Cup Preview: Chicago

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads into the Windy City this weekend. Many headlines surround the series after a wreck fest at Daytona. Now the teams have one week left before their "off-week," if you want to call it that. This is also TNT's last race to cover until 2011, and that means good bye Racebuddy. They'll have plenty of story lines to cover however, in just a short period of time. Here are some of them:

*Can new daddy Jimmie Johnson rebound from Daytona after wrecking in the big one? He and his wife welcomed their daughter into the world this week, but have yet to name her. Maybe Jimmie's daughter will be in Jimmie's arms in victory lane this weekend. So, the answer to the question will probably be yes. But......

*He may have to go through Denny Hamlin. Hamlin was on a roll for a while, but as the schedule hit some "different" tracks he began recording not-so-hot finishes. Now, the series is back on a "cookie cutter" track with more tracks coming up that Denny has had an extreme amount of success at. It is now time to see if Denny really is a championship contender.

*What about Harvick? Kevin is leading the points right now, but he still has not won on a non-restrictor plate track, although it does seem like he is a championship threat now more than ever.

*Can Tony Stewart start his second half season roll? Chances are good for him since has has shown strength on this track before. However, he is going to have to overcome last week's disappointment at Daytona.

*Will Mark Martin turn it around? He just got knocked out of the Chase, and time is running out for him. There is alot of speculation if the movement of engineers from Martin's team to Earnhardt's team have made the disappointing difference of this year and last, but the team continues to disagree with that theory. If he is going to make the Chase, that team is going to have to stop the bleeding. And besides, there's a rumor that this might be the last year for Mark to get into the Chase with Hendrick Motorsports.

*Will Clint Bowyer make another run up into the Chase like last weekend? He would have been in it already, however, things just didn't go his way during the last lap.

*Will Jeff Gordon finally end his winless streak? This weekend will mark the 47th race without a win. The last time he was about to be at 47, he won. If he doesn't win this weekend, it will be the longest winless streak of his career. Oh by the way, it's his 600th start.

*Will Gordon's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. continue his good run? He's in 11th place right now in points. I don't know Junior, sometimes I think it's better to be lucky than good.

*Can Kasey Kahne make it into the Chase. More good runs for him and more bad runs for the people he is racing will get him their for sure.

*Oh and Danica Patrick is back in the the Nationwide Series, I thought I might throw that in there. Why? Because she's Danica, that's why!

The last race for TNT also shows that the Chase is right around the corner. The field is still close right now, so that shows that it's gonna be a nail-bitter right until the checkered flag at Richmond. The teams are under a lot of pressure, and as the weeks go on, you are going to see that more and more.