 39 points behind Keselowski.  NASCAR got lucky that the point differential wasn't close enough that Bowyer could blame Gordon for not a having a legitimate shot at the championship.  In the end I would just call it a "no harm, no foul" situation.  This season is now in the history books so lets get up to speed with some new things starting at Daytona in February and brief look at the upcoming 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

Let the Racing Begin

Well that was quite a finish to the 2012 regular season last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.  Clint Bowyer and his crew put in a great effort that landed themselves the victory, but that was hardly the biggest story of the night.  There was little left to decide inside of the top 10 as the drivers started their engines for the annual night race at Richmond.  The real action was clearly going to be the battle for the final Chase spot.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch represented the 2 favorites for the final Chase position with Busch holding a 12 point advantage entering the night.  Marcos Ambrose, Joey Logano, & Ryan Newman all had a shot to make the Chase but they would have needed a victory to claim that final spot.  Paul Menard also had a very, very small chance but he too would have required a victory and, at best, for Gordon to finish worse than 20th and Busch to finish worse than 31st.

Only 2 races remain until the Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup kick off at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.  Hard to imagine that we have already come this far in 2012.  This season has been an exciting one and different than those of recent past.  For the first time in a while it seems that several drivers not named Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart have a chance to win the Cup this year.  A lot can change over the next 3 months but if all goes well we could be looking at another exciting finish to the season at the Ford EcoBoost 400 in Miami, FL.

Coming to the last race of 2011 it was a two horse race for the Cup.  Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart were practically dead even and at the end of the race they shared the exact same point total.  Edwards had a 3 point lead at the beginning of the race, finished second, and lost the championship in a tie-breaker situation.  What a rough ride for Edwards who has suffered since the race last November.  On the other hand Tony Stewart provided the performance he needed to win the race and the championship.  As a NASCAR fan you really couldn't have asked for a better finish to the 2011 season.  With no clear favorite in 2012, I am excited for the possibilities of another incredible finale at Homestead Speedway.

We are currently about a month and a half away from the start of The Chase.  2012 will be the second consecutive year that Chicagoland Speedway will play host for the first race of The Chase for the Cup.  With just six races left before The Chase, Dale Jr. currently leads the standings for the first time since 2004 and might be in position to capture his first ever points championship.  Junior has put himself in a good spot and he seems to be driving with the more confidence than ever before.

Last week Jimmie Johnson returned to his winning ways with his fourth career victory at the Brickyard.  Junior and JJ are in good position but the final few spots are still up for grabs.  If The Chase were to start today, this would be the list of qualified contenders for the Sprint Cup championship.

NASCAR will be stationed in Charlotte, NC for the next two weekends as the league's top drivers prepare to tame Charlotte Motor Speedway.  This weekend NASCAR will feature their annual All-Star event and the track will host the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend.  Most teams in NASCAR have their shops located in and around the Charlotte area so this event also serves as somewhat of a homecoming.

Most professional sports hold their all-star event much later in the season but NASCAR goes against the traditional all-star grain.  The Sprint Cup is just 11 races into the season and less than a third through the season, but this an all-star break nonetheless.  In light of the early season pause, lets take a moment to review the first 3 months or so of Sprint Cup racing.

Every year NASCAR features 2 races at Daytona International Speedway.  One of course is the Daytona 500, and the other is the upcoming Coke Zero 400 in July.  These 2 races at Daytona represent half of the superspeedway races on the NASCAR circuit.  The other two races are held at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Superspeedway races are just  different monster than any other.  Nothing can compare to the soaring speeds and close quarters of a superspeedway race.  Tempers are easily flared and even the smallest of errors can cause "the big one".  The only tracks where you hear about the big one is Daytona and Talladega.

The NASCAR season comes to a close this weekend at the Homestead Speedway in Miami, FL.  The Chase now focuses on the final race of 2011 with the championship coming down to just 2 drivers.  Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards are separated by just 3 points going into this weekend's Ford 400.  Both drivers have had success at the track but Carl Edwards has a clear advantage with only one finish outside of the top 10 in his Sprint Cup career.  Edwards' made first cup start, and only finish outside the top 10, at Homestead in 2006 while running part-time in the Sprint Cup.  Since then he has also managed to rack up 2 wins at the season finale.  The last race of the year should be one for the NASCAR history books.  The new points system creates more opportunities for the Sprint Cup to have such close finishes between drivers, which is good for the sport and all the great NASCAR fans.