Today’s Allstate 400 At The Brickyard is the beginning of 17 consecutive race weekends to end the Sprint Cup season. The first seven of those will set the Chase field.

Ten drivers are on the Chase bubble. The margin is just 101 points from Jeff Gordon in sixth place to Denny Hamlin in 12th. Clint Bowyer, a Chase competitor last year, is just 27 points back of Hamlin, and two hot drivers, Brian Vickers and David Ragan, are 95 and 98 back.

After last year’s less-than-compelling stretch to the Chase cut, this year’s is shaping up to be more like Brian France had hoped. When you’ve got names such as Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Hamlin involved, the drama increases.

Five drivers currently in the top 12 are winless this year: Gordon, Stewart, Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle. As we know, getting victories isn’t a prerequisite for making the Chase, but it’s unlikely someone will win the Cup title without a win or two.

It’s even more important this year when Kyle Busch is likely to start the Chase with 80 to 100 bonus points. The way he’s driving, it’s unlikely even a multiple champion such as Gordon or Stewart could catch him in the final 10 races with that kind of deficit. The message Busch is sending is that he’s not going to let up, and anyone wishing to contend for the title better find victory lane to get some bonus points of his own.

* News on the NASCAR economic front got even worse recently when General Motors, a staple of NASCAR since its beginning, announced a massive budget reduction. Included in that will be a big chunk of its motorsports marketing, which has NASCAR, its teams and tracks very nervous.

GM now spends around $130 million on motorsports, and though a specific figure to cut back hasn’t been announced, it’s a certainty NASCAR will feel it in future seasons. But just how deep with the cuts go? Will manufacturer support be cut back, and if so, what will that mean for GM teams?

It couldn’t come at a worse time for GM-affiliated teams, with Toyota beginning to flex its muscle. Any major manufacturer support cut will have to absorbed by the teams. While Hendrick, Childress and Joe Gibbs Racing can afford it, lower-rung teams such as DEI will be seriously affected.

* On the subject of Toyota, NASCAR dealt the manufacturer a potentially serious blow this past week by announcing an engine-rule change in the Nationwide Series. Technically, the rule forces Toyota teams to use a smaller tapered spacer, which cuts horsepower by 15 or so.

It’s the first in-season technical rule change in six seasons and an even rarer engine change. NASCAR felt the Toyotas had a horsepower advantage after securing 14 wins in 21 events this year, 13 of them by Joe Gibbs Racing.

It’s strange that NASCAR knew before the season of the advantage, yet did nothing. The bigger issue now is how long will it be before the Sprint Cup teams are targeted? This isn’t a COT matter, which NASCAR has said it will not tweak. This is an engine matter, and if one team is shown to have a decided advantage, NASCAR will act.

Add the fact that Kyle Busch and his JGR Toyota has dominated the season, and it could happen. However, look further and notice that Busch is the only Toyota driver inside the top five in points (Stewart and Hamlin are 10th and 12th). Vickers is 14th in a tremendous turnaround season, but the other Toyota teams have yet to show much.

So although NASCAR never likes it when one team or manufacturer dominates a season, it’s very doubtful anything will happen in the Sprint specifications. Remember, Chevy won 12 of the first 13 races last year and NASCAR did nothing.

* Though no official word has been given, it’s more and more clear that Ryan Newman is joining Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing next year. The first piece to the puzzle fell Friday when Stewart unveiled his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice car. He only has to secure a sponsor for Newman to make the deal complete.

That, according to sources, is very close to happening as Burger King is nearing a deal to get back in the sport as Newman’s primary sponsor.

* Is it just me, or are you also growing extremely tired of Danica Patrick’s act? It’s one thing to get angry with a driver and show your emotion every now and then. For Patrick, it seems to happen every week. Her latest dustup came when Milka Duno cut her off around a turn during practice. Didn’t touch her, make her spin out or even make her move to avoid contact. Duno just made an aggressive (yes, too aggressive in practice) move to pass her, but there was no real harm.

Many thought these diva-like antics would have cooled a bit after Patrick’s breakthrough win this year, but they’ve only gotten worse. She now seems to believe drivers need to get out of her way just becuase she’s Danica Patrick.

Wouldn’t you like to see how Tony Stewart or Kyle Busch would react to one of her fits?