Local racers faring well

I'm going to start off this week with an update on a few of our local racers.

Karen Stoffer of Minden is racing this weekend in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina. A 21-year veteran of motorcycle drag racing with numerous wins and championships on her record, Karen has finished in the top 10 in points for five years running. She currently sits third in points for 2011.

Gardnerville's Tanner Thorson is having a great racing season. At Cycleland in Chico, California last weekend he won the coveted QRC perpetual trophy in not one, but two Outlaw Kart racing divisions - 250cc and 500cc Open Intermediate. He then went on to qualify 15th in a 360 Spec Sprint car and was running second in his heat race when the motor blew. Thorson has a huge points margin in the Open Intermediate Kart Division, and should clinch the season championship this weekend. His goal is to move into Sprint cars and race with the World of Outlaws.

Carson City's Mackena Bell had an excellent development season with Revolution Racing in the NASCAR Whelen series. She ran 16 races and did a lot of testing. She told me she was very happy to get to work with Jefferson Hodges, who came into the organization mid-season.

"He built a lot of confidence in me, and I learned a lot about race cars and myself this year," she said.

She had good qualifying efforts all year, but her last race in Tennessee kind of summed up her race luck. She was caught up in an accident on a restart while running in the top 10, damaged the nose of the car, and overheated.

"Our results don't show how well we ran," she told me. The Drive for Diversity combine takes place next month, and Mackena hopes to win another season with Revolution. If not, she will pursue other opportunities, counting on some of the relationships she has built in the NASCAR community over the past two seasons to keep her in the sport.

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The NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase field is set for 2011 with 12 drivers' points reset to 2000 plus three bonus points for each win.

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick start out at the top of the chart with 2012 points each. Jeff Gordon has 2009, Matt Kenseth has 2006, and Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, and Ryan Newman have 2003 apiece. With no wins and just 2000 points are Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., joined by Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, the two wild card entries. Their wins are not eligible for bonus points.

Those few extra points for the top seeds could loom large at the end of the season, given the new points system in place this year.

So who will be crowned Sprint Cup Champion at Homestead-Miami on November 20?

In my opinion the strongest four drivers in the Chase will be Kyle Busch, Gordon, Johnson, and Edwards. I look for Kenseth to lead the second tier with Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Stewart in that group. Bringing up the rear will be Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, and Newman. Five-time champ Johnson will be tough to beat, but I'm picking his teammate Gordon to join him at five titles this year. Gordon has been driving with the same fire he showed in his four championship seasons. The 10 Chase races are a good mix of short track, superspeedway, and intermediate track configurations, with Martinsville, New Hampshire, Phoenix, and Talladega breaking up the mile and a half venues. I just wish they would throw a road course into the mix, maybe Road Atlanta.

ESPN is throwing a new wrinkle into its Chase broadcasts with the debut of the network's "NASCAR Side by Side" coverage, a split screen showing both commercials and racing action. And, NASCAR.Com's "RaceBuddy" product will also be available on WatchESPN.com and as a WatchESPN app for smart phones, so you can keep up with the racing action all through the Chase no matter where you are. Just make sure you have an unlimited data plan.