Comments: NASCAR Picks for Chicagoland

After 26 races, it is time for 12 Cup Series teams to hit the reset button. The 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup begins this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, and the championship is officially up for grabs. There has been no better example of just how wide open the Chase can be than last season's magical run by Tony Stewart. After declaring prior to the Chase that he didn't even deserve to compete for the title, "Smoke" opened the playoffs with a win at Chicagoland and won four more races on his way to a third career championship.

Unfortunately for fantasy owners that aren't leading their leagues, there is no Chase format in fantasy leagues to help close the gap. Still, there are 10 races left in the 2012 season, which might be just enough to time to mount a rally. That being said, any late season surge has to start sooner rather than later. It is time for fantasy owners to evaluate their strategy from here on out. If you are leading your league, there really isn't any reason to change things up and take a lot of risks. If you need to gain ground, you have to start going outside of the box in order to have any hope of trimming the deficit.

1. Tony Stewart, Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1
2. Jimmie Johnson, Lowe's/Kobalt Tools
3. Kevin Harvick, Budweiser/Rheem
4. Jeff Gordon, Drive to End Hunger/Axalta
5. Kasey Kahne, Farmers Insurance/Quaker State
6. Carl Edwards, Fastenal/Aflac/UPS/Subway
7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew
8. Clint Bowyer, 5-Hour Energy
9. Denny Hamlin, FedEx
10. Matt Kenseth, Husky/Dollar General
11. Brad Keselowski, Miller Lite
12. Greg Biffle, 3M/Bondo
13. Ryan Newman, Quicken Loans/Haas Automation
14. Martin Truex, Jr., NAPA Auto Parts
15. Kyle Busch, Mars Brands/Interstate Batteries
16. Mark Martin, Aaron's Dream Machine
17. Paul Menard, Menards
18. Joey Logano, Shell-Pennzoil
19. Jeff Burton, Caterpillar/Cheerios
20. Juan Montoya, Target
21. Regan Smith, Guy Roofing
22. Marcos Ambrose, Stanley/Dewalt Power Tools
23. Sam Hornish, Jr., SKF/AAA
24. Kurt Busch, Furniture Row
25. Jamie McMurray, McDonald's/Cessna
26. Trevor Bayne, Motorcraft/Quick Lane
27. Aric Almirola, Smithfield Foods
28. David Ragan, CSX Transportation/Peanut Patch
29. Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com
30. Bobby Labonte, Kingsford/Clorox/Bush's Beans