The fourth quarter of the calendar year always men one thing in sports, CRUNCH TIME.

Yes, it’s that time of the year when baseball teams prepare for the playoffs, football teams clinch division titles, and in this case, NASCAR drivers try to take that first step towards the Cup. And in case you haven’t guessed, the 2008 NASCAR Chase for the Cup is here, when everything is back to square one.

The 2008 Chase for the Cup features twelve drivers battling for ten races to determine the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. The fifth edition of NASCAR’s Chase has three clear favorites; Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson. But in a system where twelve drivers are separated by just 80 points, anyone could come out on top in a playoff race that seldom goes according to plan.

Kyle Busch had a great regular season and found his way to Victory Lane eight times while Carl Edwards ruled the intermediate tracks like those that dominate these final ten races.

Will one of these three favorites win it all or will one of the other nine contenders win it in 2008?

For Kyle Busch, he has dominated the competition so far this year. He comes into the 2008 Chase for the Cup with more wins (8) wins and more top five finishes (15) than any other driver in the series during the first twenty-six races of 2008. He has 5080 total points and is the overall leader coming into this race.

Busch has ruled NASCAR for most of the season. Now the pressure is on for him to close the deal and claim his first NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

Carl Edwards, on the other hand, had the second highest Sprint Cup win total in 2008. Edwards scored six wins during the regular season. He also leads all drivers in top ten finishes in 2008 with nineteen. That is two more top tens than Kyle Busch.

Carl Edwards is 30 points behind instead of 20 because he was penalized ten Chase bonus points after failing post-race inspection in Las Vegas. It will be interesting to see if those points end up making a difference in the final standings.

Who will win the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.

Kyle Busch 2.00

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6.50

Jimmie Johnson 7.00

Jeff Gordon 11.00

Want more odds? Visit Bodog for more NASCAR betting odds and the best betting lines on some of today’s biggest sporting events.

2008 NASCAR Season Sprint Cup