Nascar and Racing Clint Bowyer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Jimmie Johnson nudged Denny Hamlin aside in the third and fourth turns with 15 laps to go and gave team owner Rick Hendrick a perfect place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first victory in NASCAR's premier series: Victory Lane.

During one of only four off-weeks all season, it's a good time to breathe and check out the early-season statistics. It's way to early to come to any conclusions, but it's been an interesting few weeks of haves and have-nots.

Here's a look at who's getting the thumbs-up or thumbs-down as we prepare for one of the best shows NASCAR has to offer -- 500 laps at the half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway next Sunday afternoon.

A friend from Denver -- a new NASCAR fan -- called up the morning after the Daytona 500 disappointed and feeling like he got short-changed.

He said stopping the race 48 laps short felt like watching an NFL game being played in bad weather with the referees just deciding whoever was ahead in the third quarter got the win.

As I explained to him -- and as Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth has unfortunately felt obligated to explain on every talk show appearance he's made since earning his first 500 trophy -- everyone knows the game and Kenseth's team simply played it best.

Carl Edwards literally did all he could do in the Nationwide Series' final race Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the 2009 series title, but Clint Bowyer's 5th-place finish kept it out of the Ford driver's hands.

As a result, Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan., scored his first-career championship in NASCAR's second-tier series by a mere 21 points over the race-winning Edwards after beginning the Ford 300 with a 56-point advantage in the series standings.

Together with Johnny Benson's Craftsman Truck Series championship drive on Friday night, a grand total of 28 points have separated NASCAR's two champions in 2008 from their closest rivals in second place -- Edwards on Saturday night at Ron Hornaday Jr. on Friday night.

That small point difference trend isn't expected to continue with Sunday's Ford 400 Sprint Cup season-finale race as Jimmie Johnson has a 141-point lead over Edwards in the top level series. Johnson, however, doesn't have the championship quite in the bag yet because he does have to finish 36th or higher to guarantee the title -- but certainly the drawstring is closing.

Back to Bowyer's title, however, and you're certainly looking at a driver who has had a stressful go of it as he attempted to finish out a virtually impeccable season of Nationwide competition.

The NASCAR season truly kicks in Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. From now through Friday, FanHouse will preview each of the 12-drivers and evaluate their championship chances.

5th - Clint Bowyer, RCR Chevrolet

Starting Deficit: 70 points

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer must have the magic touch -- after you break up with him.

Athena Barber, shown to the right, was voted the hottest NASCAR Girlfriend back in 2007 in a vote done by Sports Illustrated, but lost that title in 2008 after she and the Emporia, Kan.-driver parted ways to the puzzlement of male NASCAR fans everywhere.

Well, as TGOM over at Answer This spotted this week, Barber has found her way into the camera lens of the magazine FHM. I've included the link below.

In the interview/photo shoot, Barber opens up quite a bit about being the arm candy of Clint Bowyer and what its like for the wives and girlfriends of the sport, both at the track and at home.

A lot of it's very informative (she talks about how Clint would never, ever drive even if he had a sip of alcohol) and a lot of it's kind of humorous (she says that the WAGs even take sides when drivers get into it on the track).

Preparing the track, praying against the rain, and organizing an event expected to host over 20,000 spectators were all on the plate for Tony Stewart on Wednesday at his Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

And oh yeah, he was racing, too.

The responsibilities must not have weighed on Stewart too hard as he took home his second win the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream on a muddy night in west-central Ohio. The high-banked dirt track charity all-star race again featured some of NASCAR's biggest names and is rapidly gaining traction as one of the best events to get a ticket to in all of racing.

Sure, Denny Hamlin may have led gobs and gobs of laps during Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400. And sure, the race title was ridiculous to say (and from here on out, will be referred to as the Dan Lowry 400).

But boy did NASCAR need a race like the one race fans were treated to at Richmond. Throw together the entire weekend and its not looking too shabby all the way around.

First, NASCAR's newest bad boy in town Kyle Busch started things off nicely Friday night during the Lipton Tea 250 when dude got into with Rusty Wallace's probably-never-going-to-make-the-Sprint-Cup son Steven Wallace. The two did the post-race tango after beating and banging on each other during the final laps with Kyle Busch getting offended after his helmet was grabbed and Wallace calling Busch a "girl".

Priceless.

Then, Saturday night, Denny Hamlin was on his way to securing one of the most dominating Sprint Cup wins in a long, long time at his home track, until a tire started to go late in the event. Apparently, karma catches up to you after leading some 381 of 410 total laps.

Prior to Hamlin losing the race that was his to be won, those fans who watch just to see smashed up fenders and bent roll cages were treated to a massive pileup in Turn 3 that took Matt Kenseth from his Richmond misery and drop kicked Jimmie Johnson from a good finish. Those fans can check out the video here.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon had one of those nights for the first half of the race that his haters love to see.

The No. 24 was a lap down early and struggling -- raising the haters' hopes for further Gordon bad luck. However, Jeff played the storyline well and brought his big core of fans right back into the race when he got a lap back and battled through the field to a ninth-place finish.

And then, there was Michael Waltrip showing his now-annual display of over-aggression after Casey Mears lost the No. 55 in his blind spot and sent them both into the wall. Waltrip then gunned the accelerator and pushed Mears into the turn one wall, drawing a "you're done for the race" penalty from race control. Remember, Waltrip slugged Lake Speed in 1995, had this YouTube gem in 2004 (1:35), and got into it with Jeff Green a few years ago at Darlington.

Once that all sorted out, it looked like Hamlin was cruising to a victory in front of the home crowd until the tire faded his chances. When Hamlin caused a caution and subsequently penalized, the race was between that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fellow and Busch.

The two made a little bit of contact going for the win, which kicked the most popular driver from the win and allowed Clint Bowyer to sneak in from nowhere past Busch for his second-career win.

While it wasn't the 2007 Daytona 500 finish, Richmond brought out storyline after storyline late in the event -- which is exactly what a race fan wants. By no means was Saturday night's finish predictable.

Carnage and controversy on a short track? Now that is.

It sure didn't look like anyone could get around Denny Hamlin until a flat tire pulled the No. 11 car back to the field.

And when Hamlin's frustrations showed his classless competitive nature, Clint Bowyer took advantage of the series of events to grab the lead and hold on to win the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 in a green-white-checkered finish.

It was Bowyer's 2nd-career Sprint Cup Series victory, and probably one of the most unlikely wins he'll ever score. Regardless, though, his 13 laps led meant a heckuva lot more than Hamlin's 381 of the extended 410 lap event.

Of course, Bowyer's win will likely be overshadowed this week by a number of things, including: