Every year as the dog days of summer plunge the country into its long stretch of heat and humidity, one of the great fixtures of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series becomes the hottest topic of conversation.

That would be the "Western Swing."

Three races back-to-back starting next week in Denver at the 24th Mopar Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, followed by stops in Seattle, and Sonoma, Calif., will test the mettle of every professional team, especially those looking to take a central role in deciding the lucrative POWERade championships. The three tracks all differ, the climactic conditions in each locale are anything but identical, and the fatigue factor is always an issue by the time the Swing winds down.

Historically, the Western Swing hasn't proven to be either the springboard or the undoing of those leading their respective points standings heading in. This year, the Swing may again fail to tilt the momentum of the title chases in unexpected directions since all four points leaders come into the swing with either solid leads or a winning rhythm already in full tune.

John Force, who swept the Swing in 1996 and has used the three-in-a-row scenario to his advantage numerous times throughout his 12-championship run, is looking at this year's Denver-Seattle-Sonoma medley to spark a second-half surge as he lies sixth in points, some 20 rounds of racing behind category points leader and teammate Tony Pedregon.

"People keep telling me I'm out of the running," says Force. "If I listened to them, I'd just park my Mustang and take some time off. But I've said all along that if Tony wins the championship, he'll have to earn it and until they tell me his lead is too big, my guys want to try to catch him.

"If we get to the last few races of the year and there's no way we can get back into the points lead, we'll still want to run strong enough to help him stay ahead of (Whit) Bazemore, (Del) Worsham, and (Ron) Capps. If we can win a race or two on the Swing, that will change everything in a hurry."

Kenny Bernstein, a 6-time nitro champion who has also logged many miles on the Western Front, has struggled since returning to the Budweiser Dragster, subbing for injured son Brandon. "The entire team is still out here with the intention of winning and you always go into the Swing with the hope of coming back from out west in a better position than you were when it started.

"We can't afford to run as inconsistently as we have and expect to be happy when the Swing is over. But every racer out here will tell you that it's an important three weeks ahead and you want to do well because it can mean a good start to the second-half or put you in a real jam."

Larry Dixon leads the Top Fuel points, Tony Pedregon is up front in Funny Car, Greg Anderson has a rather slim lead in Pro Stock, and Geno Scali has an even slimmer one in Pro Stock Bike. Based on their performance in the season's first 12 races, all four could very well retain their respective leads by the time the Western Swing concludes. But there's plenty of racing still to be decided and nobody can afford to take anything for granted.

Bill Stephens covers the NHRA for ESPN and ESPN.com.