A look at Lucky Dog Racing's 2012 Chase Field

Northeast Ohio Motorsports dominated the regular season, they were the only multi-car team to have all of their drivers make the Chase. Unless they have a complete meltdown they should easily win the team championship, making it three different teams in the last three years.

In the driver standings, they have lost that points cushion and its now anyones game. It  should be interesting to see if they will still work closely together or will it be every man for themselves as the races count down to Homestead.

Here is a look at the 12 drivers that made the Chase this year.

1. Gary Wheat -  Only member to score 3 wins in the regular season and therefore will have a slight advantage to start the Chase. He also recorded a whopping 8 top 5s and 12 top 10s. It should be interesting to see if he will stay as dominate. This is the 4^th time that Gary has made the Chase and also his 4^th time in the last 5 years.

2. Leon Baker - Had a very impressive regular season which may have surprised some people. His previous finishes were 28^th and 36^th. He amassed two wins and therefore will start in 2^nd place. Its the highest that hes ever been in his career. After three seasons, Leon finally makes the Chase for the first time and will look to take advantage of it.

3. Jordan Hunt - Leader of Northeast Ohio Motorsports and will be looking to lead his team to their first victory. He also hopes to win his 2^nd Cup Championship as well. He is one of four former champions in the Chase this year. Jordan has missed the Chase the last two years and will be looking to make up for it now. This is the 4^th time that hes made the Chase.

4. Robby Stone - Joining Northeast Ohio Motorsports has been one of the best moves that Robby has ever made. He had an impressive year last season by making the Chase and finishing 4^th but his performance with this team could bring him a championship. With his 2^nd appearance in the Chase Robby is looking for big things this time around.

5. Bob Douce - Bob was touch and go there for awhile in trying to make the Chase this year but with a couple of good runs in the last few races, he was able to join his three other teammates to make them a force this year. Bob has only missed the Chase once in his six full seasons in the league. He finished 2^nd twice in that time. Now in his 5^th appearance, he is looking to finish one spot higher.

6. Harry Jeffery - Last years Champion is back in the Chase again thanks to another strong regular season as usual.  Harry is the one driver with the most Chase appearances in the league, this is the 6^th time for him. In each of the past 4 seasons, hes finished higher each time. Since he won the championship last year, hell just have to do it again this year. Hes looking to become the 2^nd player to win back to back championships in the Cup series.

7. Dean Higley - Just like last season, Dean is the lone driver for Racing Traditions, Inc. to make the Chase this year. The once unstoppable team has fallen apart this year but has begun their rebuilding process by adding Jose Rodriguez to the mix. Dean is hoping to give the team another reason to look to the future by winning another championship. Dean won in 2009 and is looking for another with his 5^th Chase appearance.

8. Ed Blackman - The other  half of Coast To Coast Racing, Ed joins his long time partner Harry Jeffery in the Chase again. This is only the 2^nd time that Ed has been in the Chase in his 8 years in the league. Since Eds appearances havent come too often, he will have to make the most of it this year. Theres nothing more than he would like than winning the championship a year after Harry won it.

9. John Sherman - John got nervous after a 41^st place finish at Atlanta and fell out of the Chase after being in the top 10 since the 4^th race of the season. Luckily John finished in 6^th place at Richmond and unluckily for the other John, John Magee, he finished in last place. So Magee fell out and Sherman moved in. After missing the Chase the last three years, John Sherman is now looking for that elusive championship. This is Johns 4th total appearance.

10. Troy Wiggins - The 2008 Cup champion gets the final spot in the top 10. He makes his third straight and fifth total appearance in the Chase . Just like last season, Troy is the only member of Intimidator Racing, Inc. to make the Chase.  Last year he finished 7^th but will be looking for bigger things and hopefully a 2^nd championship.

11. Greg Eichele - Greg gets the first of the wildcard spots thanks to his two wins during the season. Greg was in the top 10 for awhile but fell out a month ago. Luckily he had those wins to fall back on. He joins his teammate John Sherman as the only two members of Mafia Motorsports to make the Chase this year. This is the first appearance for Greg in just his 2^nd year in the league.

12. Paul Scannell - Paul shocked everyone in the league including himself by getting the 2^nd wildcard spot. Paul also recorded two wins during the season but had fallen out of the top 20. At Richmond he finished 15^th thanks to winning a tiebreaker over the Northeast Ohio Motorsports members. That gave him just enough points to move up to 19^th place. He made the top 20 by just 4 points. Now Paul is the only rookie in the Chase and the first rookie to make it since we had five in 2007. That year a rookie won the championship, so Paul is looking to make news again.

Good luck to our Chase drivers and may the best man win!