NASCAR preview 2010 | Predictions for the point race

Predictions for the 2010 points race:

1. Denny Hamlin It’s his time, his year and his chance to replace the tag “potential” with that of “champion.” Even a January knee injury won’t deter him. As he wrote on his Twitter accounty recently: “Nobody wants it as bad as me … PERIOD.”

2. Jimmie Johnson His reign has to end sometime. Doesn’t it? Or maybe not with the way he dominates the Chase. He has won 30 percent of all the Chase races. That’s nearly twice as high as his winning percentage in the first 26 races of the season.

3. Tony Stewart Theory is that his team put so much into the start of last year making sure it put Stewart in a good position in the points that it couldn’t maintain the pace. They’ll learn from that and won’t feel such early pressure and will be strong later in the year.

4. Mark Martin Was last year the dream year that just fell short of a championship or a prelude to something bigger? For him to finally score that championship, his team can’t afford to repeat the reliability issues it had early in 2009.

5. Carl Edwards To go from nine wins in 2008 to none last year was among the biggest shocks in the sport. Can he recover or will the “Baby on Board’’ sign – his wife is due later this month – slow him down this year?

6. Kyle Busch Missing the Chase last year also was among the bigger stories of 2009. That and Busch finally admitting he needed to grow up and do a better job dealing with adversity on the track. If he keeps his composure, there’s no telling where his talent will take him.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya He did a remarkable job of making the Chase and then starting strong before the results slipped away. He wants to repeat that effort to prove last year was not a fluke. For his two-car operation, that could be a challenge. Then again, Montoya is a guy who could pull it off.

8. Jeff Gordon He finished second eight times last year and had only one win. Since 2007, he has seven wins and 15 runner-up finishes. Key for him is finding a way to turn those runner-up finishes into wins. Otherwise, he’ll likely be watching someone else celebrate a title and his championship drought will continue.

9. Kurt Busch New crew chief (Steve Addington). New teammate (Brad Keselowski joins Busch and Sam Hornish Jr.). No other Dodge teams (Richard Petty Motorsports went to Ford). There’s a lot of question marks about this team. Busch could excel and challenge for a title or stumble and struggle to even make the Chase. He’ll be worth watching.

10. Jeff Burton His strong finish at the end of last year, with four consecutive top-10 finishes, shows that this Richard Childress Racing team seems to be on track after issues with the car last year kept him and his teammates out of the Chase.

11. David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing is gaining momentum. The team scored its first career win last year by capturing the Coca-Cola 600. Now is time to step it up and make the Chase. This team shows signs it can do that.

12. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing officials say they’ve fixed the problems that kept them from challenging for a title. If so, Biffle could be a lot higher. He’s underrated as a driver.

Five to watch: Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer.