It took four-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson only three Chase races to take over the lead from Denny Hamlin (by eight points) in the Sprint Cup standings, However, five other Chase drivers are within 58 points of Johnson going into the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA at 3 p.m. this Sunday.

Gamblers should note that the Auto Club Speedway is one of Double-J's best tracks, where he has already notched five wins, 10 top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes in 15 starts! Johnson has won the last two races and four of the last six at the two-mile oval in Fontana and he has a streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes that include six top-five finishes in the last seven years. Yeah, getting the picture that Johnson is good at Fontana?

Who will win the Pepsi Max 400?

There is little chance the 11 other Chase drivers are going to make up any points on Johnson this Sunday at Fontana, but they can hope to keep up. The next three Chase races play to Hendrick Motor Sports and Johnson's incredible strengths as a teammate and a driver. Johnson finished second last week at Kansas and could rip off three more top-five finishes in the next three races. 

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin dropped to second place in the Sprint Cup standings
after finishing 12th at Kansas. Hamlin is going to have to finish in the top five if he wants to keep pace with Johnson in the standings. However, something tells me that the inconsistent Hamlin will move downward rather than upward in the Chase.

Speaking of downward mobility, Clint Bowyer's Chase is officially over now that he lost his appeal regarding the points deduction after his New Hampshire win. Bowyer finished 15th last week at Kansas, and now he is relegated to a cheerleader role, Bowyer sports a 12.0 average finish at Auto Club Speedway, his best track of all the Chase tracks.

Kurt Busch lost two spots in the Chase and is coming off a 13th-place finish at Kansas. Kurt finds himself in sixth place in the standings and almost out of it entirely at 70 points behind Johnson as he goes into his best Chase track. Kurt has an average finish of 12.2 at Fontana and in February he finished in sixth place, and finished eighth and fifth, respectively, in the two previous races. The 'Blue Deuce' should run up with the front of the pack for most of the race.

My pick to win last week's race was Carl Edwards, who battled a poor performing car all race, but ended the race well in sixth place. This was good enough to move Edwards up two spots to fourth place and 53 points behind Johnson. Edwards won this race back in Feb. 2008, but has done a bit worse each subsequent race and this February he finished 13th, his worst finish in five races, ending a string of four consecutive top-10 finishes.  

Pick! Jimmie Johnson, No. 48, +200

Pepsi Max 400 - Long Odds Lucky Dog Pick

Nobody has been more money as a Long Odds Lucky Dog pick than Greg Biffle, who was my pick last week and ended up winning the Price Chopper 400 outright and cashing backers +1000 tickets along the way. For those keeping score, I have picked the winner of the last three Chase races either as my Lucky Dog, Top-three finisher, or Pick to win.

This week Biffle's odds have gone down to +800, but I think he is another great value play (if you don't want to back Bowyer at +3000) to win back-to-back races. By winning last week at Kansas Biffle kept his slim Sprint Cup dreams alive and moved up one spot to eighth place and 85 points behind Johnson. Biffle won at Fontana in Feb. 2005 and has recorded four top-five and five top-10 finishes in 15 starts at Fontana. He has three top-10 finishes in his last four starts at Auto Club Speedway. Biffle has actually now won seven Chase races as compared to JJ's 19, but his eighth Chase win could come on Sunday.

Pick! Greg Biffle, No.16, +800

Pepsi Max 400 - Top Three Finish

It seems like Kevin Harvick got his groove back in Kansas where he finished third. Harvick had an uninspired first two Chase races, but has rebounded nicely to move up two positions to third and 30 points out of first in the standings. Back in February Harvick challenged Johnson all the way to the end, and if he had not hit the wall he might have won the race rather than finishing second. Harvick has never won at Auto Club Speedway, but has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts. Harvick just might beat Johnson on Sunday (if the No. 48 blows up) but if he doesn't a top-three finish is likely.

Pick! Kevin Harvick, No.29, +350

Pepsi 400 - Odds to Finish in Top Three
Auto Club Speedway Oct. 10, 2010 3:00 pm EDT

Jimmie Johnson -140
Greg Biffle +250
Jeff Gordon +250
Carl Edwards +250
Kevin Harvick +300
Kyle Busch +350
Kurt Busch +350
Denny Hamlin +450
Tony Stewart +450
Matt Kenseth +450
Jeff Burton +600
Juan Pablo Montoya +750
Kasey Kahne +750
Clint Bowyer +900
Jamie McMurray +900
Joey Logano +1200
Ryan Newman +1200
Martin Truex Jr +1500
David Reutimann +1500
AJ Allmendinger +1800
Mark Martin +2200
Regan Smith +3000
Elliott Sadler +3000
Sam Hornish Jr +3000
Marcos Ambrose +3000
Bobby Labonte +3000
Scott Speed +3000
Reed Sorenson +3000
zx Field (Any Other Driver) +3000
Brad Keselowski +3000
Dale Earnhardt Jr +3000
Travis Kvapil +3000
Paul Menard +3000
David Ragan +3000

Pepsi Max 400 - Odds to Win*
Auto Club Speedway Oct.10, 2010 3:00 pm EDT

Jimmie Johnson +200
Carl Edwards +800
Jeff Gordon +800
Greg Biffle +800
Kevin Harvick +1000
Kurt Busch +1200
Kyle Busch +1200
Tony Stewart +1500
Matt Kenseth +1500
Denny Hamlin +1500
Jeff Burton +2000
Kasey Kahne +2500
Juan Pablo Montoya +2500
Jamie McMurray +3000
Clint Bowyer +3000
Joey Logano +4000
Ryan Newman +4000
Martin Truex Jr +5000
David Reutimann +5000
AJ Allmendinger +6000
Mark Martin +7500
David Ragan +10000
Reed Sorenson +10000
Brad Keselowski +10000
Dale Earnhardt Jr +10000
zx Field (Any Other Driver)+10000
Travis Kvapil +10000
Bobby Labonte +10000
Scott Speed +10000
Paul Menard +10000
Regan Smith +10000
Elliott Sadler +10000
Marcos Ambrose +10000
Sam Hornish Jr +10000