A car length here, a lane change there and one incredible pit call.No matter what it was, Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team seemed to do it right on a mild then wild Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway -- even when it looked like holding par in the point standings wasn't going to happen as the laps clicked off and the drama kept rising around the 2.66-mile wildcard.
But when the cars stopped flipping and the smoke stopped rising, Johnson -- to the chagrin of plenty -- stood alone in his pursuit of the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup with what amounts to be an insurmountable lead with an unstoppable team.
All week -- actually, make that every race of the Chase so far -- other drivers, fans and us media types have looked at Sunday's race at Talladega from the mindset that it would be Johnson's calling card to come closer to the rest of the field. It would be his kryptonite because, come on, no one can really dominate as much the No. 48 without issue, right?
Well, we were right -- but just not enough.
Johnson's finishing average prior to Talladega in the six races that had previously comprised the Chase was a measly average of third. After his sixth-place Talladega effort? Johnson's average finishing position rocketed to 3.43.
Kidding aside, once again everything seemed to work out for Johnson.
Riding in the back of the lead pack with just five laps to go, Johnson stayed high to avoid Ryan Newman's flipping car from just five spots ahead of him and then avoided Tony Stewart's slowing race car on the outside. More important, though, was the pit call that crew chief Chad Knaus made as soon as the caution came out.
Johnson ducked to pit road when it first opened, grabbed fuel, and returned to the race track. The red flag was displayed almost immediately thereafter, and the several of the drivers who didn't pit then but needed to ran out fuel when the caution resumed.It was an unusual circumstance as NASCAR typically will put out the red flag before it opens pit lane, and Knaus jumped on the chance to take on fuel while the others, like teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, didn't. Johnson was initially skeptical of the call until cars ahead of him started dropping like flies to get fuel. By the restart, he was in the Top-10.
Johnson, though, wasn't out of the woods quite yet when Kurt Busch got turned sideways off of turn four as the field approached the white flag when racing had started again. Busch spun sideways and clipped Scott Speed -- the car drafting off Johnson's rear decklid to set off a 13-car pileup that ended the race a lap from the end.
Johnson and Knaus had then accomplished exactly what they had hoped to do by driving to a sixth-place finish and not giving up any ground in the Chase to his teammate Martin. Martin, thanks to a finish that saw him flip over, instead lost pivotal ground to Johnson.
The No. 48 now has a lead in the point standings of some 184 points over Martin in second. The number is large enough that should Johnson finish 10th or better in the remaining three races, there's not a soul who can catch him.
For a guy that's averaged that finish of 3.43 so far in the Chase, the odds seem to be pretty well in the favor of Johnson becoming the first four-peat champion in NASCAR's history -- leaving the competition with one question.
When's Daytona?
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
YEAH SURE JOHNSON 4th title in full VIEW BUT manufactured by nazcar fiction entertainemant so called racing.
In my racing fan life i only saw 2 champions winning 4 title,REAL CHAMPIONSHIPS and that was JEFF GODON DES 7crowns, STEWART 5 among various racing. THAT'S ALL.
BACK when SCALE YARDBUREAU won 3, R PRETTY won 7
D.PEACHSON etc etc won 3 real champs i was not around racing or even here in NAZCAR USA TV SHOW SERIES but i know plenty about and all of those were REAL RACING TITLES.LOL. works not for me... anymore.
A 3 times champ EVEN A NAZCAR SHOW MANUFACTURED ONE DOES NOT SIT IN 33 TO 40th position all race long like a scared pigeon and FLY'S BY THE LAST 10
LAPS, like a cousin HATEWARDS JACK GROUCHES SPECIES COPYCAT.THIS CHASE CRAP HAS GOT TO GO BECAUSE IT'S ONLY ADVANTAGING JJ&KANVAS since injection.Works not for me,not for any other driver anymore.
yah ok you seen to have alot of knowledge, but has it been done 4peat nooooo,,,,48 will do it so read it and weep gooooo 48
though johnson might be a talented driver he does seem to have a horseshoe stuck up his ass.he also has got plenty of help from nascar, mystery cautions calls for rain etc.it also does not hurt that he has the best car week in week out.is he really that good?i think in a car yhat was not quite top shelf he would be alittle better than mediocre.to top it off exactly which team was first to test the coa car hendrick and johnson,this is why they are way ahead of the learning curve.once again johnson is a very good driver but even micheal waltrip can win with a great car.any driver who runs at the back all day intentionly to avoid the big wreck is a pussy at best.jimmy and chad should hang their heads in shame.real race drivers race.playing it safe only shows what a scared bunch the 48 team is.
Nascar is now officially the WWE. Look for Brian France to team up with Vince McMahon any day now..
the 48 is a joke, rides safe in the rear all day, thats not racing and if the old timers where out there, they would race for the win, not hide in the back, what a joke and so is nascar, i'm done with this sport BORING............
ABOUT TIME OLD MAN!!!!!!!!!GET LOST!!!!!!!!.
Amen Bob...racing should be go fast as you can and not hide in the back like Johnson, very good point.To all the Jr haters, at least he was wide open most of the day tryin' to make a win.
All you have to do is look at the 48"s record at this track. 7 wrecks in 11 races. you done need to be a rocket scientist to realize that if he did the same old thing as in the past, he would have had the same result as in the past. A wreck. So I say to all of you who think Jimmie was just sitting back not racing. I say he was smart. The race is alway won in the last laps at Dega, so why try to wreck your car. Jimmie tried something else this time and it worked out for him and his team. Maybe some of the other drivers should start using that thing that is connected to their shoulders, that would be their head and brains instead of trying to in desparation win the race. Its not about winning its about points. To all of you who think that Nascar is fixed, don't let the door hit you on the way out. If you don't like it LEAVE, atop watching, adios, bye bye. See ya. All the drivers have the same chance in any race. Its all about strategy, having a game plan, and the 48 has both. Jimmie didn't go to Dega to win only to finish without wrecking and he accomplished that. Grsat Job Jimmie.
yeah why dont more drivers ride in the back to be smart?well if all the drivers are in the back playing it safe who would be racing?chad and jimmy should be bitch slapped for that weak excuse of a race.
I am so disappointed in NASCAR!!! This was not a race worth watching. I too think NASCAR is working hard to put Johnson in as a Champ again. Fans are turning channel and not buying tickets.
Jimmie and Chad are out driving, out smarting, and putting themselves is good situations. They have some good luck but early in the season had some bumps but they learn from them. I wonder if Jr. was driving the 48 car how much negative comments would be posted. Go Team Lowes, 4 peat!!!!!
NASCAR is not trying to make Jimmy Johnson the 4 time champ, he and his team are doing that. Besides Jimmy is straight and if Brian France wanted to make someone champ it would be his gay lover Kurt Busch. Yea they run the Hershey dirt track together.
Is what Jimmy did smart? yes. Is it within the rules? yes. Is it exciting watching your driver ride around in circles for 180 laps at that back of the pack? Probably not. Is It racing? Not in my opinion. Not when you have 40 other drivers fighting and racing for everything they can get on every lap. Those out there competing on every lap, they were racing. Jimmy was just driving.
If you're a Jimmy fan you had to like the outcome, but was it exciting for 180 laps? I doubt it. Jeff, Juan, Mark, Kurt and others might of had bad finishes but at least they were out there racing and trying the whole race.
Larry as a fan of Johnson's I can't argue with anything you said. It wasn't very exciting for me to watch my driver hang in the rear all day and it is true, waited way too long to make a charge and the only reason he finished so well was because many in front of him either ran out of gas or wrecked. That being said, it was smart. Dega is Jimmie's worst track and Chad and Jimmie are smart enough to know, he just had to finish the race, not win and not place that high to hold his point lead.
The bigger issue, IMO was how horrible the race was in general. Talk about a true follow the leader. The smaller restrictor plates were a joke! They made them smaller to try to prevent an accident like the one that happened in the spring with Edwards. It didn't work. Poor Newman ended up on his head for almost 20 minutes. Restrictor plate racing is a joke! Something has got to be done.
Kim
again jj and chad worked for the 48 team and hendricks racing...as others have pointed out other drivers drove alike bats out of hell and wound up not finishing the race and blowing any chance to put their teams in championship positions..who smartest? who works for the team and who for themselves? go jj. go chad. you are the best and will continue to be until the rest of the teams become teams and not ego drivers.
thank god jimmie didn't win this race or else all the haters would be cutting their wrists!
go Jimmie!! not everyone hates you for being a winner!
do you think anybody really takes asscar seriously anymore ,obviously you do.your comment about slitting their wrists.......loooser
Another manufactured championship for Lowes and Johnson.....how boring...and how WWE can Nascar get.
Cry me a river, Jimmie and 48 team are best and deserve to be champs again. Skill and a little luck is hard to beat... Go JJ your fan base is growing.
Johnson ready to wim Title again there is the reason I don't watch anymore him and the big teams have ruined it for eveyone to enjoy.