The points have been reset for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Over the final 10 races 12 drivers will battle it out to see who wins the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Championship. The last three years Jimmie Johnson has come out on top and will be looking to be the first Cup Series driver to win four straight titles.

That is the main storyline to watch. Will Johnson get his fourth in a row or will someone upset his bid to make history?

There are some other storylines heading into the first of the ten Chase races at New Hampshire this Sunday.

Brain Vickers, who raced his way into the top 12 at Richmond, and Juan Montoya, will be competing in their first Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs. Both drivers have been hot down the stretch run of the first 26 races and expect to be contenders and not just Chase fillers.

Another storyline is the fact that four of the 12 drivers are winless this season. They are Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Greg Biffle. They all sit 40 points behind first place entering the first race. It will take race wins if they want to come away with a championship, so these four drivers need to get off the snide.

Mark Martin, at 50-years old, enters as the number one seed because he has won the most races of the Chase qualifiers. His four wins have him 10 points ahead of Tony Stewart and Johnson. Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne are 20 points back and Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Vickers are 30 pints behind.

Hendrick Motorsports has three of the 12 spots, with Martin, Johnson and Gordon. The only Hendrick car not to make the Chase was Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Stewart-Hass Racing got both of their cars into the Chase, with Stewart and Newman. This team is closely affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports so it is not surprising to see this team be so successful in their first season.

Roush-Fenway Racing only managed to get two of their five cars into the Chase. Edwards and Biffle will be Roush’s only hopes at a title in 2009. This organization has struggled this year, with only two wins, both by Matt Kenseth who was bumped from the Chase field last week. Jamie McMurray and David Ragan have also had disappointing seasons for Roush.

Joe Gibbs Racing only has one participant of its three teams, after having all three in last season. Hamlin looks as strong as anyone and could just bring the title home for the Gibbs camp. Kyle Busch missed the Chase due to lack of consistency and rookie Joey Logano was on the outside as expected in his first season at the Cup level.

Richard Petty Motorsports got Kahne back into the Chase but their other three drivers missed out by wide margins. A.J. Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson never were in contention for the Chase. However, Kahne will be trying to get The King back into championship form.

Kurt Busch will be the only Penske Racing driver in the Chase, but the future of this organization looks strong. Sam Hornish Jr. showed great improvement this year and Brad Keselowski will be joining the team in place of David Stremme in 2010.

Red Bull Racing made their first Chase in the team’s third season in the series. This is a team on the rise with Vickers being a young and talented driver. Also Scott Speed has promise, but needs to get acclimated to the Cup cars before he will give this team a shot at landing both cars in the Chase.

The final team to get a car into the chase is Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Montoya driving. Martin Truex Jr. made it last year but was disappointing in 2009. This organization still looks strong, with the continued improvement of Montoya behind the wheel.

The Chase field is made up of six Chevrolets, two Toyotas, two Dodges, and two Fords.

As for the first Chase race at New Hampshire on Sunday, it should be noted that since the Chase has been implemented a Chase driver has won every race.

It should be a fun Chase to watch and I expect it to come down to the final weekend in Miami-Homestead to be decided.