The 48 Team And The Art Of Going In Circles

The time Rev' Jim has to be on line is still very rare, but we can't let this NASCAR season end without a word or two.

At the time of this writing, it looks like Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team once again have the Cup Championship sewn up. Unless, of course, the driver or the team make a serious mistake during Sunday's season closer at Homestead. That, as most racing fans know, is not likely to happen.

"How," one might ask, "Can one driver be so dominant over the others that he wins the championship four consecutive seasons?"

Now, to be fair, the one who might ask that question would be one who is not familiar with NASCAR racing. In fact, the one who asked us that question is of the opinion that NASCAR racing is all about mashing the pedal and turning left. That would be the same as saying football is all about men standing in a field and knocking each other down, baseball is about standing around and adjusting hats and belts, or hockey is about skating in circles.

We might explain that, first of all, Jimmie Johnson and his team are not dominant in their sport in the same sense as teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Miami Dolphins, the Celtics, the Lakers, the Yankees, or the Bruins have been dominant in their respective sports. For example, our favorite driver, Tony Stewart, led the points for most of the regular season, a feat of which we, and the 14 team, have a right to be very proud, considering that this was Stewart's first season with a team that was entirely new to him. If they had been able to maintain the level of competition they showed in April through August for the rest of the season, Chase or not, they could have had the Championship sewn up at this point, rather than Johnson.

We must note here, that it would be easy to blame it on NASCAR's Chase points format, but that is how the championship is determined. Every team in the Sprint Cup Series bases its strategy and agenda for the season on that format. It is the same for each team. Even if there wasn't a Chase Championship format, the teams would still calculate their chances for the championship according to the points system. So, in the Zen of it all, the points format doesn't really make a difference.

They weren't able to maintain that level of competition, and that's the way the proverbial cookie crumbles like a mashed right rear fender. The 48 team, on the other hand, has been able to stay at the same level throughout the entire season, and then even step up their performance in the final stretch, when performance matters most. And this is where we try to explain that NASCAR, like the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA, is a team sport.

Of course, at the association of "team" and "NASCAR," a question mark visibly appears over the head of the person who is grilling us. "What," he asks, "does a team have to do with it?"

So, we explain that many races are won in the pits, and the pit crew has to be fit, physically and mentally, in order to provide a pit stop that is a "game breaker." The crew chief has to be able to make decisions that affect the performance of the team, the driver, and the car. Most of the time, the decisions are of the split second variety. Making decisions as to air pressure, wedge, and track bar adjustments take a knowledge of what the driver likes in the handling of his car, along with the knowledge of the time such adjustments would take in relationship to track position among the other teams in the field.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty, Chad Knaus, Johnson's Crew Chief, is NASCAR's equivalent of the internet's UberGeek. We never hear anything about his personal life, so we have to assume that everything Knaus does in his life has to do with making cars go faster. He lives, breathes, and eats racing. His first thoughts in the morning, and his final thoughts in the evening have to do with making a car go fast. Tighty whities or boxers? He probably wears speedos. (Note, if the reader chooses to dwell on that image, the author of this blog can not be held responsible for loss of sight in the mind's eye).

Knaus probably doesn't have a stove, oven, or a crock pot. Everything he eats is probably pre-prepared, as in fast food, or microwaved. Our point is that Knaus probably doesn't do anything that doesn't have to do with going fast. It is not unlikely that he has even trained his pit crew on how far out to pull a dented fender to make the aerodynamics of the car better than it was before the fender was dented.

"But," asks the person who is grilling us, "what does that have to do with one driver being so dominant?"

We sigh, not wishing to rehash what we just explained and press onward.

The crew chief is very important, but so is the chemistry between the crew chief and the driver. Jimmie Johnson has had only Knaus as his crew chief his entire Cup career. Granted, while Knaus was under suspension for the first part of last year, Darian Grubb--now Tony Stewart's crew chief--took the reins, but it was still the House of Knaus, and the team carried on as if it was still Chad on the pit box, sort of like automatic pilot. They did what they were trained to do, and continued the success of Johnson's team.

Chemistry between the driver and the crew chief means that there has to be communication that makes what the driver wants and what the driver gets identical. The 48 team definitely has that chemistry.

This is not to take away from Johnson's skills as a driver. The driver has to be precise, being able to put his car where he wants it in his line before another car takes that line. Beating another driver around the track means beating that driver in the turns--perhaps by out braking or out maneuvering the other car--and being quicker in reflexes, which also ties in to avoiding wrecks and contact, or other things that could increase the lap time unfavorably. Johnson is very good at that--the car is magic in his hands.

We can't say that Johnson is the best driver of all time. We can't even say he is absolutely the best out there, although he is one of the best. There are several drivers--the twelve who made the championship chase cut and a handful of others who didn't--who can always be considered to be championship contenders in any given year. The difference goes back to the team's performance, but it also means that a driver has to be good at every track. Each track on which the Cup series races is different in characteristics and dynamics, no matter how much alike they might look. Johnson understands this, and is equally good at finding his groove at all of them. This is how he takes advantage of having one of the best teams in NASCAR, and is what makes the 48 team a perennial champion.

The real question that should be asked is, "why watch the race if the championship is already in the bag?"

The answer is simple if you are a race fan. It is a race. We might be hoping that something similar to what befell the 48 team at Texas happens, and that Mark Martin leads the most laps and wins the race. But the main reason is we want to see if our favorite driver, no matter who it is, wins the race. That is why we watch any race. A victory by our favorite driver is as good as any old championship, as far as we are concerned. Or we could be watching it as witnesses to history in the making.

"But what does this have to do with mashing the gas pedal and driving in in circles?"

At this point, we answer, "I have no idea. How about them Broncos?"

What if the Championship were determined by race wins?

What if NASCAR's schedule and Cup Championship consisted of thirty-six races where winning the race is the only way to gain Championship points? This suggestion has been discussed on the Internet since the season began this year, and has been taken up by some on-line journalists, such as ESPN.com's Terry Blount. The idea is that if winning was all that counted, the racing would be more intense, and there would be no reason to hang back to protect points standings.

But would the racing be better? How many teams that are presently participating at the Cup level afford to participate in an entire season of "Checkers or Wreckers?" Who would want to be in the lead on the last lap with a pack of hungry racers on his rear bumper? More importantly, how often would the winner of the race be determined by a penalty based on a judgement call by a race official?

The problem of teams entering just for the prize money would not be solved, unless the purse was "winner take all." If that were the case, there would be few teams willing to participate. The number of regulars in the field would likely shrink from the thirty-nine Cup regulars we have now, to twenty or fewer. The teams that are underfunded now, relative to "the big four," would be even more underfunded, and there would be no reason for them to compete if they don't have the equipment to win.

In NASCAR, part of the challenge to the driver in any race is in negotiating lapped traffic, and, with a field of twenty or so, the lapped traffic would be sparse, if not absent. The purse in a checkers or wreckers type race would have to be disbursed pretty much the same as it is now, if there was to be a full field.

There would be no guarantee of better racing in a checkers or wreckers race. In a 334 lap race, the first 270 laps would be the same chess game it is now, with the drivers and teams testing their cars, saving their engines and brakes, and finding the best set up for the final sprint to the finish. There would be no point in going all out in the early part of the race, and risking a blown engine, worn out brakes, or a broken gear box. We would likely see one car pulling an eight to ten second lead for most of the early race while the other teams half-heartedly battle for position, hoping for a caution, or maybe hoping that a team mate, with nothing to lose, will take out the leader while racing to stay on the lead lap. With no points at stake, lapped traffic would have no reason to continue in the race as the laps wind down, unless there is the chance that all the cars on the lead lap will wreck, of course.

That is one reason why a checkers or wreckers series would be more expensive for participants than it is now. Repairing a NASCAR racing car after a wreck is very expensive, and one thing an all or nothing situation will produce is plenty of wrecks. It would be safe to say that we would see plenty of situations in the final laps as we did at this year's All Star Challenge--where, with eight laps to go, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon all went into a turn three abreast, and none came out with a car capable of winning the race. All three of them went into that turn with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. It was exciting, for sure, but it really wasn't great racing. It was, however, great and expensive demolition derby.

The leader with five laps to go would be very lucky to be the winner of the race, unless he was so far ahead of the field that nobody could reach him. That would be unlikely, as the cautions and restarts would be frequent, as drivers back in the field give it their all to get into a position where they, theoretically, at least, could catch the leader. That leader would have a big target on his rear bumper, and no driver will have second thoughts about using the chrome horn to get him loose, or move him up the track a little, when winning is all that matters. Of course, there is always the chance that the first car to cross the finish line will be black flagged for rough driving.

So where is the fine line between a legitimate bump and run and a bump and dump that earns a black flag? Any driver will tell the press and the race officials, "I didn't mean to wreck him," after he makes contact and takes the lead. When the winner of the race is determined by a judgement call by a race official, that is not better racing. If no contact at all is allowed, then we are back to the follow-the-leader type race that so many race fans claim to find "boring."

Another situation that would come out of a checkers or wreckers series would be that many top drivers would be absent from some of the races. In 1974, David Pearson only ran in nineteen of the thirty races, and finished the season third in points. He participated only in races where he knew he would have a good chance to win. We would see the same thing in a checkers or wreckers championship. Why risk a season or career ending injury at a track where the driver has had no success, when that driver knows he could win races at tracks at which he has excelled in the past? A driver who has a two or three race lead early in the season would be likely to skip a few races during the remainder of the season, racing only at those tracks where he feels he has a good chance of winning.

Aside from that, there is the possibility that the championship could be determined with several races left on the schedule. There would be no need for the champion who is six races ahead of everyone else to finish the season with five races to go. The rest of the field would be racing for a top ten position in the final standings, and drivers and teams who have no wins would only be there to act as blockers for a team mate, perhaps. For most race fans, the novelty of a demolition derby wore off by the time we graduated from high school, so, instead of an exciting finish to a season, we would likely see a big fizzle.

As with most of these bright ideas that get thrown around in cyberspace, it would be unlikely that such a series would be a success. In forums, blogs, and sports network sites, fans and journalists bemoaned the fact that Rockingham no longer had racing, but when ARCA brought a race to Rockingham, only about three thousand fans showed up initially, and then only 300 fans showed up for the second ARCA race there. And then there are the calls for NASCAR to make the Nationwide Series a replication of the ARCA Series, by banning Cup drivers from racing in that series, and re-defining the Nationwide Series as a ladder series for novice drivers only. We could see that as being a huge success among race fans.....yeah, right!

NASCAR Cup racing is a championship series that requires a test of both drivers and teams, in races of marathon proportion. In other words, the championship not only depends on a driver's skill, but on the skills of the mechanics, engineers, and pit crews on the team. Winning a race is not the only measure of these skills, though it is important. Winning could be, as Terry Blount suggests, be made more important by adding more points to the race winner's score, rather than creating an all or nothing competition. It might make for better competition if the award for winning were raised to 200 points, while keeping the remainder of the points awards the same as they are now. In addition, NASCAR could add an extra ten bonus points to the Chase standings, beyond the bonus points that are already in place for each regular season win. This would make it more difficult to protect points by settling for a top ten finish,and should create a more aggressive form of racing among the top teams. But it would still award consistency to a point, and still give an opportunity for the championship to be determined at the very end of the season. Most importantly, we would still see racing, rather than a series of wreckfests. If we want to see a wreckfest, we can always go to the demolition derby at our local track.

Live on Type Delay: The Ford 400 (Homestead)

Tony Stewart gets emotional as he talks about his time with Joe Gibbs Racing and the #20 Home Depot team. He has just finished a photo session with the crew he is leaving after the end of this race and this season, and has hugged each of his crew members as he turns for the interview. His voice is choked up, and, if not for the dark glasses he is wearing, we would be certain to see tears in his eyes. He would like nothing more today than to get one last victory for the team with which he has spent his entire NASCAR Cup career to date.

Carl Edwards also would want a victory. In order to have a chance of winning the 2008 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, he needs to lead the most laps and win the race. And even doing that wouldn't give him the championship. Edwards also has to hope that Jimmie Johnson, who leads him in points by 141 markers, finishes thirty-seventh or lower at the checkered flag. Noting the performance of the 48 team over the past ten races, we would have to say "Fat Chance!"

But, you never know. Anything can happen.

David Reutimann leads the field in his first career Cup pole position, and next to him is newcomer Scott Speed. But Matt Kenseth, who also wants to win so he can chalk up a victory for this season, quickly takes the lead on the first lap. A few laps later, Carl Edwards, starting fourth, finds his way to second place.

Kenseth is racing to win, and to maintain a spot in the final top ten standings. He isn't about to just give the lead to his team mate. He wants to make Carl work for it. Finally, around lap 18, he succumbs to pressure from the spotters and lets Carl by.

Which reminds us, there are many more races going on here than a race victory and a championship. Several teams are racing for the top ten, and several more are racing for the top thirty-five positions in owners points. That should keep the action interesting enough.

Tony Stewart, who started 13th, has moved up to ninth position, and Kevin Harvick has taken second place from Matt Kenseth. Harvick has been consistently in the top five, lately, and he also wants a win this season.

And the potential Champ, Jimmie Johnson, isn't content with running toward the back and protecting his points. He has moved up to seventeenth from his starting position of thirtieth.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 51, and Edwards, the race leader, pits on lap 52, and retains the lead after the pit stops cycle through. Matt Kenseth loses some time after overshooting his pit box, and drops back from third to seventh.

Caution on lap 69, after Alric Almirola has a tire go down, and everybody pits. Track conditions are changing as the sun sets, so do the car set-ups. Edwards beats Harvick off of pit lane by half a car length. It looks like Clint Bowyer came off third, David Ragan fourth, and David Reutimann fifth.

Greg Biffle is the first car a lap down at the restart, and he races his way to the lead lap at the wave of the green flag. It's a wild restart as the field bunches up behind the leaders, but there are no mishaps and the race continues.

There is lots of movement of positions behind Bowyer, and Stewart has raced his way up to seventh. After 82 laps, it's Edwards, Harvick, Ragan, Reutimann, and Bowyer in the top five.

Clansi, my sweet old calico cat has parked herself on my lap, and has found that my typing fingers provide an invigorating massage for her nose and cheeks. Typos can now be blamed on the cat.

I didn't have an excuse before, now I have one.

During the commercial, David Ragan has moved up into second, and my man, Tony Stewart, has moved up to fifth. Carl Edwards has a four-second lead on the rest of the field, a familiar sight this season. Jamie McMurray has been having great runs lately, and today is no exception as he has been running in sixth place. Jimmie Johnson has run all the way up to eleventh. That's the way Jimmie runs--you will never see him taking it easy at any track in any situation. Unless he is comfortably in the lead.

Johnson is being followed by two of his team mates, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, in twelfth and thirteenth, or thirteenth and twelfth. Kyle Busch is the next of the chasers, in fifteenth, and Jeff Burton is sixteenth.

Tony Stewart has moved up a spot, on lap 108, and is running in fourth. Green flag pit stops should begin shortly. Harvick has dropped back to fifth, so, before the commercial break, it's Edwards, Ragan, Reutimann, Stewart, and Harvick in the top five.

During the commercial, Jeff Gordon moved up into the top ten, racing Casey Mears for eighth position, and Johnson has moved back to twelfth. Junior, running way up high, moves into the ninth spot, passing Mears.

Surprisingly, on lap 125, all 43 cars are in the race, but their are only twenty cars on the lead lap. Sterling Marlin is doing a great job, running in sixteenth, in the "have-not" #09 James Finch Racing car.

Tony Stewart is the first to pit, on lap 125, then a bunch of cars make their green flag stops on lap 126. Edwards drops out of the lead to pit on lap 129, and, after the pit stops cycle through, is still in the lead. Ragan is still second, and Stewart has moved up to third. Brian Vickers, trying to get the 84 car--normally driven by Scott Speed--into the top thirty five, serves a pass through penalty for speeding on pit road.

Caution for debris on lap 140. With the track cooling down, there will be continuing adjustments for many of the teams. Dale Earnhardt, Jr runs into some bad luck in the pits, with his car stalling, and will restart at the back of the lead lap in 21st. At the restart, it's Edwards, Hamlin, McMurray, Ragan, and Kyle Busch. Did they stay out? I don't know, because I can't get MRN today, so we don't get the pit stop details we usually get from the radio broadcast.

Kurt Busch hits the wall on lap 152, twice, and brings out another caution. There will not be many takers for pit stops this caution.

On lap 153, Carl Edwards clinches the most laps led 10-point bonus, one of his goals for this race. Clansi has gone to eat, satisfied that her whiskers have been successfully groomed, so I am back to having to take responsibility for typos.

Kurt Busch has to serve a bunch of penalties, after pitting while the pits were closed, missing the pitting commitment line, and speeding on pit road. He got another penalty for failure to obey an official's "stop" signal while leaving the pit lane. He may have the record for the number of pit road penalties for one stop.

At the restart, it is Edwards in the lead, Hamlin second, McMurray third, Ragan fourth, and Kyle Busch fifth. Hamlin gives Edwards a good run for the lead after the green flag waves, but can't quite catch the leader. Kyle Busch is racing side by side with David Ragan for fourth place, and Tony Stewart is moving back up toward the top five, racing for sixth position against his good buddy, Kevin Harvick.

Now this race is getting fun, as the sun is down, and the track has more grip as it has cooled down. By lap 165, Kyle Busch has taken fourth from David Ragan, but Ragan isn't giving that spot up, either, and they change positions back and fourth. Stewart gets around Harvick on lap 168 and moves into sixth. Marcus Ambrose has contact with Reed Sorenson and hits the wall, bringing out another caution. Ambrose is racing the #47/00, for Michael Waltrip Racing and trying to keep that car in the top 35 in owners' points, while Reed is trying to make his last race with Ganassi Racing a good one. All the leaders pit for tires, fuel, and adjustments.

Clansi has eaten her fill and is back on my lap, now getting a freebie from my typing fingers by pressing her forehead against my knuckles, as I type. This is quite an exercise, and a challenge. Good cat.

Pit strategy moves Edwards back to seventh. Ambrose's car is the first car to go to the garage. Jimmie Johnson will restart in fourteenth. Jeff Gordon stayed out during the caution and leads. Reutimann is second, Kenseth third, Bowyer fourth, and David Gilliland is fifth. Restart on lap 174.

Edwards moves into fifth with 91 laps to go. Johnson just has to be careful to protect his car and avoid danger at this point. Jeff Burton spins with 90 to go, and we get a caution. It's Gordon, Kenseth, Bowyer, Reutimann, and Edwards in the top five now. Johnson pits for tires and adjustments, after four laps of harrowing racing in some dangerous traffic. This will also put the 48 car out of sequence for fuel strategy toward the end of the race, a common Knaus tactic.

Restart with 85 laps to go. It looks like Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, and Carl Edwards, in the top five, and they are racing hard from positions two on back after the restart. Kenseth takes the lead from Gordon with 82 laps to go. Edwards tries to advance on the low side of the track, but falls short, then moves up into fourth. Ragan and Reutimann are putting on a David and David show, battling for fifth. Now Hamlin gets low on Gordon and is racing for second place. Hamlin hasn't made good his pass on Gordon yet, and Edwards takes advantage and joins the fray. Just as I was wondering where my drivers were, Tony Stewart moves into fifth. Kevin Harvick is running in tenth, with 75 laps to go.

Sorenson wrecks and brings out a caution with 69 laps to go. Johnson pits, but takes two tires and the lead, moving up twelve spots. Kenseth is second, and almost before we can get the running order straightened out, there is another caution as Kurt Busch wrecks again, but not before Kenseth takes the lead. Gordon pits from seventh spot, along with Kevin Harvick and others, and they may be good on fuel until the end of the race, so this is more strategy coming into play.

At the restart, it will be Kenseth, Johnson, Hamlin, Edwards, and Stewart in the top five. They all stayed out. With 53 laps to go, Kyle Busch is challenging Stewart for fifth. Greg Biffle, the winner of the last three races at Homestead, has now moved into the top ten. Dale Jr is in thirteenth, Harvick is fourteenth, and Jeff Gordon is back in sixteenth.

Junior loves running at the top of the track and moves into twelfth. Harvick follows into thirteenth. With 46 laps to go, it's Kenseth, Hamlin, Johnson, Edwards and Stewart. Kenseth leads by just under one second.

While Edwards, Hamlin, and Johnson are all racing for second, Stewart takes advantage and takes fourth from Johnson, third from Edwards, and second from Hamlin. Edwards gets third, and Hamlin falls to fourth, while Johnson runs in fifth. Stewart will have to pit for fuel before the race is over, but he is moving fast, now, and will soon be challenging Kenseth for the lead. Johnson only has to finish fortieth to win the championship now, and that is if Edwards wins the race.

Love it, Stewart is stalking Kenseth, and saying "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." It would be great to see Stewart win this, but the fuel situation is touchy. Maybe we will get a caution? Is that too much to hope?

Dale Jr pits with 22 laps to go, for tires, fuel, and to see what is causing the handling problem. It may be a tire going down, so they change four. Stewart takes first.

Dale Jr pits again, reporting something wrong with the left front. Biffle pits with 17 laps to go. It's a broken brake caliper for Junior's car, and it goes to the garage.

Johnson takes a splash of fuel and two tires with 13 laps to go. Stewart pits with eleven laps to go, as does Hamlin. Hamlin takes two new skins, while Stewart's stop is a splash and dash. The top five are now Kenseth, Edwards, Ragan, Kyle Busch, and Clint Bowyer. If these cars run out of fuel, Kevin Harvick, in sixth has the best chance of winning. Matt Kenseth runs out of fuel with three laps to go. Edwards is leading and saving fuel. Kyle Busch moves into third with two laps to go. White flag, and Edwards has a thirteen second lead over second place Kevin Harvick. Edwards runs out of fuel coming off of turn four, and wins the race. Jimmie Johnson is the Champion, for a history making three in a row.

I have been critical of Edward's on camera vs on track split personality, but that is not to take away from his ability, nor from the ability of his crew chief Bob Osborne. Carl Edwards is a great all around driver, and if things had worked out, he would have had a well-deserved championship.

But it is Johnson's and Knaus' day, as they accomplished what is a very difficult feat in any sport, but especially in NASCAR. And they are also very deserving of the championship.

Tony Stewart did have a good enough finish to gain eighth place in the final standings, but, unfortunately, two other of my favorites, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, were knocked out of the top ten.

It is the end of the season for NASCAR, but not yet for Rev Jim's RantsnRaves. We still have to write some stuff about the Nationwide Series and Truck Series final and championship races, some thoughts about the 2008 season, and a few thoughts on next season, so, if you like what you read here, check back later this week.

We give thanks for racing, for NASCAR, for NASCAR racing, and for an interesting and dramatic season. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, and to all NASCAR drivers for giving us what we love about the sport of auto racing.

Thanks to my readers for pointing out my errors, and still sticking with me throughout the season, even though we have been in somewhat of a writing slump.

Oh, and thanks to my sweet old calico cat for keeping me entertained while I was writing this final "Live on Type Delay" episode for 2008.

Live on Type Delay: The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 KM(Phoenix)

Pre-race thoughts: Dale Jr is sporting a nice beard. Although it is neatly trimmed, it doesn't seem to fit the Hendrick dress code. I wonder if Rick is going to make Junior hit the floor and give him fifty for appearing on television like that.

Not to belittle Jimmie Johnson's racing skills--he is a very good driver--but why haven't we heard Carl Edwards say, "A monkey could win in that (#48) car?"

I have a lot of respect for Jimmie Johnson, but what if he didn't have Chad Knaus as his crew chief? He makes a lot of mistakes, and often gets himself into accidents, penalties, and other situations that would keep other drivers out of a good finish. Knaus and the team 48 pit crew invariably make up for those mistakes. My guess is that Hideo Fukyama would be a household name if he had had Knaus as a crew chief.

Eddie Haskell Mr. Phony Carl Edwards is an exceptional driver, whether he's driving a Sprint Cup car, a Nationwide Series car, or a CTS truck. He's old school in the way he man-handles a car throughout the entire race, and he apparently is very good at saving fuel. Obviously, he is not one of my favorite drivers, but I hope the points race between between him and Jimmie Johnson tightens up after this race. I would rather see Johnson as the champion than Edwards, but what I'm really hoping for is that both of them have bad finishes this race, and Greg Biffle gets into the mix at Homestead, making it a three-way race for the Championship.

Just my thoughts, as deranged as they might be.

Jimmie Johnson drops to the bottom at the wave of the green flag, but Jamie McMurray gets around in turns three and four and leads the first lap. There is already a lot of action this early in the race, as Carl Edwards tries to advance his position from his fifteenth place start. But the cars are bunched up three-wide back there, and Edwards has to let up some.

Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex, Jr make contact with each other and the wall on lap sixteen, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of damage, and there is no caution, then, on lap twenty, Sam Hornish Jr and Elliott Sadler get into each other, causing minimal damage to the cars, but their spinning causes enough of a potential hazard that the first caution flag flies. Everyone pits.

Restart on lap 26, with Kurt Busch first, and the top five positions immediately get mixed up as everybody tries to gain the lead. Martin Truex, Jr's engine is seriously overheating and he has to go back into the pits, with a stalled engine. Truex seems to be out of the race as they take the car to the garage.

On lap thirty, Brian Vickers has the right front tire go down, and slams into the wall, bringing out the second caution. Kurt Busch was in the lead, Jimmie Johnson second, Ryan Newman third, Jamie McMurray fourth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr is fifth. Nobody in the front of the field pits.

Restart on lap 36 and an immediate caution for debris. Then it starts raining, but just a sprinkling of drops. The race remains under caution, but the cars stay on the track and count off laps. Jet driers are also making laps. Now, on lap 43 we get a red flag.

If you have ever lived in the Southwest United States, especially the dryer areas, you would know that "20% chance of rain" means that it's going to rain.

Only Matt Kenseth has the kind of luck that would get him a flat tire under a red flag. He was in twentieth, but will have to restart in the back, after he pits under caution to change the tires.

The race restarts on lap 46. Johnson quickly tries to take the lead, but Dirty Kurty holds the top position. Again, lots of hard racing all around the track. Kyle Busch uses the top line to move into the top seven. Hamlin is racing Earnhardt hard to get into the top five, but Earnhardt is also moving up. Edwards is still trying to make progress, but the traffic is terrible. Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Tony Stewart are all up there around the 99 car.

Meanwhile, the relative positions in the top five are changing constantly. Earnhardt, Jr moves up into fourth, Newman falls back, as Hamlin also gains position. But Jeff Gordon is in the mix, and he ends up in fifth, as Newman drops to sixth. On lap 75, the running order is Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Jeff Gordon in that order in the top five. Newman falls way back as he has a tire going down, or suspension problems, or both.

On lap 79, Johnson is able to catch Dirty Kurty Busch and is challenging for the lead. As we know, Dirty Kurty is very hard to pass, especially while he is in the lead. Johnson tries the inside, but can't get by. He tries the outside, and can't make it stick. Finally, on lap 82, he gets around the outside and takes the lead. McMurray has caught up to the front two and is looking to take second place. Dirty Kurty won't give up second very easily, either. There should be green flag pit stops coming up soon. That is always fun at Phoenix.

McMurray moved into second during the commercial. I had to turn off the radio, because the interference was really bad. I wish we had an FM station here to pick up the MRN and PRN broadcasts. One of our local Classic Rock stations has a big sponsorship from a NASCAR sports bar, and does a lot of NASCAR promotion, so I would hope they get the MRN/PRN contracts soon. I know a music station wouldn't normally carry sports, but this one is already carrying the Colorado College Hockey radio broadcasts, so a NASCAR race every week wouldn't hurt.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 98. The top five are pitting on laps 100 through 103. Everyone is taking four tires. Travis Kvapil leads a lap while the leaders pit. Mark Martin has to come back into the pits for a missing lug nut. Remember, this is under green, so that has to hurt. Greg Biffle, who started in the back for a transmission change, leads a lap while pit stops continue. Biffle is out of sequence from the other leaders, as he pitted on lap 44. He pits on lap 109. Johnson retains the lead. Newman ground down the front sway bar, while he was making laps on a left front tire that was very low in air pressure, so he is back in the pits while his team tries to repair the damage.

After the green flag pit stops cycle through, it's Johnson, McMurray, Earnhardt, Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Kurt Busch in the top five. Carl Edwards has made it into tenth place. All the Hendrick cars are in the top six, as Casey Mears is running in sixth. Hamlin is still in seventh. There are 21 cars on the lead lap.

On lap 126, Kevin Harvick is running in eighth, and Carl Edwards has moved up to ninth, while Kasey Kahne fills out the top ten. Now Kyle Busch moves into tenth.

Caution on lap 141 for debris. The leaders all pit on lap 143, and Johnson leads, Dale Jr is second, Jeff Gordon is third, Jamie McMurray is fourth, and Dirty Kurty is fifth. The rest of the top ten is as last reported. Kyle Busch passes Edwards for ninth, shortly after the restart on lap 153. Greg Biffle is running twelfth, Tony Stewart is thirteenth, and Jeff Burton is fourteenth.

On lap 160, they are showing the view through the windshield of Jeff Burton's #31 car, and it looks just like Martinsville. That is how rough the racing is between tenth and fourteenth positions. We have a good race going between Carl and Kyle, and should we expect less? That would be a fun one to watch.

I'm getting a kick out of that new NAPA commercial with Michael Waltrip and Ron Capps. Capps isn't used to having to work for fifteen seconds. That, according to the commercial, is three times as long as his normal "five second work day." Funny! Ron Capps is one of the superstars of the NHRA drag racing series, for those who don't know.

Jeff Gordon reported something wrong with his engine earlier in the race, and on lap 173, he starts dropping back, as he has lost a cylinder. Tim Brewer gets to talk about broken valve springs for the first time since last year. I bet he is having a flashback. Last year, he got to talk about broken valve springs and bent valves every ten minutes.

Things have finally settled down back beyond ninth place, by lap 190. Tony Stewart is in tenth, Kyle Busch in eleventh, and Jeff Burton is in twelfth. Jeff Gordon has fallen back to seventeenth. Casey Mears is now in fifth place, Denny Hamlin is sixth, Kevin Harvick is seventh, Edwards is eighth, and Biffle is ninth.

Edwards finally gets around Kevin Harvick on lap 220, for seventh, just before a caution comes out for debris. All the lead lap cars pit. In Jimmie Johnson's pit, a tire carrier fumbles with tape he was going to add to the grill of Johnson's car, and the 48 team loses first place to Jamie McMurray, who beats Johnson out of the pits. Restart with 94 laps to go, and McMurray does not hold on to first place long at all. Johnson takes that position almost immediately. That was a pretty move. This time the driver saved the pit crew, rather than the usual other way around.

Uh-oh, Steve Letarte said "valve train." I guess that means we have to hear from Tim Brewer again? Maybe not. ESPN/ABC has shown some improvement over last year.

Jamie Little reports that Tony Stewart said he would vote for David Ragan as Driver of the Year, if he had a vote. Last year, Stewart accurately called Ragan "a dart without feathers." Driver of the Year would be a good call as well, because David Ragan has made that much improvement in one year.

I missed it somewhere, but McMurray lost second to Dirty Kurty somewhere, and now Dale Earnhardt, Jr is taking third from McMurray. Caution for debris with 51 laps to go and this will be the money stop. I actually wrote that before the guys on TV said it.

Johnson maintains the lead, coming off of pit road, and Carl Edwards moves up three positions into fourth place. I think Dirty Kurty is back in second place. Jamie McMurray is third, and Harvick will restart in fifth. Earnhardt, Jr lost several positions in the pits and will restart in sixth. Great save by Casey Mears in ninth position, as he nearly hits the wall. Hamlin makes a great move and gets into sixth, and Earnhardt gets to fifth. Harvick falls back to seventh. Jeff Gordon's engine lets go with 42 laps to go, and though there is a lot of smoke, the race stays green.

Big wreck. Casey Mears goes around, and all these other cars get involved, in the dog-leg on the back stretch. Johnny Sauter, Scott Speed. Scott Riggs, and David Gilliland are some of the other cars involved. The rear wheels of Gilliland's car ended up on the hood of Scott Speed's car. I want a picture of that. Marcos Ambrose was also involved while the traffic was trying to slow down. Red flag to clear up the wreckage. 39 laps to go in the race.

Maybe the Awesome Wreckage blog will have some good video of that wreck.

As the cars restart, Tony Stewart's #20 car had trouble starting. His fellow Hoosier and next year's team mate, Ryan Newman, gives him a push start, but he will restart in 17th. Caution with 28 laps to go, and Johnson stays out, but several cars pit for tires. The restart will see Johnson in first Kurt Busch in second, Jamie McMurray in third, Edwards in fourth, and Earnhardt Jr in fifth. Restart with 24 laps to go.

Kurt Busch gets right on the bumper of the 48 car at the restart, and Mark Martin looks like he is racing to get back on the lead lap. Another caution for debris with 21 laps to go.

It looks like everyone will stay out this time. They are showing videos of some of the action just before the caution, and I have to say, if anyone could get Jeff Burton mad, other than Kyle Busch, it would have to be Paul Menard. Yup.

Restart with fifteen laps to go, and Jimmie Johnson just takes off, and makes a big cushion between himself and second place Dirty Kurty Busch. McMurray is still in third, with Carl Edwards on his bumper, Dale Earnhardt, Jr is hanging in there in fifth. Now Harvick is racing The Bearded One for fifth, and he is going into the turns hot. So has Tony Stewart, and Allmendinger tries to get under Matt Kenseth, as Stewart is trying to get around the #17 on the outside. There is no room inside of Kenseth, so Allmendinger hits Kenseth, who hits Stewart, who spins and stalls. Stewart can't get his car restarted and goes a lap down. Allmendinger takes responsibility and feels terrible, according to his radio chatter. He ought to feel bad.

After all that mess It will be a green/white/checkered restart. Johnson is first, Kurt Busch second, McMurray third. After all that hard racing for fifth, Carl Edwards comes out of the mess in fourth, and Dale Jr is still fifth. Kevin Harvick is sixth. Kurt Busch makes a move to the inside of Johnson at the restart, but doesn't quite make it. Still racing hard on the white flag lap. He tries the outside and misses, but this race is going right down to the finish line. Johnson wins, Busch is second, McMurray third, Edwards fourth, Hamlin fifth, Earnhardt, Jr six, and it seems that everybody behind them wrecks. Matt Kenseth got some payback against the #10 car to remind AJ Allmendinger that he should feel terrible, and everyone gets caught up in the wreck.

This was another fun race, even though Johnson dominated. Dirty Kurty always throws some excitement into the mix when he is racing for first, or any position for that matter. There was no lack of action, except during the red flag. Although I feel bad for Matt Kenseth and my favorite driver, who has now fallen back to twelfth in points, I feel bad for AJ Allmendinger as well, because he knew it was a boneheaded move, but every driver out there has made that same mistake at one time or another.

Still one race to go, and I already know my NASCAR withdrawal this off-season is going to make for a difficult winter.

A Tale Of Two Championship Series

It was the last race of the ARCA season, and the championship had come down to the wire. All Scott Speed needed to do to clinch the title was finish seventeenth or better, and all Ricky Stenhouse, Jr had to do was hope that something would happen to make sure he could make up the 90 point deficit he held. .

From the very beginning of Sunday's race at Toledo Speedway, it looked as though Stenhouse was out to make sure Scott Speed wouldn't finish seventeenth or better. Starting in the second row, along with Speed, he rode Speed's bumper lap after lap, beating and banging aggressively until only a little more than twenty laps into the race, he rode Speed's bumper all the way into the wall.

It is possible that Speed's car could have been repaired well enough to finish seventeenth or better, but Speed himself felt that it would at least take twenty laps to repair the car well enough to the point where he could make it around the track. So, already two laps down, he took his crippled car back on to the track, waited for Stenhouse to pass him, then gunned the throttle and knocked Stenhouse's #99 car hard into the wall. Needless to say, neither Speed nor Stenhouse won the championship. Justin Algaier, who entered the final race fourth in the championship points, won the race and the championship.

In my mind, retaliation is never a good thing. It is a poor display of sportsmanship, and endangers not only the two cars and drivers involved, but often results in damage to the innocent bystander who might get collected in the wreck. But that doesn't mean it can't be justified. If Stenhouse had won the championship after wrecking Speed, something would have been terribly wrong.

As Brad Daugherty pointed out on ESPN's NASCAR Now, every stock car has either been on the giving or receiving end of retaliation, at some point in his or her career. However, retaliation doesn't always have to result in a wreck. I'm thinking about Jeff Burton's retaliatory bump of Kyle Busch's car after Busch used his bumper to move Burton out of the way earlier, in the race at Kansas a few weeks ago.

Jeff Burton lives by the rule "you get raced the way you race." He was upset by the way Busch had passed him, but he didn't wreck the 18 car. Instead, he bumped him just enough to let him know he was displeased, and to get the car loose enough for him to pass.

Burton is quite possibly the most unique driver in the sport. Where every other driver sees racing as primarily a physical sport, Jeff Burton takes the cerebal approach. He studies every track, and every driver. He notes where his best line is, and how he races against each driver's unique style. He remembers how his car handles at every turn, and the effect of traffic on the handling of his car. He plans, and he is always ready to advance his position when the opportunity presents itself. He seems to never be caught by surprise. He knows the car in front of him is going to get loose in turn three, because he has been watching it, and he will be there to pass when that other car does get loose.

He avoids trouble in much the same way he gains positions. He pays close attention to the way the cars in front of him are moving up and down the track. He sees it when a driver gets too close underneath another driver's car and compensates to avoid the inevitable spin, or, at least, the wobble. As good at car control as most of the other best NASCAR driver, Burton is always prepared to thread the needle when the need arises.

All this is part of why Jeff Burton is the second favorite driver of many a NASCAR fan. If he were to win the championship this year, something which he has a very good chance of doing, there would be very few fans who would be unhappy. He now stands a mere 69 points out of first place in the championship points. All he needs to do is keep on doing what he is doing.

On the end of many things

As we head into the final NASCAR race of 2007, we get a true sense of finality. The qualifying, for instance produced the final Bud Pole Award, because next year, drivers will be trying for the Coors Light Pole.The image of a light pole as the goal for qualifying hasn't escaped me. Light poles are part of the lighting rig used in theatre and concerts to hold the spotlights and other lighting effects.
And, if that doesn't screw up my image of racing, there will be an insurence company replacing Busch as the sponsor of the Sportsman Series. I'm inclined to quote Lauren Wallace here, to say that while we're watching the race, all we'll "be thinking about is saving money on car insurence."
That being said, Nationwide is the company that has the "life comes at you fast," advertising theme, which does fit racing somewhat.
So, watching history become history, we watched the farewell NASCAR Busch Series event, which, thoough it was average, as races in that series go, did manage to show us a somewhat bright future. Kyle Keselowski, who now has a two year contract to drive the #88 Jr Motorsports car full time for the next two years, sowed up admirably throughout the race, showing us that he has the potential to become the first non-Cup driver since Martin Truex, Jr. to win a championship in the Sportsman Series.
The learning process for Sam Hornish, Jr., Patrick Carpentier, and Dario Franchitti continued, a tough learning process, indeed, as these future Cup series drivers learned what not to do. Another rising star, Jeremy Clements, managed to get television coverage by racing Matt Kenseth admirably in equipment that was inferior to Kenseth's Roush machine. That is what Clements needed to do, because sponsors take notice of the relatively unknowns who can get on camera when it doesn't involve a wreck. Clements is also in a learning process, but he is already known in the garage area as one who has a bright future in the sport.
Richard Childress won the Owners Championship in the series, for the #29 Holiday Inn car, after co-drivers Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer accumilated more points in that car than any other team, including that of series champion Carl Edwards. Congratulations are due to RCR and the drivers of the #29 car.
Today we'll be seeing the final Nextel Cup Series race, not only for the season, but forever, as the corporate name of the series sponsor is changed to Sprint. Under a court ruling earlier this year, Sprint will be allowed to continue sponsorship through 2009. No, wait a minute, that's AT&T, which used to be Cingular, the sponsor of the RCR #31 car. Sprint will continue the sponsorship of the series. We will be seeing the last race for the conventional car in the Sprint series today, as the entire series switches to the so-called Car of Tomorrow, otherwise known as the Formula NASCAR car. Spec cars have been in the works for over ten years for the series, and we have finally reached that point, for better or worse.
This will also be the final race for Ricky Rudd, who will end his 32 year Cup career as one of NASCAR's fifty greatest drivers. It is always sad for us to see the great ones leave the sport, especially when it is a name we have seen for much of the time we have been following NASCAR through the years.
JJ Yeley and Dale Earnhardt, Jr will be seeing their last race for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Dale Earnhardt Inc., respectively, as they go to Hall of Fame Racing and Hendrick Motor Sports. Racing whiz-kid Kyle Busch will take a bow from HMS as he will be racing for JGR next year.
There will still be drama to watch in today's Ford 400, as Jimmie Johnson does not quite have the Cup in the bag. We know that things can happen, and if certain things happen, Jeff Gordon could win his fifth championship. By the same token, Jimmie Johnson could not only win the championship, but could be the first driver since Richard Petty to win five races in a row.
Or, knowing Johnson, something could happen while he is trying to win five races in a row that would give Jeff Gordon the Championship.
So, it ain't over yet.
There are forty-one other drivers in the race today, and most of them will be trying to end the season on a winning note. Tony Stewart has set two goals for the Ford 400 that likely reflect the goals of the other drivers, according to this article on That's Racin'.com: 1 Win the race, and 2 Don't screw things up for Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon.
So, there will be plenty of excitement in the Ford 400, and no reason to miss it.
After that, we only have less than ninety days to wait for the next race.
On a personal note, ninety days could be a long time for me, because the Broncos really suck this year.

Plot twists welcome!

We all love a good plot twist. Movies such as The Usual Suspects, The Four Brothers, and The Illusionist keep us enthralled because of their intricate plot twists. And so, we were enthralled with the plot twist involved in Friday night's Ford 200 CTS race at Homestead.
The story started with us thinking that the Championship points leader, Mike Skinner, had a significant advantage over second place competitor Ron Hornaday. Skinner went into the race with just a small points lead over Hornaday, but he qualified forth. In fact four of the five top starting positions were held by Bill Davis Racing, Skinner's team mates. But, to thicken the plot a little, team mate and new "bad boy" Johnny Benson reminded us in a pre-race interview that, though the team was there to help Skinner win the championship, they were all out to win the race.
One thing we love about the drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series is that they are all "bad boys."
So, as the race started, Skinner quickly gained points on Hornaday, who had started further back in the field and had to deal with the three and sometimes four-wide traffic that is a familiar feature in NASCAR truck racing. Skinner increased his lead in points by taking the race lead. But then, the first plot twist--Skinner felt that he had a tire go down, and abrubtly slowed and pitted for a two tire change, putting him a lap down. Still, though Hornaday now had the points lead, Skinner could easily make up positions, and even race his way back to the lead lap.
But that wasn't to happen. Skinner's #5 team had changed the right side tires, and it was the left rear tire that fell off. Because of damage to the left rear hub, the truck had to go to the garage area for extensive repairs,
But, all was not lost. Even though he was eleven laps down, Skinner only had to be twelve place positions behind Hornaday in order to win the championship. If as few as five trucks behind Hornaday wrecked, or had mechanical failure, Skinner would be the 2007 CTS Champion. As the laps wound down, Hornaday's only team mate, Kevin Harvick, fell off the pace, due to a tire going down. That was one. We watched, with four laps left, to see if Hornaday could hang on to his spot, or if the big one would happen as expected.
And, with two laps to go, there was a spin and a caution.
But it was only one truck, and he did not wreck. Still, after the restart, for the Green/White/Checkered finish, the guys up front were racing three and four wide. If any of them had wrecked, however, it wouldn't have helped Skinner anyway, unless, of course, Hornaday got caught up in the wreck.
The wreck didn't happen. Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson raced hard for the win, and in the end it was Johnny Benson who found victory. So, though Bill Davis Racing didn't get the championship, they did get a win to finish the season. Ron Hornaday won the Championship, becoming the second driver after Jack Sprague, to win three CTS Championships. Another interesting plot: Jack Sprague will be Hornaday's team mate on Kevin Harvick Incorperated's team next year.
So, we give congratulations Ron Hornaday, Jr and KHI for winning the 2007 CTS championship, to Johnny Benson snagging his fourth victory of the year, and to all the drivers and teams in the CTS for bringing us yet another incredibly entertaining season.
So, now the stage is set for Sunday's grande finale for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Jimmie "Ernie" Johnson, eighty nine points ahead of Jeff "Darth" Gordon, has the pole. It seems that Johnson's march to the championship is unstoppable. But, in spite of his admitted "joking around" waving of the white flag of surrender, Gordon has made it clear that he will do everything he can to take back the championsip. We have to believe him, considering the incredible performance he has had during the 2007 season, and we have to believe that he could still do it.
Personally, I don't care who wins the Championship. I'm picking Matt Kenseth to win the race--it will be his last race with Robby Reiser, the only crew chief he has ever known in his NASCAR career, and that emotional incentive will add to the drive, skill, and determination he has shown over the last few races.
When it comes down to it, I want to see a good race, and maybe a few good plot twists.

Practical Optimism

When it gets to the point in a race where it looks like my favorite driver isn't going to win, it really doesn't matter to me which driver goes to Victory Lane. I just want to see a good race.
So, when the #20 team tried a quicky fuel stop and ended up playing bumper pool trying to get out of the pits, this Tony Stewart fan felt very disappointed and frustrated, but thinking, "it could be worse."
Kevin Harvick was one of the drivers I picked to watch toward the end of the race, but a huge mistake involving a tire going flat and a misdiagnosis in the pit, put him three laps down early in the race. But Harvick still finished the race, and we know that it could be worse.
Early in the Chase, I wondered in print if Matt Kenseth wouldn't be the surprise contender. Since then, he has had some very bad luck. I fear that I may have jinxed the Cool One, but it seems that he was destined for bad luck no matter what anybody wrote. So far in the Chase, Kenseth has started each race with a top notch car. But, that has caused him to be uncharacteristically aggressive at the beginning of the race. Not that he can't handle that, for he is one of the best drivers in the sport, but, to date, it hasn't worked out for him. Bad luck seems to find him very easily when he is running at the front of the pack early in the race. Twice, since the Chase began, his car has developed electrical problems early. This has resulted in putting him deep in traffic, where his car has often become a pinball. That is how his night turned out. Maybe Jack and Robby should think about giving him a car that can be improved during the race, rather than being so good right off the hauler.
It could be worse. There is not one Dodge in the Chase for the Championship this year. The Dodges, however did look very good during the race at Charlotte. Ryan Newman got the pole position in qualifying, and for a large portion of the race, Dodge pilots Bobby Labonte and Scott Riggs were racing very well, with Riggs even leading a lap. Near the very end of the race, with eleven laps to go, Ryan Newman took a very exciting lead after the restart and got everybody up on their feet as he sped around the track--and cut a tire, running into the wall. That was after Scott Riggs got caught up in a wreck with Johnny Paul Montoya, who was also in a Dodge. This was not Dodge's year. It seemed that nearly every Dodge on the track wrecked at one point or another during Saturday's race.
Jeff Gordon's restart tactics at the green flag of the green/white/checkered finish were brilliant, which is what is to be expected of a great driver. He waited until his car was almost on the start/finish line before he began accelerating, robbing second place Clint Bowyer of the chance to get a run on him. I'm not a fan of The Gordon, but I do believe that a Jeff Gordon who races well means a good race. I am happy that the Drive for Five is alive, and I'm looking forward to seeing it stay alive for the remainder of the season, and next season, and every season until The Gordon decides to retire. Mostly because there is nothing that rhymes with "six" that is appropriate.
It could be worse--you could be the rear axle guy in Rusty Wallace's shop.
Or, worse, you could be David Stremme.

"It could be worse," Stremme said. "I could be out digging ditches or doing something else. You can always say, 'This could be better' or 'that could be better' but it could be a lot worse, too. At least I'm able to walk around. I'm healthy. And I feel that I have enough talent to be at this level."

Lowe's preview--my "Do-over"

Those of us who watched the Busch series race at Lowe's, Friday night witnessed impending doom. ESPN color commentantor Rusty Wallace watched with dismay as the rear axle fell out of his #66 car, driven by Reed Sorenson.
"These things don't happen by themselves," declared a dissappointed Wallace, "Somebody left something loose on that car."
What we really heard was, "Some heads are going to roll."
Lauren (I swear he says his name is "Warren") Wallace was nowhere to be seen, nor was Teresa Earnhardt.
But that wasn't all the doom Rusty foretold. He found his catchphrase during Cup qualifying and dubbed turn 3-4, "Calamity Corner."
Of course, it being ESPN, who thrives on catchphrases, we heard "Calamity Corner" several times, during the Busch Series race, not only referring to the race itself, but in anticipation to Saturday night's Cup race.
So, in anticipation of Saturday's Cup race, I bring you part two of my race preview.
The tires are a slightly softer compound than we have seen in the last two races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but we still heard drivers who were having trouble place the blame on "hard tires." It actually still has a lot to do with the new pavement, coupled with a refusal on the part of the drivers to "go slow to go fast (another catchphrase)." As much as the drivers want there to be two grooves, they aren't really there. It should be noted that Tony Stewart, who has been notorious for complaining about the tires at Lowe's, has said nothing about the tires. In fact he's said very little about anything. Hmmm.
Still, it is hard not to pick Jimmie Johnson to win. He is on a roll, and this time last year was the peak of the season for him, a peak that he maintained all the way to the last race. Any problem he had with the tires or the track during the Busch race will be rectified by Saturday night. That is just the way the #48 team operates. It pains me to be rational, but I have to be that way sometimes.
Still, there are no sure things in the Chase for the Championship at this point. We still have to believe that anything can happen. Otherwise, there would be no point in watching.
We should watch the RCR cars. Clint Bowyer is the only driver on that team who isn't yet under the "must win" pressure. That may work out good for him, and his participation in the Busch race gave him plenty of information about the track. Not being pressured may help him in getting a good finish. By the same token, Kevin Harvick has been known to work well under pressure. He is by no means out of the Chase--with six races to go, 202 points is not insurmountable odds. We will see him being careful during most of the race, but he will definitely want to lead some laps. Hunger for a win helps in some drivers, and, in the past, when "Happy" is hungry for a win, he can devour it.
The major prediction I would like to make, concerning Saturday night's Cup race, is that we will see some good racing. Whether that prediction comes true or not depends on smart racing. Green flag pit stops will be very important, as will over all pit strategy. Racing smart also means that the driver uses the right tactics in taking the treacherous turns Lowe's offers. We can't keep hoping that the strangeness that has characterized the Chase thus far will continue, but we can hope that smart racing will keep the Chase close.
Update: Jeff Gordon picks Tony Stewart to win the Chase. Not really, but he had some very flattering words to say about Smoke here.

Back to normal? I hope not!

So far, the Chase for the Championship this year has been full of unusual events and twists of fate. With Ryan Newman taking the pole at Lowe's, and Jimmie Johnson has been, for all practical purposes, already been credited with the win at his "home" track Saturday night. Yes, NASCAR may be going back to "normal."
Do we really want normal? Normal is for Formula 1, where, normally the race is over after the first or second lap, and the rest of the event is only to see if the leader can stay on the track. Normal, in racing, is the Open Wheel Champ Car World Series (Champcar) shooting itself in the foot.
We are NASCAR fans because we don't want normal. We want the surprise endings we get to the races. We are not ready to give Jimmie Johnson the Championship.
We're not ready to give up on our drivers who do not drive for HMS.
Normal would mean that, with its typical military-like precision, Hendrick Motorsports would make no mistakes, that the race at Lowe's will go perfectly for the #48 team even if they get in a wreck early in the race. Normal would be boring for most of us.
Nobody is mathematically out of the Chase, yet. Kevin Harvick, 202 points out of the lead with six races left, is still a very viable candidate to win the Championship. And, we know, Tony Stewart isn't about to give up.
If I were to make my picks for Saturday's race, they would be based on my emotional feelings, not on facts or statistics. I would pick Tony Stewart to win and Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to take each other out of the race. That is not likely to happen, and is rather fantasimal thinking. It is not normal, and I like it that way.

Kansas: Whattha...?!?

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

We have to say that the Life Lock 400 turned out to be one of the most unique and, well, bizarre races we have ever seen. Even our ruby slippers wore out. And Greg Biffle finally ended up in Victory Lane. One can't help but to think that a mere thirty minutes more of rain would have resulted in a win for Tony Stewart, or even if the NASCAR officials suddenly became rational, Smoke would have won a called race. But, as most of us should know by now, NASCAR is anything but rational.
I will interject here that this isn't a report of the race, but a reaction to the event. If the reader didn't seen the race, I urge them to find somebody who TiVoed it, or at least to read an account of the race.
We wanted to see Da Biff win one. He is, after all one of the top drivers in the sport, and even if we aren't all that fond of him, it seemed frustrating to have to wait so long for him to win one.
The attrition rate among the Chasers was heavy, with seven of the twelve Chase drivers being involved in accidents. The entire Chase for the Championship has brought about moments of intensity that haven't been matched during the short history of the Chase. These guys are racing at a level we have never before seen. Amid all the carnage, we have seen some amazing and superior racing in Dover and Kansas. As dull as Loudon was--excepting Clint Bowyer's first victory--we knew the Chase had to get better, but never would we have expected this.
Who woulda thunk that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would be the first non-chaser to carry the onus of taking out a championship contender? It was a rare misjudgement on the part of Driver #8, who is among the best drivers when it comes to car control. Running into the back of The Schrub's (Kyle Busch's) car changed the playoff picture quite drastically. But then, so did several other incidents during the race. For instance, Greg Zippadeli and the #20 team should not have waited to look at the decision to gamble in retrospect. We knew that the correct strategy should have been to pit and repair, and we could all foresee that the tire would deflate. This is yet another what if--Tony would have been much closer to the points lead if his team had made the rational decision. My question is, after the gamble to stay out just before the rain hit turned out a winner, did Zippy develop a temporary gambling addiction?
At both Dover and Kansas, Matt Kenseth seemed uncharacteristically aggressive. He had every right to be so, because in both races, he had an exceptional car. However, Dover ended in disaster for him, and he narrowly escaped disaster at Kansas. One should wonder, if Kenseth had stuck to his accustomed driving style, would he have won both races? We'll never know.
After Johnny Paul Montoya cut a tire, and shed debris all over the track with four laps to go, the race should have ended with a green-white-checker shootout. However, darkness fell, and the race ended under a bizarre caution. Bizarre because the race leader, Greg Biffle, ran out of fuel in the final turn and had to coast across the finish line. Now, I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the rules in this case are that the car must cross the finish line under its own momentum, which it did. Nobody pushed the car across the line, and the speed was reasonable in that nobody had to stop to avoid passing it. That is the other applicable rule, that the field is frozen at the time of the caution and that there is no passing under the caution. The Hendrick Motorsports drivers, namely The Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, decided to make their own interpretation of the rule, which, if allowed, would have created a paradoxical situation in which fifth place Casey Mears would have been the winner. For once, probably for the first time in the history of the organization, NASCAR made a rational decision and avoided the paradox, giving Greg Biffle the victory.
Something else that had nothing to do with the race seemed just as bizarre as the race itself. ABC/ESPN ran out of commercials to air. They must have. I don't think there were more than one or two of the annoying interruptions for the entire period after the coverage switched from ABC to ESPN2 due to time constraints. How unusual. once again, it would be a good idea to check CawsnJaws for details.
If it had rained for another thirty minutes, think what we would have missed.

My pick for the best quote of the weekend: Saturday, in the closing laps of the Busch Series race, Kyle Busch was running behind Matt Kenseth before a restart. On the back of Kenseth's Arby's sponsored car are the words "Free fries on Monday if I win."
Kyle radioed his Crew Chief, and asked,"Do I want free fries or radio call-in on Monday?" He chose the media hastle of the radio call-in by beating Kenseth to the checkers.
The best interview is a toss-up between the very informative one with Ray Everham, during the rain delay, and Clint Bowyer's post race interview in which he displayed profound sportsmanship.

Other news:
Stewart will not be penalized for expletive Told ya so. It turns out that it was not the same as it would have been had it been an interview. Though the audio was on with the camera, the commentators were talking over it, and it could not be heard clearly. Besides, no one was watching, anyway.

Motorsports icon Wally Parks dies at 94
Parks founded the NHRA in 1950, and is every bit as much a household word among race fans as Bill France. Drag racing as we know it was practically invented by the man. He served on the Board of Directors of the NHRA until his death last Friday.

How quickly things change.

Photo Credit: Jeff Roberson / The Associated Press


What an exciting finish to the Busch Series race at Kansas on Saturday. Matt Kenseth and Kyle "The Schrub" Busch battled it out for six laps to the finish, bringing back memories of "back in the day," when Petty and Pearson, or Pearson and Bobby Allison or (name your favorite rivalry) raced hard for the checkers. It was one great race.
Unfortunately for The Schrub, his team will be penalized for failing post race inspection. His intake manifold was confiscated, and we will likely hear about a penalty sometime next week.
Speaking about penalties, my favorite bad boy Tony Stewart will most likely get one for using inappropriate language on the air. It doesn't matter that it wasn't during an interview, but, rather, during a random, candid shot by the photographer, he will still get penalized, and likely get a heavy one since he is on probation. I think the ESPN director who switched to that camera and had the audio on should be fined as well. I am hoping that the penalty won't hurt Tony's chances for winning the Championship.
And, this has changed since my previous post: Jimmie Johnson will start at the rear of the field after crashing in Happy Hour practice, and going to a back up car. I'm not saying that the Johnson/Knaus team won't find their way toward the front, because they have demonstrated that they can, but it still changes the complexion of the race's early laps. Scott Riggs will be starting from the pole, as the inside line all moves up one row, so it will be a Ford vs Dodge start.
If Saturday is any indication of what we will see Sunday, we are in for a grand time.

Wrong

My regular reader knows that I am a Tony Stewart fan. Stewart, who finished third at Loudon, last week failed post race inspection for his car being too low at one fender. Under the watchful eyes of top NASCAR officials John Darby and Jim Hunter, the team was allowed to repair the race damage, and the car was reinspected, passing the inspection and resulting in no penalty.
Something similar went on in post-race inspection at Dover with the 99 team of Carl Edwards. His right rear fender was found to be too low, and, even though NASCAR officials found that the infraction was unintentional and not a CoT violation, Edwards was docked 25 championship points, and the team docked 25 owners points. We must be missing something here.
First of all, a low right rear fender would seriously effect the handling of the car, the wrong way. The car would push, meaning it would be difficult to turn in the corners, and would lose rear bite on the straightaways, making it very difficult to pass or avoid hazards. The penalty makes even less sense when considering this.
Right now, it seems like no biggy. It knocks Edwards from third in points to sixth, but still only 28 points behind championship leader The Gordon. As we have seen in the past, 25 points can be huge in the Championship Chase. In 2004, Jimmie Johnson lost the championship by to Kurt Busch by eight points. In 2005, Smoke won the championship by a mere 35 points over the tied second place of Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.
I have read some comments claiming that the Edwards penalty shows that NASCAR is becoming more consistant, but how is that so? Where do you draw the line between unavoidable race damage and unintentional spec infractions? It now seems possible that NASCAR could use penalties to keep the points chase close, which would seriously compromise the value of the championship. We can only hope that this penalty is overruled by the appeals board. Otherwise, it is very wrong.

If It Doesn't Rain...

Saturday night is where it will all come down to the wire--for the regular season, anyway. There will be at least five drivers trying to get one more win, to gain an advantage in the Chase seedings with more bonus points. There are, at least, three drivers trying to get into, or hold on to, a spot in the top twelve so they can get into the Chase. The stakes are high, and so will be the intensity. What could be better than having a race on a short track for all of this? How could anyone say that NASCAR is boring now?
My friend, The Canadian Curmudgeon has an excellent preview and analysis on his blog, and I really have very little to add to that. I am biased, however, and want to add that Smoke will also have a very good run at Richmond, which is also one of his favorite tracks. It doesn't matter if you are first, second or twelth in the standings going into the Chase. Once the Chase begins, the driver with the most wins is in first place. So we will see a lot of drivers going for the win.
There will be those who are out of the Chase, but will still be wanting to get a win, just for the sake of winning. Of these, the cute little guy--Kasey Kahne--should be the best, and he can finish without endangering those who are in the Chase.
It will be wild, and the Schrub--Kyle Busch--will be in his element, driving on the edge of control all the way around the track for the entire race, making things even wilder. I would have been critical of his driving style a year ago, but he listened to Smoke, and has matured enough so that he isn't as much a hazard to the other drivers as he used to be. I think he will be an asset to JGR next year.
I digress. I'm picking Smoke to win, Kasey Kahne to finish second, Denny Hamlin third, Jimmy Johnson fourth, and Kyle Busch, who has done very well in the Formula N car, and on short tracks, fifth.
Kevin Harvick, I predict, will finish high enough to hold on to his spot in the Chase, but Kurt Busch will have bad luck either brought on by himself or mechanical problems, and, much to the delight of 80% of the NASCAR fans, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will barely squeak into the Chase. Wait, this isn't a prediction, it's a fantasy, but it's fun.
This will all change if the expected storm hits the Eastern Seaboard. I think, if the race isn't run by Monday, NASCAR should go ahead and make Richmond the final race of the year, which means, if the Championship points are tight, the season will end with a bang in November. Then, Loudon will be the deciding race going into the Chase.
I would like to ignore the last three paragraphs and just say, if it doesn't rain, Saturday night should be a blast! If it does rain, at least ESPN/ABC has some interesting features they run during the rain delays.

Off-Season Dangerous for NASCAR Champs

2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson broke his wrist last Sunday, and it was not in a racing incident. He was participating in a celebrity golf tournament, when the driver of his golf cart took a sharp turn, and Johnson fell out. This will prevent his participation in this year's Nations' Cup in Paris next weekend, a fun racing event featuring champions from all types of racing, but is not expected to prevent him from preseason testing at Daytona next month.
It should be noted that Tony Stewart, the 2005 champion, broke his wrist last year during the off season while racing in the Chili Bowl National Midget Series. At least he did it in a race car, while Johnson was the victim of a freak accident. The off season seems to have become dangerous for champions, any way you look at it.

The Champ!

Photo Credit: US PRESSWIRE Copyright © 2006 Mark J. Rebilas

We can all breath a sigh of relief now, for Jimmie Johnson has won the NASCAR Nextel Cup. We have known, since his 2002 rookie season that it was only a matter of time before the naturally talented driver won a NASCAR Cup championship. He had to. Johnson has not finished a season outside the top five in points standings in five years, and even came within eight points of winning it at the end of the final race of 2004. It may as well be sooner than later, and the #48 team got it over with.
Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus deserve it. After the first four races of the Chase for the Championship, the #48 team was so far out of the lead that many sports writers had counted him out, but the team literally turned up the juice and excelled in the last six races, including four second place finishes in a row.
Knaus is one of the smartest crew chiefs in the business--not the smartest, because he has been caught "pushing the envelope" in the grey area of the NASCAR rule etch-a-sketch, and was suspended for four races earlier in the season. But the #48 team is strong, and carried on without him, establishing a reputation as a team that could come back from adversity, which they have done throughout the season.
Johnson didn't have to win the race at Homestead--all he had to do was finish twelfth or better to clinch the championship. He didn't just hang out safely in twelfth the entire race. Much to the delight of many a race fan, he competed; leading a lap during green flag pit stops, and coming back from a pit stop snafu in which the bit from an air wrench got stuck on a lug nut, dropping him sixteen places. "Anything can happen" was a phrase which remained in our minds right up to the checkered flag. Johnson had a car which could have won, but he wasn't going to do anything stupid to jeopardize his chances, and he couldn't be blamed for that. He finished ninth, giving him plenty of points to win the Championship, and yet another top-ten finish. Like him or not, this guy is good.
Greg Biffle won the race. Again, we have to think, "it's about time." Biffle's team has struggled this season--since winning at Darlington on the eve of Mother's Day, the #16 team's performance has been less than satisfactory. Perhaps it was the level of competition this year, but Biffle is expected to compete at a championship level. Much of his misfortune this season has been exactly that--the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being caught up in somebody else's mistakes. Some of it was brought on by the driver himself, for Greg Biffle has a tendency to be over-aggressive and to overdrive the turns, often putting him into the back of another car. This is something that can be cured by experience--many a great driver has shown the same flaws early in his career--Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, AJ Foyt, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon, to name a few. Hopefully, Biffle, whom we feel is championship material, will overcome his shortcomings as well as these other drivers did. At any rate, we are happy to see Greg Biffle find Victory Lane in the last race in what was a disappointing season for him.
Now that the season is over, I hope my readers will continue to visit this blog. Off-season is a time of withdrawal for the true NASCAR addict, but I plan on keeping the hunger fed with some more opinionated drivers' profiles, similar to those posted here early in the season. I will also write some book reviews, and write on some subjects of entertainment other than NASCAR. It's the end of the season, not the end of the world, and the Daytona 500 is only a few weeks away. Hang in there.

Fear, Intrepidation, and Anticipation

Apply this quote to the NASCAR season finale at Homestead:

'No turning back!?' Why did you have to go and say that? That's as bad as saying, 'nothing else can go wrong now,' or 'this will be Fluffy's best Christmas ever.'--Doctor Who

Todd Bodine won the Craftsman Truck Series (CTS) Championship Friday night, and all he had to do was finish the race. Our favorite, Johnny Benson, still had a chance to beat Bodine in points, until, while racing for second place, a truck spun into the infield, and then slid back up the track, right in front of him. There was no avoiding it, and Benson's hopes for the CTS Trophy disappeared long before the race was over. He was able to finish the race, but he finished in twenty-sixth place. What he needed was to finish in the top three positions, and have Todd Bodine finish twenty-eighth or worse. Bodine played it safe, running steadily in the twenty-first to twenty-sixth positions, not taking any chances. He finished twenty-second, which, considering Benson's troubles, was more than good enough to win the Championship.
Mark Martin won the race. His limited schedule in the truck series yielded a very high percentage of wins. In each race he entered in the CTS this season, he immediately became the one to beat. In eight of the CTS races this season, he either won or came in second.
Martin wa originally slated to race in CTS full time, next season, but, not wanting to be left out of Cup racing next year, he decided to give up his Ford ride with Roush Racing, and went for a twenty-two race Cup schedule in a Chevy. So, Friday's victory capped Martin's final career truck race in a Roush Ford. Bottom line--Martin, who has not won a NASCAR championship on any level, gave up a nearly certain CTS championship next year for a chance to continue racing in Cup.
Speaking of Cup, and remembering the quote at the start of this post, there is no sure thing about the outcome of the Nextel Cup Championship, or of Sunday's race. No doubt, Jimmie Johnson will be content to run safely in twelfth place for most of the race, which is all he needs to do to win the Championship, but that is easier said than done. The competition is heavy, with four other drivers who have a chance to win the Championship, several others who will race their hearts out to make sure they will have guaranteed in February's Daytona 500, and many others who will be giving it all they've got just to win a race. Johnson, or any of the top five contenders, could get caught up in something involving all these other drivers and see his Championship hopes go to the hauler prematurely.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 115 points out of the lead, absolutely has to win the race in order to win the Chase. Even winning wouldn't be enough--Johnson would have to finish thirty-nineth place or worse, and Matt Kenseth would have to have terrible luck. We already know that Earnhardt can't count on anything like that, but, still the Earnhardt fans will be watching just in case something does happen.
What will throw off every scenario for the Championship will be the domination of the Everham teams. Kasey Kahne has the season's best record this season on the intermediate tracks among all the drivers, but team mates Elliot Saddler and Scott Riggs are also very good drivers, and all three Everham drivers qualified in the top four positions on the starting grid--a definite advantage with a good car, and one that may keep any of the Championship contenders from gaining the all-important bonus points for leading a lap.
Brian Vickers may have learned his lesson at Talledega--where he won his first race a few weeks ago, and became arguably the most hated driver in the Cup series. But there are still plenty of wild cards, including Robby Gordon, JJ Yeley, and David Stremme, among many others. Robby Gordon is on the high of winning the Baja 1000 this week, and with a reputation of not giving a darn about other drivers on the track, he will happily ruin someone's Championship hopes to continue his winning streak. Yeley and Stremme, are not bad drivers, just inexperienced and on a steep learning curve. They have both made stupid mistakes this season, which have taken out other drivers, as well as themselves, and the contenders probably fear that the learning period isn't over. In NASCAR, one can't always avoid the mistakes of others.
So, the only predictions I can safely make this weekend is that the Championship will not be determined until the last lap, and that it will be a very exciting and fulfilling race at season's end.

The Big Finale

Well, here we are, at the final race. There is always something melancholy about the end of the season, but the good news is that NASCAR has the shortest off season of all professional sports--twelve weeks from Sunday's race at Homestead until the Daytona 500 in February. And there is more good news--if only in that the season has been probably the best and most exciting since 1998. It has been very satisfying for those of us who can't seem to get enough excitement. And there is the fact that, going into the last race, the Championship has not been decided yet.

Of course, Jimmie Johnson has the best chance to take the Cup, being sixty-three points ahead of second place. This means, he clinches the championship if he finishes seventeenth or better. If he leads a lap during the race, getting bonus points, he only has to finish twelfth or better, regardless of where Matt Kenseth and the other three contenders finish.
Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are tied for third place, ninety points out of the lead. There will likely be times during the race that one or both of them will move up closer to the points lead. Say, for instance, that on lap 112, Kenseth is leading the race, Havick and Hamlin are running in the top ten, and Johnson is way back in twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth place. This situation would put these two guys within thirty points in the lead. This theoretical example is to illustrate exactly how close the championship race is between the top four drivers. As it happens, there are many different sets of circumstances which could put Hamlin or Harvick in the points lead by the end of the race.

Momentum is on Johnson's side, however. The #48 team has been performing exceptionally well since the last race at Talledega, and no amount of bad luck during the race seems to be a handicap for the team by the end. Still, with the competition being what it is, the driver among the top five who has the least bad luck will be the 2006 champion.





None of the contenders can afford to have something like this happen.

Review, sort of.

Don't give him the trophy yet, but Jimmie Johnson is doing exactly what it takes to win that elusive honor. After being virtually counted out after the first three chase races, Johnson and his #48 team have performed heroically and have taken the championship points lead by sixty-three points over second place Matt Kenseth. They have done so by making the smart moves, going for the win, but not taking the kinds of risks that would result in disaster.
The final three-lap shoot-out in Sunday's race at Phoenix was a great example of what Johnson and his team have been doing. After the restart, even those of us at home were on our feet as Kevin Harvick shot into the lead with Johnson close on his tail. Harvick got loose in turn three, allowing Johnson to get right up against his rear bumper. However, Harvick, an excellent driver in his own right, was not about to let victory slip through his fingers, blocked Johnson and prevented him from passing. Johnson had two choices; he could have pressed the issue, putting nose of his car under the tail of Harvick's, causing him to get loose and creating an opportunity to take the lead and the win, or he could have let up on the throttle, and hope for another chance to pass before they reached the finish line. He wisely chose the second option, because the first also could have resulted in both cars wrecking, as often happens in the course of a hard fought race to the finish. It was enough for him to settle for second place, keeping the points lead, while Harvick took a hard fought and well deserved win.
Harvick is the fourth driver to achieve back-to-back victories at PIR, and the first to do so in the same year, since the addition of the March race last year. His behavior, in the aftermath of the post-race incident last week, in which a member of Scott Riggs' #10 team physically assaulted Kevin and his wife Dalana, has been exempliary of a true champion. Harvick contacted the owner of Riggs' team, Ray Everham, and asked that the offending team member not be fired. He also assured Everham that there were no hard feelings, and that there would be no retailiation on the track. Scott Riggs, who had been running in second place toward the end of the race in Texas, when contact with Harvick's car ran him into the wall and out of the race, also showed superior sportsmanship, when he told reporters that it was just something that happens in racing. He was not involved in the post-race incident.
While the race for the win was going on, rookie sensation Denny Hamlin was having the time of his life racing one of the sport's all-time greats, Jeff Gordon, for third place. Gordon is mathematically out of championship contention for the points championship, but racers live to race, and race he did, door-to-door and fender-to-fender, for nearly three laps. Hamlin managed to keep to the inside of Gordon, the shorter distance around the track, and prevailed just before the checkered flag fell, taking third place.
We can't give the Championship to Johnson, just yet. There is the sappy, emotional side of us that will need a box of Kleenex if and when the two-time runner up does accept the trophy. He really does deserve it, and it could be just as well now that he gets it, rather than later. It will still be an emotional moment if something goes wrong for him in the final race at Homestead, Fla, next Sunday, preventing him from taking the Nextel Cup.
It doesn't have to be an engine problem or a transmission problem that would once again deny the trophy to Johnson. A cut tire, or running out of fuel late in the race could be fatal to his championship hopes. Even being caught in traffic with a missed set up could be bad for the #48 team.
Face it; anything could happen, as so often does during a race. Matt Kenseth is only 63 points away from the lead, which could be made up with not too much luck. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are tied in third place in points position, ninety points out of the lead, and either one of them could still be the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion, given the right set of circumstances. Fifth place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is still a mathematical possibility, 117 points out of the lead, if he gets all the good luck, and the other four contenders have absolutely no luck at all. The bottom line is this--the cap-off of what has been an excellent racing season is that the championship will be determined on the last lap of the last race.


Photo Credit: Sherryl Creekmore