With three races left in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, the focus is on the drivers remaining in title contention - Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer (by a thread).

So what are the remaining 40 drivers to do at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead? Go out and win!

While winning one race doesn't compare to claiming the championship, it does help ease the pain and build momentum going into next season.

That said, there is one driver who could take the attention away from the title battle at the end of Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Aside from having loads of momentum following his run last weekend at Atlanta, where he started in the rear of the field and finished fourth, he also has finished third or better in three of his last four starts at the 1.5-mile venue.

Can he steal the spotlight by driving into Victory Lane?

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Rarely do I tackle the same driver in consecutive blogs, but a two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion, some exceptions can be made.

As I wrote last time, Smoke was on the verge of falling out of title contention with a bad result at Martinsville, and he almost pulled that off as he qualified a horrific 34th at the paperclip circuit.

However, he fought back to finish 13th Sunday to maintain a glimer of hope.

How can Stewart keep that glimmer going? A repeat of his past two Atlanta performances would do the trick. Not only is he the defending winner of this weekend's event, but he also has a runner-up finish at the track in spring. If he can do the same, the glimmer remains, anything less and it may be over for Smoke and Co.

If the driver of the Home Depot Chevrolet does turn in a race-winning performance, and by chance Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson falter at a track notorious for blown engines (hey, if it could happen to DEI/RCR, it could happen to Hendrick too), then we may be in for a fun three weeks to end the season.

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Could a pit road blunder have cost Tony Stewart a chance at the 2007 Nextel Cup championship?

Just past halfway in Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway (Lap 177 of 334 to be exact), Stewart looked to have pulled off a coup by pitting for gas only and pulling away in hopes of grabbing the lead. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, he did not notice that cars were still streaming into the pits as he tried to make his quick exit, and he hit Paul Menard on the way out. As if that wasn't enough, he bumped into Kasey Kahne seconds later.

I won't get into whose fault it is - because that's really not relevant at the moment. What is relevant however is the points that Stewart lost as a result of this mistake.

Yes, he went on to finish seventh on the night ---- but that was after his team fixed damage to his car and he drover like a madman for the result. If he could have kept his car clear of damage, don't you think that he could have challenged race winner and championship leader Jeff Gordon?

But what do you think? Did Tony Stewart blow his chance at a championship due to the pit road mistake? Can he bounce back and win the title?

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As has been the case the last four weeks, the focus of this week's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway will be on the 12 deserving drivers who qualified for the title deciding Chase for the Nextel Cup, particularly championship frontrunners Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

But is there a third Hendrick Motorsports driver who could steal the show this weekend?

There is, and his name isn't Kyle Busch - the third Hendrick Motorsports driver in the Chase.

The driver is the often forgotten Casey Mears.

Ever since winning his first career Cup race (which, coincidentally, took place at Lowe's earlier this season), Mears has been showing the promise that many had predicted but few had seen.

In the last four weeks, the driver of the No. 25 National Guard Chevrolet has scored four consecutive top 10s. Combine that with the fact that the winner of the Coca Cola 600 has returned in October and swept the Lowe's Motor Speedway races, and it could equal a very special weekend for the entire "Mears Gang."

What do you think? Can Casey Mears steal the spotlight from the Chase drivers as Greg Biffle did two weekends ago? Which Chase driver can halt Mears' sweep dreams?

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It may still be early in the 2007 version of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, but some drivers are in danger of being eliminated from championship contention.

One of those drivers is Denny Hamlin.

After starting the playoffs with a decent 15th-place finish at Loudon, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has stumbled down the charts following results of 38th and 29th respectively at Dover and Kansas.

Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, things won't get better this weekend at Talladega as he has an average finish of 30.66 at all restrictor plate races.

Is Denny Hamlin out of the championship hunt? Can he bounce back and compete with frontrunners Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer?

Let us know your thoughts.