Johnson Makes It Four-In-a-Row at Phoenix, Ruins Chase Excitement

The folks that run Homestead-Miami Speedway cannot be Jimmie Johnson fans.

Even though they do have a sell-out for next Sunday's Nextel Cup season-ending Ford 500, Jimmie Johnson has ruined any type of excitement that was building in the fight to win the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Johnson won Sunday afternoon's Checker Auto Parts 500k at Phoenix International Raceway for not only the fourth-straight race, but also to take a commanding 86-point lead into the final race at Homestead.

Talk about a lead balloon.

A lead balloon, that is, if you wanted to see a finish to the season like we got in the first edition of the Chase, when Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Johnson all had legitimate title chances.

But if you are a Johnson fan, life is good.

After Johnson's late-race domination at Phoenix -- a race in which he led the final 24 laps -- Johnson leads Gordon's No. 24 team by 86 points. The basic math on that is that Gordon must win and lead the most laps at Homestead and Johnson has to finish 18 or worse.

In other words, it's not going to happen.

Gordon stated in the post-race interview that Johnson & Co. have "flat-out killed everyone" in the past few weeks. After all, it's not very often that a driver can lose 154 points in the point standings by consistently finishing in the top-10. To top that off, Johnson becomes the first driver since Gordon in 1998 to win four-straight races.

But in 2007, Jimmie Johnson has been good enough to do that. And because of that, he has stuck a fork in Brian France's Chase.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-12-2007 @ 2:17PM

gene said...

I guess LOWES owns charlotte motor speedway and nascar.....so much for fair competition. Oh and
thank you brian france and nascar for the cot,
you know the car that was going to make it equal
for all, what a joke...I ll join the rest of the
fans leaving the sport after this runaway chase by
the #48 lowes sponsored, nascar owned team, driven
by the overrated (yep overrated, no chad knauss,
no jimmy j) jimmy johnson. Yep like the article
said life is good if your a johnson fan, but life
ain t good for the nascar fan cause this chase
has sucked. GOOD JOB BRIAN FRANCE.

11-12-2007 @ 5:27PM

CJ said...

The Drive for Five has died for Gordon, HOORAY! I by no means am a Johnson fan, but see Gordon miss out on another championship just makes my day! And like the above post, here comes the looney Gordon fans and their retarded conspiracy theories!

11-12-2007 @ 10:09PM

larry said...

I have become so bored with nascar racing this 2nd half....Its jimmy again,,,,big deal! Multi car teams are ruining this sport..if you are not hendricks motor sport you might was well go home,,,Nascar is looking for a new name How about the jimmy johnson hour! thank god for dvd's mmm I think I will watch the texas chainsaw masscare...Now thats enterainmnet!!

11-12-2007 @ 10:35PM

Kim said...

Jeez Gene, a bit bitter are we? First off ENOUGH with this crap about Johnson being "overrated." Anyone who says that is an idiot. Yes, I said idiot! The guy has proven himself to be one of the best since entering Nascar Nextel Cup Series racing. Since 2002 he has 32 (wait, now 33) wins to Gordon's 27. He has one championship and it looks like number two is imminent. That's two championships in five years! He is Nascar's winningest driver this year as well as last. Sorry, but "luck" doesn't get you there. Great driving, great equipment, a great team/owner, and yes, a great Crew Chief get you there!

Whether you like him or not, he is a FANTASTIC driver who has more than proven himself to all, PERIOD!

Kim

11-12-2007 @ 10:53PM

I will say this Kim, what really set me on Jimmie over Jeff was when he donated those winnings at Atlanta to the victims of the California fires, why couldnt Jeff do the same, isnt he from the same state? Hell, even Kyle Busch when he won that California race back in his rookie year in 2005 on Labor Day weekend, he donated his winnings to Hurricane Katrina victims, so what's the deal with Jeff? As much money as he has, why is he such a selfish miserable bastard? Hey, i guess he'd be a good fit to play Scrooge in the Christmas Carol if anyone wants to do a play for it this year! But i guess we'll hear Jeff cry about if it was the old points system again, he'd have it, but shoulda woulda coulda, he's STILL only a four time champ and Jimmie will be halfway there after this weekend! The only complaint i have about Jimmie is that he looks like someone with no personality, but your right Kim, he obviously does have the talent to solitify his place in Nascar and actually could be bigger and better than Jeff Gordon! And i've heard that he and Dale Jr have very similar driving styles and evaluate their cars the same, so i've even heard that Jr could help improve Jimmie's performance even more, if that's possible. I think they maybe should consider moving Jimmie's team and cars into the same building with Jr and move Mears in with Gordon.

11-12-2007 @ 10:55PM

Susan said...

Kim,

Congratulations! I think your JJ's #1 fan and I am sure that you are ecstatic. You should be!

I unfortunately can't mention my favorite drivers here because people go off and rant about them.

I thought when Jeff waved a white flag to surrender to JJ after the race. It was a classy move and handled extremely well.

Congrats!

Susan

11-12-2007 @ 11:03PM

Geoffrey Miller said...

CJ-

Are you really cracking on a man's ability to donate to charity?

Before you decide Jeff Gordon is a scumbag for not publicly doing anything about the California wildfires, remember this. He IS the half-owner of Johnson's car, so therefore, some of the winnings Johnson donated could have easily come out of Jeff's pocket. Also, Johnson is from El Cajon, Cal. near the fires, while Jeff is from Vallejo, Calif. -- hundreds of miles away from where the fires took place. Not exactly a hometown.

Aside from the fact that his foundation sponsors these organizations:

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society®, The Make-A-Wish Foundation®, Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, The Marrow Foundation® in partnership with Hendrick Marrow Program and the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital in Concord, NC.

... I must agree. Jeff Gordon is a selfish bastard. Shame on him. He should feed my fast-food habit, too.

-Geoffrey

11-12-2007 @ 11:10PM

CJ,

Jeff Gordon built a Pediatrics Wing on at least one hospital. He continues to bring in a huge amount of money for childrens medical and other organizations. He has all sorts of fundraisers. He has the Jeff Gordon Foundation so why don't you check that out.

Some people in this country want to donate and raise as much money as possible for their charities.

Hopefully, all of the people that read your insulting remarks will have kept up with Nascar enough to know that your way off base.

11-13-2007 @ 1:24PM

1954 said...

Chase excitement? Since when has made up hype been exciting?

11-13-2007 @ 1:46PM

Ken said...

I'm afraid I'm like many longtime fans this year when it comes to the Jeff and Jimmy show. I DON'T CARE! When you have the same team owner winning each week with the only difference being the face behind the wheel and the decal on the cars, it's about as interesting as kissing your sister.

When Bill Elliott was winning everything in the mid 80s, NASCAR changed the rules almost every week to stop him from winning and dominating the season. The "right" teams do the same thing today and nothing changes (as it should be). Of course it is hard to change the rules weekly when the car is a NASCAR Spec. car and everything is identical except for the things NASCAR can't or doesn't want to find.

11-14-2007 @ 8:51PM

Sandie said...

The #7 comment said it all in a nutshell. What a well spoken comment. I commend you.

11-15-2007 @ 5:06PM

joe hubacek said...

WOW! CJ posted at 10:53pm talking about jeff gordon being a money-tight, selfish, miserable bastard, loser, blah-blah-blah! that is the most random, irrational comment any idiot could blurt out. before you ever patronize a celebrity or superstar about circumstances unbeknownst to you, try Google and get an idea of what the hell you are talking about before 50,000 other people see a malicious, misconstrued response. get the xanax 'script refilled