Championship Preview

So after a long hiatus, which included me taking a break throughout the entire Chase, due to other conflicts, I have briefly returned for the 2016 Championship Preview.

SPRINT CUP
The 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup has been exciting and lived up to the hype.  Like NASCAR's other series, the Championship race will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  4 drivers, will race for the win and the championship: Jimmie Johnson (Martinsville winner), Carl Edwards (Texas winner), Joey Logano (Phoenix winner) and Kyle Busch (4th in points).  Jimmie Johnson has rebounded in the Chase, winning at Charlotte & Martinsville, tracks in which he has dominated in his career.  Carl Edwards took a gamble and won a rain-shortened Texas race.  Joey Logano won at Talladega, and also took the win at Phoenix last weekend.  Kyle Busch hasn't won a Chase race in 2016.  Just like in 2015, he raced his way into the Championship.  He could win the race, using the same strategy and could be the first repeat winner since Jimmie Johnson's 5-year streak.  So when the sun goes down, the racing will heat up.  Johnson is the favorite, but I'm going with Kyle Busch and Toyota.

XFINITY
Just like in the Truck Series, the Xfinity Series debuted the Chase format for the 2016 season.  The chase started out with 12 drivers, now ends with 4: Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Erik Jones & Daniel Suarez.  The Xfinity Series, wins dominated by Cup drivers, will crown a champion decided to the series.  Elliott Sadler won the inaugural Chase race at Kentucky and has been a competitor all season.  The JR Motorsports driver has definitely been a favorite to win the Championship, but will have to battle teammate Justin Allgaier, winless in 2016, who raced his way via points.  The opponents will be with Joe Gibbs Racing: Daniel Suarez & Erik Jones.  Jones, who is expected to move to the Cup Series in 2017, driving for Furniture Row Racing, already having 4 wins this season on all different types of tracks.  The other being Suarez, who became the first Mexican to win a NASCAR Xfinity series race.  Suarez won at Dover back in October, has recorded 10 straight top-10 finishes.  With no Cup Chase driver running for a championship allowed to compete at Homestead-Miami, everything is up for grabs.  All 4 drivers winless at the track, it will be a battle between veteran (Sadler) and young-guns (Suarez/Jones/Allgaier) for the title.  Going with Suarez.

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK
The Camping World Truck Series also has a Chase format, which started at 8 drivers, now cut in half.  The drivers competing for the title are former series winner Matt Crafton, Christopher Bell, Johnny Sauter & Timothy Peters.  Crafton has won the title before, but not in this format.  Bell is a rookie and has won a race.  Sauter has won multiple races in 2016 and Timothy Peters raced his way via points.  William Byron was favored to win the championship, but losing an engine at Phoenix last week costed him a spot for the finale.  Going w/ Johnny Sauter to win Friday.