Motorsports FanHouse http://motorsports.fanhouse.com Motorsports FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Motorsports FanHouse http://motorsports.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Sprint Cup N's & Q's: AMP Energy 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-amp-energy-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-amp-energy-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-amp-energy-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Notes, quotes & commentary from a NASCAR weekend at Talladega.

What a weekend it was, huh? Yes, I do have some comments and ideas about the overall product at Talladega this week. I'm going to wait, though, until the end of this post. First, the finer notes on Sunday.

Can anyone make sense of NASCAR's pit road penalties? Had Sunday's race been at another track where track position isn't so easily gained like it is at Talladega, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and eventual race winner Jamie McMurray would have been downright hosed.

And good or bad as it relates to your particular driver, the rule that nabbed them just isn't fair.

The four drivers ended up in a sticky situation when they dropped from 190-plus mph to Talladega's pit road speed of 65 mph on lap 50 to make a pit stop. As they did so, Kurt Busch blew a tire and murdered the pit road commitment cone just in front of them before spinning through the grass.

Jeff Gordon, originally with the aforementioned drivers, swerved back on track and didn't pit after worrying that the caution flag would negatively affect his team's decision to pit. But the other drivers, yards from the pit road commitment line when Busch spun, continued down pit road and some made their pit stops.

Upon further review, NASCAR determined that the four had entered pit road while it was closed -- replays showed the red light activated before they crossed the pit road commitment line, meaning they had indeed done so. The penalty was to restart at the tail-end of the field.

But come on, had those guys made aggressive maneuvers to stay off pit road as Gordon had, they would have all piled up in a hot mess of bent metal. How is it smart for NASCAR to think that the drivers should have made such an ill-advised maneuver?

It's not, frankly, and someone will soon get burned on the rule at a track where it matters like, say, Texas Motor Speedway, the site of this weekend's race.

You've got to feel bad for Joe Nemechek after he was a part of Sunday's first caution.

Nemechek, who is trying to keep his race team afloat this season by pulling the start-and-park pattern, was intending to run his Nemco Motorsports car the distance on Sunday and maybe squeeze out a decent finish to earn some more cash for his generally unsponsored team to keep it racing.

But Paul Menard's tire had another idea as it exploded in turn two on lap 6, shooting Menard into the side of Nemechek and both into the wall. Nemechek wound up 43rd and went home with a destroyed race car.

Do you want to accuse Jamie McMurray of winning a fluky race? Go ahead, but not only does he not care, the stats from the race don't back it up. McMurray led 32 laps Sunday to take home five extra points for leading the most.

Mark Martin came with a completely different attitude to Talladega than his normal "I hate this place" shtick. It worked so well that Martin completed all but one lap and spent time sliding on his roof.

Dude can't catch a break at these restrictor plate joints, I suppose. He did, though, reason on why Talladega has reared into a big, ugly monster that fans love or hate (and from the sound of those comments, its mostly hate right now).

"It used to be we'd come here and it'd be all about speed and power," said Martin, talking about the difference between then and today's uniform set of rules designed with mostly safety in mind, before he identified what's to blame for Talladega's controversies. "Technology has brought us to this."

Very true. And sadly, technology doesn't exactly allow us too many things to fix it.

As promised, some ramblings and questions about Talladega, as a whole. Agree or disagree as you wish.

♦ Single-file lines are not new at Talladega. If you remember back to the fall of 2007 with the same car, Jeff Gordon led all of one lap that day after the race got crazy near the end. But before that, there was plenty of guys (i.e. Gordon) riding in the back to stay out of trouble and single-file lines in the middle of the race.

Heck, I even posted about it on Oct. 8, 2007:
For much too long Sunday, it was obvious drivers were scared to be aggressive or dice for the lead. Single-file packs and drivers purposely staying at the back of the pack to avoid trouble just doesn't cut it at this level.

Jeff Gordon managed to pull off the race win by sailing through the draft after a restart with eight laps to go but for a large majority of Sunday's race, Gordon rode around at times five to seven seconds behind the leader with teammate Jimmie Johnson and other Chase contenders.

That's not racing. That's riding.
Sounds eerily familiar to Sunday, doesn't? Like I said, single-file lines aren't new at Talladega, and we really can't blame NASCAR's no bump drafting in the corners edict for it.

♦ Do you think the fact that Jimmie Johnson skirted through the messes of Talladega and came out with what is really an insurmountable point lead had any factor on fan frustration?

I really think that's part of the case. Had Jimmie wrecked, it might have changed the whole rest of the season. You get the feeling people were banking on that.

♦ Ryan Newman is right. NASCAR Sprint Cup cars don't need to be taking off on their own. Something needs to be engineered -- bigger roof flaps? -- to keep them on the ground.

♦ People that think racing at Talladega without restrictor plates would solve everything couldn't be further from the truth. Going faster means race cars fly better. And when cars fly, they don't have control. And when you don't have control, you don't know where they'll land.

Therein lies the complete problem with going faster at Talladega.

♦ After much thinking about the subject, I think I've nailed down the frustration I felt after Sunday's race. It's simple: Talladega is too predictable in its unpredictability.

Other race tracks have different types of races nearly every visit and there's often quirks that are completely unexpected. NASCAR fans like quirks and the unexpected -- it makes things exciting and fresh to watch.

But at Talladega (I'm not lumping Daytona into this) the formula is simple: Ride, ride, pass, ride, ride, crash, race, crash, checkered flag.

We've gotten so used to the "Big One" and extraordinary crashes that they've become just ordinary and an off-shoot winner -- we should have had three in-a-row going to back to last season's terrible call to rob Regan Smith of the win -- happens more often than not now.

Simply, we've seen three-wide racing so much that we expect it and its not massively thrilling to the longtime viewer. And for the drivers, they've reached the point where they realize that nothing counts until the checked flag waves. Why, then, would they want to ride in peril for three hours?

Can you blame them? I can't.

It's not a good show for the fans, and there's no incentive for the drivers. That leaves one variable on the table: NASCAR.

Love it or hate it, Talladega has reached an interesting point with problems -- not the safety ones -- that really have no clear cut answer.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: AMP Energy 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:14:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Geoffrey MillerWed, 04 Nov 2009 11:14:00 EST Jimmie Johnson on Bulldozing Talladega, Luck and Enjoying the Ridehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/jimmie-johnson-on-bulldozing-talladega-luck-and-enjoying-the-ri/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/jimmie-johnson-on-bulldozing-talladega-luck-and-enjoying-the-ri/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/jimmie-johnson-on-bulldozing-talladega-luck-and-enjoying-the-ri/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Jimmie JohnsonTo hear Jimmie Johnson describe it, the most challenging part of wrapping up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship is not getting wrapped up in winning it. No matter how hard everyone else tries to convince him the trophy's been engraved.

He holds a 184-point advantage -- nearly a full race lead -- on second place Mark Martin and only needs to finish 10th place or better in the remaining three Chase for the Championship races to secure the trophy. That's even if Martin wins all three races and leads the most laps in each.

But Johnson insists his approach in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy will be the same as if he was trailing by 184 points and promised he wasn't about to start being conservative.

"We're showing up to win races,'' Johnson said. "Finishing 10th isn't as easy as it sounds. It is a tough field of cars out there and we need to be on our game. With three to go, we need to race these next two as if we're behind in the points and get every point we can.''

In an interview this week with the national press, Johnson also shared his thoughts on a controversial Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway race Sunday, how good luck has affected his unprecedented title run and if he ever takes a moment to enjoy the journey.

Johnson made candid remarks after a sixth-place finish at Talladega on Sunday, when multi-car crashes took out his closest championship rivals -- Hendrick Motorsports teammates Martin and Jeff Gordon. And a frightening collision sent Chase driver Ryan Newman's Chevy airborne resulting in a red flag.

Two days later, Johnson didn't back down from his opinion that the only way NASCAR was going to tame the dangerous multi-car melees at the 2.66-mile speedway was to take a bulldozer to the track's 33-degree banked turns.

"At the end of the day, I hope people realize we have messed with enough in the garage area with cars, with threatening drivers, regulating -- some people think they've over-regulated, other people think we're under-regulated -- but the bottom line is we're going to have these issues until we're required to let off the gas going into the turns,'' Johnson said.

"I think overwhelmingly, the public is understanding and starting to recognize that you can't change the cars anymore. You can't scold the drivers anymore. ... the only way we can get the racing to change is by changing the track. It's the only thing left. We've messed with every other area and nothing has worked.''

He also said he's heard the outcry from fans upset with the single file, play-it-safe strategy drivers used for the first two-thirds of the race. Johnson said he understands it may not be a good "show" but it's the new reality for a racer who wants to be around at the end to challenge for the checkered flag.

"The bottom line, somebody is going to be unhappy,'' Johnson said. "The fans that want to see the big wrecks and want to see the four and five-wide are going to be upset right now ... because we were responsible as drivers and tried not to wreck earlier in the race.

"Right now, because we're trying to be responsible, we have more people upset than we've ever had before.''


Johnson was one of those who successfully employed the strategy of patience. His top-10 finish Sunday was essentially an escape from what many considered the last true wild-card race. Had he succumbed to the Talladega odds and gotten caught up in one of the big wrecks, the points race would have tightened and the championship wouldn't be a runaway.

Instead, Johnson extended his lead -- but refused to write it off as "good luck."

The last big accident occurred literally just behind him, but even so, a late-race decision by his team to pit for fuel played a crucial role in his finishing when others did not.

"Some people may say Talladega was a lucky race for us, but I see how we earned this thing and made good decisions,'' Johnson said. "[Crew chief] Chad [Knaus] made a decision to pit for fuel and that decision put us in position for a good finish. ... it wasn't a lucky call. I feel from that race, the luckiest thing I had was not being back one more row and collected when that wreck started.

"It's hard for me to think too much about it [luck]. I guess I'm maybe trying to ignore it in some respects and focus on the things I can control and what the team does.''

And how do you argue with that. Clearly Johnson knows a thing or two -- or three, or four -- about winning championships in the most competitive era in NASCAR history.

And as a true sports fan, Johnson is genuinely humbled by the opportunity. As he will remind you, he only started driving stock cars about 10 years ago. He's only been in the Cup ranks for eight seasons and is on pace to claim championships in half of them.

Truly a remarkable statistic by any measure.

"No way I thought it was possible, let alone with my situation,'' Johnson said. "I'm not sure what I would compare it to, but I didn't think it was possible. I looked at what Jeff [Gordon] had accomplished, race wins and four championships and that was probably the last we'd see something like that with how competitive the sport is.

"I'm blown away and honored and enjoying every minute of what we're doing here. ... I've worked very, very hard to get to this point ans so has this team and we're enjoying every minute of it. What got us in this position was racing hard and going for every point and until it's mathematically locked up, we're going to keep the mindset and try to get every point that we can.''
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Jimmie Johnson on Bulldozing Talladega, Luck and Enjoying the Ride originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Jimmie JohnsonNASCARHolly CainWed, 04 Nov 2009 06:26:00 EST Different Day, Same Talladegahttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/different-day-same-talladega/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/different-day-same-talladega/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/different-day-same-talladega/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Before Ryan Newman's horrific Talladega flip-roll-smash-and-slide on Sunday, there was Carl Edwards' car somersaulting into the front stretch fencing.

The late Dale Earnhardt had one of his most frightening accidents at Talladega Superspeedway, barrel-rolling through the tri-oval. Before that it was Ricky Craven and Bill Elliott on E-ticket rides. In 1993, driver Jimmy Horton's car flipped over the Turn 1 wall and landed outside the track.

Rusty Wallace's Talladega crash footage -- pick a year -- used to be standard play before any NASCAR restrictor plate race.

The point is -- while there is a justifiable outcry at the scary accident involving Newman this weekend -- spectacular, highlight-reel wrecks here aren't news. They are old news.

News would be if something unpredictable happened, something like. ... nothing.

And then the outrage would be "what a boring finish, what a boring race.''

And many are suggesting that, anyway. Instead of wrecking early and often, now NASCAR's brand of bumper-to-bumper draft racing in the COT produces the completely expected race-ending melee that typically shatters at least one drivers championship hopes and often introduces a dark horse to victory lane.

That's what happened Sunday. And everyone knew it would.

"We go through this every year,'' championship leader Jimmie Johnson said to reporters in his post-race interview. "You guys try to find new ways to have us answer the same question about the restrictor plate racing.

"Yeah, we have the steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal and all that kind of thing. But until somebody really has a chance to sit in these cars and understand how tough it is, it's easier to say these things from the outside.

"Inside the car, we're racing. We're doing our thing. We mind our manners during the race, single file and everybody was probably disappointed in that.

"Then we get racing in the end and you have the big wrecks. There is not a new angle. The only way we avoid this is if anybody wants to avoid these big wrecks and this type of racing is to eliminate the need for restrictor plates. That means get the tractors out and knock down the banking."

The question isn't only how to fix it. But do you really want to?

Practically every driver in the 43-car field can offer a plan to "fix" the close-quarter, pack racing that creates multi-car accidents. And the suggestions range from taking off the restrictor plates completely to aerodynamic modifications to adding horsepower.

The irony of Newman's car going airborne and crashing wildly certainly wasn't lost on him. He was the most outspoken driver coming into the race concerning NASCAR's need to keep the cars on the ground.

NASCAR will never be able to completely control drivers' actions behind the wheel, it does at the least need to keep these cars from launching like missiles.

"This is ridiculous,'' an understandably frustrated, but uninjured Newman said after a trip to the infield medical center.

"We don't need the cars getting upside down like this. There is way more technology than that to help us out. Whether it is a speed issue, a roof flap issue, whatever.

"It is a shame that not more is getting done. I guess maybe I expect NASCAR to call me. I am the only guy out there with an engineering degree. I would like to have a little respect on my end.''

Yet all the technical modifications to the car can't ensure against over-aggression, driver error or poor judgment. And that's the bottom line.

Tightening the rules to play by -- as NASCAR did when it warned drivers in the pre-race drivers meeting that it would penalize bumper-to-bumper contact -- may provide a chilling effect and the subsequent single-file parades.

But this remains the only major professional sport where if fans complain loudly enough, the sanctioning body will changes the rules in the name of entertainment.

Bloggers, radio show callers and internet comments indicate people were unhappy with the "show" at Talladega despite the fact there were 58 lead changes by 25 drivers - nearly 20 lead changes occurred before the race's midpoint.

The outcry against this type of racing isn't any different this Monday morning - the outlet is. Thanks to the Internet, we have instant indignation instead of perspective and that drives the news.

The television network morning talk shows invited Newman for interviews - he politely declined on Monday - and showed video of his wreck.

YouTube had the video posted before track workers extricated Newman from his car.

"The race is pretty safe up until the end,'' said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 11th. "You knew that.

"I don't think anybody wants to be out there and involved in what happens at the end. Dodging cars, seeing people flip upside down. Obviously there is something else that needs to be thought about. I am sure NASCAR will figure it out.''

Or maybe, as they say, "it is what it is" at Talladega.

"I hope everyone enjoyed the show,'' Mark Martin said minutes after climbing out of his wrecked Chevy and realizing his now 184-point deficit to Jimmie Johnson is probably a championship deal-breaker.

"Congratulations to (race winner) Jamie McMurray, and that's all I know about the whole race.''

Different Day, Same Talladega originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>ryan newmanRyanNewmantalladega superspeedwayTalladegaSuperspeedwayHolly CainMon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:00 EST Johnson's Fourth Title in Full Viewhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/jimmie-johnsons-fourth-title-in-full-view/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/jimmie-johnsons-fourth-title-in-full-view/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/jimmie-johnsons-fourth-title-in-full-view/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Jimmie Johnson Talladega 2009 Sprint Cup Chase Hendrick MotorsportsA 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.

Follow FanHouse RacingJohnson 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?

Johnson's Fourth Title in Full View originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:36:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>jimmie johnsontalladega superspeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 01 Nov 2009 19:36:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: AMP Energy 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/fanhouse-warmup-amp-energy-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/fanhouse-warmup-amp-energy-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/fanhouse-warmup-amp-energy-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Essentials
Race: AMP Energy 500
Where: Talladega Superspeedway
Time: Sunday 1:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Sunny, High 60s
Distance: 188 laps (500 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Tony Stewart
The Storylines

Consider this as NASCAR's version of laying down the law, but with one problem -- will they actually enforce it?

NASCAR made big noise Sunday morning at Talladega when they told drivers in the pre-race meeting that bump drafting in today's race while racing through the corners would not be permitted. And to back up the rule, they promised to even swipe a victory away if a driver was found to be in violation.

It's a tough rhetoric that we've heard before from NASCAR, but this time it seems like they mean business.


NASCAR is trying to avoid, ultimately, what happened at Talladega back in April when Carl Edwards' No. 99 turned into a 3,200-pound pinball on the final lap. Some catchfencing along the frontstretch was the only thing that kept Edwards from sailing into the packed grandstands -- though parts and pieces did injure fans.

NASCAR wants to eliminate the phenomenon that has creeped up with the Car of Tomorrow platform that allows two drivers to pair up -- one pushing the other -- and fly hundreds of yards ahead of the competition. That's what happened with Edwards' situation after Edwards was pushed to the lead and then Brad Keselowski tried to pass him.

I do get what NASCAR is trying to do, but come on -- do they think such rules will prevent a wreck? I don't see it making much of a difference in the probability of a nasty crash today at the 2.66-mile behemoth of a race track but I do foresee one problem: the potential for a huge controversy at the end of the day thanks to NASCAR's judgment call.

We'll see how it works.

We know exactly what you're rooting for in the 2009 championship if you're not so much of a Jimmie Johnson fan, and Talladega might just provide the necessary ingredients to make the 2009's recipe a little better for you.

Jimmie knows it, his competitors know it, you know it and I know it: Talladega is the biggest of wildcards in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and more than likely the last best shot for anyone to come within striking distance of three-time.

Of course, Jimmie Johnson fans hate the talk of people wanting him to fall back to the competition and that's certainly something you can't blame them for. They want their boy to win. The good news for the No. 48 supporters? Just walk on nails for three or so hours Sunday and if Johnson makes it to the end in respectable position -- pull out those credit cards for some championship gear.

The Talladega weather already showed some love to Johnson after qualifying on Saturday morning was rained out.

Johnson, by nature of leading the points, will get to start from the pole on Sunday and had the number one choice of a pit stall. He took pit stall number one -- the last one on pit road towards turn one.

Teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon (No.'s 2 & 3 in points) both opted for a garage opening in front of their stall for an easy exit from a stop and an easy place to pull in and fix a damaged race car.

Enjoy the race.

FanHouse Warmup: AMP Energy 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:36:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Talladega+SuperspeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 01 Nov 2009 11:36:00 EST What's the Knock on Johnson? Nonehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/whats-the-knock-on-johnson-none/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/whats-the-knock-on-johnson-none/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/whats-the-knock-on-johnson-none/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Jimmie JohnsonIs there another sport that turns on its winners so?

And cheering against the New York Yankees doesn't count.

Another superb run in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship has put Jimmie Johnson in position for a historic fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. He's on the verge of accomplishing something Richard Petty, the late Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon never did.

And for all his hard work and performance under pressure here's the thanks he gets: people are accusing him of stinking up the show.
More Coverage: Hamlin Triumphs | Tums 500 Results | Sprint Cup Standings

Do we say that when Tiger Woods has 10 shots on the field in the final round of The Masters? No, we tune in and soak it up.

Through the first six races of the 10-race playoff, Johnson has three wins and scored a runner-up Sunday at Martinsville, Va., which extended his advantage over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and second-place driver Mark Martin by 118 points.

It's Johnson's championship to lose and his pursuit is something that should be celebrated and embraced. In this ultra-competitive era of NASCAR there will never be another driver in position to win four straight again.

With the odds stacked against such an accomplishment, Johnson wasn't even considered the championship favorite by most of the voting media in a preseason NASCAR poll.

We hear so much about how "hungry" the 50-year-old, four-time championship runner-up Martin is to finally earn his first title. Imagine Johnson's motivation. His quest isn't just personal. It's historic.

For goodness sakes, what's it take to give the guy his due?

He now leads his other teammate, four-time champ Jeff Gordon by 150 points. Regular season points leader and two-time champ Tony Stewart is now 192 points back in fourth place.

Johnson's best competition is turning in top-five and top-10 runs every week and they can't catch him.

It's becoming less about what they can do. The hard fact is it's looking more like Johnson's going to have to endure some tough luck or the engraving may as well begin.

"That is what everybody in the whole series is thinking right now,'' said Darien Grubb, crew chief on Stewart's No. 14 Chevy and a former Hendrick Motorsports engineer. "He [Johnson] has got that dominant performance going and he is out there pulling away from everybody. You have a good strong run and you still lose points. That is a hard day to swallow.''


Other winners and losers this weekend at Martinsville, Va. ....

o. Juan Pablo Montoya returned to form with a third-place run, moving him into fifth place in the points. He had been one of the best stories of the year before his title bid was derailed last week with a 35th-place run in Charlotte. He said then, no one will have 10 clean races and that's about all the hope he and the rest of Johnson's pursuers are clutching to as the series heads to the most unpredictable venue on the circuit, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

To Montoya's credit, he's taken the high road regarding an uncalled-for remark made at his expense by ESPN's Bob Griese during a college football telecast Saturday night. A graphic promoting the race showed only the top-five drivers and Griese commented that sixth place, Colombian-born Montoya must have been "out getting a taco.'' Griese apologized for the comment.

Although he didn't directly address his reaction to Griese's comment, Montoya told reporters following Sunday's race that, "I could say I spent the last three hours eating tacos, but I was actually driving the car.''

o. Mark Martin isn't exactly flashy, but he's at least keeping Johnson honest. The veteran would have us think he's just trying to win races with a great team and that all this championship talk is purely bonus. But he sure isn't driving that way. Every time you think he's "just glad to be here" he turns in another top-10 run.

o. Denny Hamlin the hard luck kid finally finished one out. His win in his home state Virginia on Sunday stopped a two-race DNF skid and restored his confidence. Give the 28-year old credit, he's qualified for every Chase since he joined the Cup ranks full-time in 2006.

o. Ryan Newman improved one position in the standings to seventh place, and in winning his second pole position of the year, is holding up his end of the bargain in the Stewart-Haas Racing storybook season. Now for a win. He and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the only drivers in Hendrick equipment that haven't reached victory circle yet. The big difference being Newman is a Chase driver and on track for his best season since 2005.

o. Kyle Busch's fourth-place finish Sunday was his first top-five in over a month and looked a whole lot more like the four-time winner he is than the hard-luck driver he became the latter half of the regular season.

o. On the other end of the scale is Earnhardt Jr. His down-and-out demeanor in Charlotte last weekend was troublesome. He claimed to be "near the end of my rope" suffering through one of the toughest seasons in his career. And that was before a mechanical failure relegated him to 38th place at Charlotte and tire problems contributed to a 29th-place finish Sunday at Martinsville. He fell two more spots in the standings and is now 24th and on pace for his career-worst finish in the championship.

o. Carl Edwards' crash with a lap to go Sunday kind of summed his season, at least the frustrating Chase portion. He kept his No. 99 Ford rolling to secure a 20th place spot, but has had only two top-10 runs since August and yet somehow managed to be 10th in points.

o. Suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield didn't say anything he hasn't already said in a one-on-one interview on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program Sunday. He insists he's innocent, that he is NASCAR's designated example and that his career is over. The latter, we know at least, is true.
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What's the Knock on Johnson? None originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Jimmie JohnsonJimmieJohnsonNASCARHolly CainSun, 25 Oct 2009 20:28:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: Tums 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/fanhouse-warmup-tums-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/fanhouse-warmup-tums-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/fanhouse-warmup-tums-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Essentials
Race: Tums 500
Where: Martinsville Speedway
Time: Sunday 1:30 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s
Distance: 500 laps (263 miles)
Pole Winner: Ryan Newman
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
The Storyline

Jeff Gordon's last, best hope to stay in Jimmie Johnson's zip code for the 2009 championship might just be Sunday at Martinsville Speedway for two reasons -- the perks from his second-place qualifying run and Jimmie Johnson's mediocre starting spot.

And for their teammate Mark Martin splitting the point difference between Johnson and Gordon in the standings, a fourth-place starting effort might also be critical to bridging the 90-point gap between the No. 48 and No. 5.


Johnson, by his standards, had a rough day at Martinsville on Friday. The team never found speed in the car despite otherwise good handling and he wound up 15th in qualifying -- edging out a particular advantage for Gordon and Martin at the small, half-mile paperclip that is Martinsville Speedway.

Martinsviille's pit road ends off of turn two and oftentimes the shape leads to an advantage for pit stalls with an opening behind or in front of it. Otherwise, drivers can get blocked in and just a few lost seconds can translate into bunches of lost spots on pit road.

Ryan Newman, the polesitter, took the last and best stall on pit road while Gordon opted to move back to pit stall No. 11 due to the front edge of the pit stall bordered by the garage access lane. Martin, qualified fourth, chose pit stall No. 8 without any openings around it while Johnson took a stall before the start/finish line.

Most accounts would put Johnson's pit selection as a bad one, but the car in front of him is a card-carrying member of the start-and-park club in NASCAR -- meaning there's a good possibility that Johnson won't be dealing with any traffic in front of his pit stall on Martinsville's tight pit lane. His biggest problems, though, will come when he's trying to exit pit road and evade cars swinging out in front of him.

Another problem Johnson might find on Sunday -- above I'm just assuming he'll move up from 15th and be in contention for the win at some point (a risky proposition, I know) -- is the rain Martinsville had on Saturday. Not once did the No. 48 -- or any other Sprint Cup team -- get on the track for any practice on Saturday, meaning there might be some concern in Johnson's camp based on the qualifying run and him being stumped about why the car didn't run faster.

Unfortunately for the rest of the field, Chad Knaus is stll Johnson's crew chief. He's in good hands.

Johnson's lead in the points at the moment is steep -- the 90 ahead of Martin, 135 ahead of Gordon and 155 to Tony Stewart (he starts 13th) -- and there is a lot of risk for Johnson at Martinsville thanks to silly, mundane things like flat tires or brake failures. But such risk has been successfully avoided by Johnson on the way this three-straight titles.

Take, for instance, that Sunday's starting spot is Johnson's worst since April 2007 when he started 20th. That day? Johnson first sniffed the lead on lap 405 of 500 before grabbing it for good with 60 to go to take one of his many wins at Martinsville.

Need you know more?

Enjoy the race.

FanHouse Warmup: Tums 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Jeff GordonJimmie JohnsonMark MartinMartinsville SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 25 Oct 2009 09:57:00 EST Dominance: Hendrick at Martinsvillehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/dominance-hendrick-at-martinsville/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/dominance-hendrick-at-martinsville/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/dominance-hendrick-at-martinsville/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Predictable.

That's what attitude the 2009 version of the NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Season has seemed to take on after Jimmie Johnson's win last Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Fans keep wondering: Will Johnson ever screw up? Was the 'winning robot' nickname given to Matt Kenseth a few years ago a little premature?

If the past is any indication -- as it has seemed to be for Johnson & Co. -- then Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway won't be giving fans a dose of the change in championship outcome that many of them so crave.

Hendrick Motorsports may have a shop in Harrisburg, N.C., within earshot of Lowe's Motor Speedway, but they might as well have set up a satellite operation on the grounds of NASCAR's oldest track in south central Virginia. The half-mile paperclip? A whipping post for any competition that deems it worthy to show up.

The current string of success started in the spring of 2003 when Jeff Gordon took his fourth career win at the short track. Since that point, Rick Hendrick has failed to add a Martinsville trophy to his collection just three times in 12 races -- bringing his 2003-present Martinsville batting average to an oh-so-slim .769.

Gordon has gone to victory lane four times in that period, while Johnson has visited six times.

The numbers get even worse, too.

Gordon has tallied up 13 straight top-10s at the track (he's finished out of the top-10 in just six of his 27 visits to Martinsville) -- which puts him just slightly behind Johnson's streak of 15 straight top-10s. Johnson's lone finish that wasn't a top-10 came in his first career race at Martinsville.

That day, Johnson finished 35th -- recording the only Did Not Finish result ever between he and teammate Gordon at Martinsville.

That's not promising for a fan base that's cheering more actively each week against Johnson for no other reason than his endless domination of big time NASCAR racing.

Also not promising is the most recent history left by Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville back in April. Those looking to a spot a trend of downward dominance in Hendrick's Martinsville reign will need to skew the facts in an impossibly accurate manner to find signs that Hendrick machines won't be pacing the field this weekend thanks to the gaudy numbers from this season's sixth race.

Simply, all four Hendrick cars -- including some guy named Earnhardt -- finished 8th or better. To make matters concerning the competition worse, the two primary satellite cars from Hendrick's operation -- the Stewart-Haas Racing teammates of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman -- finished third and sixth, respectively.

And that Johnson guy? He snuck into the lead late and led 42 laps total to steal yet another win away from Denny Hamlin. The win was Johnson's sixth at Martinsville, just one shy of Gordon's career total of 7.

The Hendrick stats are ugly for the rest of the competition at Martinsville, and as of yet no team has been able to stifle the dominance. We'll see what happens Sunday -- but I wouldn't be holding your breath for something dramatic.

Dominance: Hendrick at Martinsville originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Martinsville+SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerThu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST Jeff Gordon Just Misses Late Winhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/jeff-gordon-just-misses-late-win/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/jeff-gordon-just-misses-late-win/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/jeff-gordon-just-misses-late-win/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The Jeff Gordon of old was back for a few laps Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- but even that wasn't enough to stop the competition's worst nightmare.

Lined up side-by-side coming off of turn four, Gordon sat to the outside of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson as the field took its final restart of the night with 17 laps to go. As was the case with the previous two restarts that had quickly turned to cautions in the back of the pack, nearly everyone expected Johnson to have the advantage as made the left-hand arc into turn 1.

But the No. 24, with a full head of a steam, wasn't ready to let Johnson take the lead so easily.

Gordon ran side-by-side with Johnson for the next lap and at the flagstand, Johnson narrowly held the lead. Gordon wasn't done.

Circling through turn 3, Gordon, on the outside, pinched Johnson down low just enough for Johnson's rear end to wiggle up the track -- shooting Gordon to the top spot again as they passed the start/finish line with 15 to go with Johnson in close pursuit.

Gordon, who had already led twice earlier in the evening and finished with a 3rd-most total of 64 laps led, proceeded to hold the lead after another circuit around the 1.5-mile track was complete. It was becoming evident, though, that Gordon was going to need some incredible luck or other intervention to keep the lead as Johnson began to line up again right on Gordon's bumper.

Not only was Johnson's car dominant compared to Gordon's, but crew chief Steve Letarte put just two fresh tires on Gordon's car during the final pit stop in an effort to gain track position. The goal succeeded as Gordon came in to the pits fading to the back of the top-10 and came out third.

Johnson, though, had four fresh tires and the difference in grip between the two Hendrick cars was evident as Gordon turned into turn 3 on lap 320. Gordon's car slid towards the wall while Johnson stuck to the bottom and motored by to take the lead for the fifth and final time.

Gordon's chances at winning -- something that would have brought Gordon closer to Johnson by at least 15 points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- were gone as he continued a slide to an eventual fourth-place finish. Such a finish is likely better than one he would have garnered by grabbing four tires on the last pit stop instead.

"We put two tires on and that was a great call by Steve (Letarte)," said Gordon. "I think Steve called this race perfectly tonight and we gave it a shot."

But Gordon didn't think a "shot" meant contending for a race win -- or making a pass of Johnson in the late stages.

"I couldn't even believe I got the lead on the restart and was able to get by Jimmie when he got loose and we were racing really hard," said Gordon.

The moment turning out to be to good to be true wasn't surprising, though.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before my two tires would give up and it did," said Gordon, referring to when he slid up the track as Johnson went by.

Despite Johnson's complete domination, Gordon's team has easily been one of the best in the past few weeks. After a disappointing 15th-place run at Loudon, Gordon has carried an average finish of 3.5 in the last four races -- just off Johnson's astounding 3rd-place average in that same span. The big difference, though, has been race wins.

Gordon did all he could to grab one of those away from Johnson on Saturday at LMS, but Johnson still reigned when the burnout smoke cleared. Sure, it was impressive to see Gordon fighting for yet another win, but you get the picture that even that won't be enough -- yet again.

Jeff Gordon Just Misses Late Win originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Hendrick+MotorsportsJeff+GordonJimmie+JohnsonLowes+Motor+SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 18 Oct 2009 23:41:00 EST Chasing Jimmie: Contenders Fading Fasthttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/chasing-jimmie-contenders-fading-fast/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/chasing-jimmie-contenders-fading-fast/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/chasing-jimmie-contenders-fading-fast/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Jimmie JohnsonCONCORD, N.C. -- For the past two days, one driver after another took the podium in the press room at Lowe's Motor Speedway and made his case that NASCAR's Chase for the Championship was far from over. Sure, Jimmie Johnson had taken the points lead last week and looked every bit the postseason form that won him the previous three Sprint Cup championships.

But the Chase wasn't even halfway over yet, we were reminded. And no way could anyone maintain a finishing average less than five in the most pressure-packed time of the year.

Turns out, it's all wishful thinking.
More Coverage: Race Results | Sprint Cup Standings

With his victory late Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Johnson became the first to win three of the opening five races of the 10-race Chase playoff. His average finish is an unworldly third place and he's turned a 12-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin into 90-point runaway as the series heads to Martinsville, Va. next week.

We might as well rename this Chasing Jimmie Johnson for the Championship.

Johnson's incredible run to a historic fourth consecutive Cup title is hardly Saturday's most shocking outcome. He's done this before.

The biggest shakeup in the championship came from the biggest surprise in the championship, Juan Pablo Montoya, whose title run was derailed with a 35th-place finish courtesy of a chain-reaction fender bender on an early race restart.

Montoya entered the race in third place -- the only Chase driver with top-five finishes in the first four races -- and was running strong early in the night. On a restart about a fifth of the way into the race, Clint Bowyer's Chevy checked up, Montoya got into the back of it and of all things, the driver directly in front of him in the standings, Martin, hit Montoya's car in the rear.

The contact relegated Martin to a 17th-place finish -- his worse of the Chase. But Montoya's No. 42 Chevy got the worst end of it and he went two laps down at one point. Worse still, he dropped from third to sixth in the standings, 195 points out.

"There was not much we could do, we worked as hard as we could, we did all we thought was possible and here we go, the best we could do is 35th,'' said Montoya, who was philosophical and subdued after climbing out of car.

"We made the Chase, up to today we had four Top 5s in a row, what's bad about it. We actually surprised everyone, including everyone on our team we were doing such a great job.

"Even today we had a faster car than the 48. This happens. It's one of those racing things that happen and you've gotta just move on. If you're expecting to have 10 clean races, then you're dreaming.''

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In this photo provided by HHP Images Jimmie Johnson takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Series auto race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/HHP Photo, Gregg Ellman) ** NO SALES **
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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont/Transformers 2 Chevrolet, leads Joey Logano, driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Gordon;Joey Logano

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont/Transformers 2 Chevrolet, leads Joey Logano, driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Gordon;Joey Logano

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont/Transformers 2 Chevrolet, leads Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 Transformers 2 Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Gordon;Ryan Newman

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Chad Knaus;Rick Hendrick

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew chief Chad Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus;Rick Hendrick

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew chief Chad Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus;Rick Hendrick

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his wife Chandra after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chandra Johnson

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his wife Chandra after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chandra Johnson

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his team after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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If so, Johnson hasn't woken up yet.

He topped every practice speed chart, won the pole position for Saturday's race and took the trophy. His crew chief Chad Knaus considered it a perfect weekend -- the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet was best of every session on track.

When race runner-up Matt Kenseth was asked about competing against that kind of dominant car this weekend, he joked, "I think you have to lead every lap to have a perfect weekend, so he's still got some work to do.

"Seriously though, ever since those two guys [Knaus and Johnson] got together they've been the team to beat.''

And the challenge they have now -- a good challenge to have -- is convincing others that this championship isn't over yet. They are emphatic, genuine and serious when they talk about the work still ahead.

"There's no need for anyone to get too excited yet,'' Johnson said. "We're optimistic and have a lot of good tracks coming up, but also some danger too.

"One flat tire, one mechanical. ... one Talladega. ... 90 points is gone. I'm not trying to downplay where we're at, but there's a lot of racing yet.

"You never know what's going to happen. I feel very good racing for the championship if we don't have any problems. But we don't want to get too emotionally wrapped up in this thing and let our guard down.''

Or as team owner Rick Hendrick put simply, "I don't think you can have enough points, it's just too early.''

The good news for Johnson and the bad news for the rest of the field is that the series moves to the .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next weekend. It's the lone short track in the 10-race Chase and for everyone else it's considered a wild card. For Johnson, who has won five of the last six races there, it's almost a gimme.

And so NASCAR's most underrated champion ever now must face a new criticism. There are ridiculous rumblings that his success somehow hurts the NASCAR product. That watching a master on top of his game is a bad thing.

Johnson can't win for winning.

"I'm just out there doing my thing,'' Johnson said.

"I don't think we've been stinking up the show. Everyone tunes in to watch Tiger [Woods] win, they watch [Roger] Federer do his thing on the tennis courts. I think a lot of people are watching and rooting us to win a fourth. The rest of them. ... I don't know.''

There's still plenty of time to win them over. And plenty of reason.
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Chasing Jimmie: Contenders Fading Fast originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Chad KnausJimmie JohnsonJuan Pablo MontoyaHolly CainSun, 18 Oct 2009 01:45:00 EST Cruise Control: J.J. Extends Chase Leadhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/cruise-control-johnson-extends-chase-lead/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/cruise-control-johnson-extends-chase-lead/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/cruise-control-johnson-extends-chase-lead/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Jimmie JohnsonCONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson completed the perfect weekend with a win at Lowe's Motor Speedway to take control of the championship standings.

The three-time defending series champion raced to his third victory in the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Saturday night, extending his lead to 90 points over teammate Mark Martin.

More Coverage: Race Results | Sprint Cup Standings

Seeking a NASCAR-record fourth consecutive Cup championship, Johnson led every practice session and won the pole to complete yet another dominating run at Lowe's. He has been the driver to beat at the suburban Charlotte track since early in his career, and the victory was the Lowe's-sponsored driver's sixth on the 1.5-mile oval.

"Man, we pulled off a perfect weekend and we've always wanted to do that," Johnson said in his first Victory Lane visit at the track since 2005.

Matt Kenseth was second, followed by Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.

Martin, who started the race 12 points behind his teammate in the standings, finished 17th in part because of front-end damage received when he ran into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya on an early restart.

It was that kind of night for several title contenders, as eight of the 12 finished outside the top 10 in a rare off night for the Chase drivers.

Montoya, who was third in the standings and just 58 points out of the lead at the start of the race, dropped to sixth and is now 195 points out. He damaged the front and back ends of his car on the restart problem with Martin and Clint Bowyer, and fell two laps down trying to get pit road for repairs.

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Jimmie Johnson does a burnout on the front stretch grass after winning the NASCAR Banking 500 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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    Jimmie Johnson does a burnout on the front stretch grass after winning the NASCAR Banking 500 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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    Jimmie Johnson, left, stands with his wife Chandra, right, before the start of the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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    Jimmie Johnson drives out of turn four during the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

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    Jimmie Johnson (48) and Mark Martin (5) lead the field at the start of the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

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    Greg Biffle (16) spins in front of Ryan Newman and David Reutimann during the NASCAR Banking 500 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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    Greg Biffle (16) spins as Mike Bliss (71) drives past during the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

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    Crew members perform a pit stop on driver Kasey Kahne's car during the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Crew members work on the #88 /AMP Energy Drink/National Guard Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (not pictured) during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Scott Speed, driver of the #82 Red Bull Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Scott Speed

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    CONCORD, NC - OCTOBER 17: Crew members work on the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, driven by Denny Hamlin (not pictured) during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 17, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards both blew motors, Greg Biffle was in a late spin and Tony Stewart never contended.

That left it up to Kahne and Gordon to chase down Johnson, and despite some thrilling late restarts, neither came close.

Gordon finished fourth, but lost ground to Johnson in the standings and is now 135 points out as only Martin is within shouting distance of the champion. Johnson will take the cushion into Martinsville, where he's won five of the last six races.

Johnson has six victories this year and 46 overall -- 17 in Chase races.

By JENNA FRYER, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Cruise Control: J.J. Extends Chase Lead originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>jimmie johnsonFanHouse NewswireSat, 17 Oct 2009 23:40:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: Banking 500http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/fanhouse-warmup-nascar-banking-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/fanhouse-warmup-nascar-banking-500/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/17/fanhouse-warmup-nascar-banking-500/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Essentials
Race: NASCAR Banking 500
Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
Time: Saturday 7:30 p.m./EST
TV/Radio: ABC, PRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mostly cloudy, 40s, 20% rain
Distance: 334 laps (500.1 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Jeff Burton
The Storylines

Carl Edwards may blame last year's loss to Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup on a crash at Talladega, but a finish in last year's fall race at Lowe's Motor Speedway provided all the points Johnson needed to win his third consecutive title.

Or, rather, the necessary point.
More Coverage: Race Results | Sprint Cup Standings

Edwards suffered electrical issues early in the 2008 event at LMS that saw his No. 99 roll to a stop on the backstretch. The team got his car fixed in the garage, but he was only able to salvage a 33rd-place finish and earned 67 points in the process.

In his career, Edwards has now averaged a 10th-place finish at LMS. Pending that he would have finished at least 10th, Edwards would have earned 134 points, or 70 more than he did in this race a year ago. The final tally at the end of 2009 campaign between him and Johnson for the title?

69 points.

What, then, does this have to do with Saturday night's race? Despite the fact that -- cue former Arizona Cardinals head coach Denny Green -- the media has pretty much crowned Johnson the champ for 2009 (including yours truly) anything can happen. Silly, stupid things that are completely unexpected. Like electrical problems.

And who knows? A point Johnson misses tonight might be all another contender needs when the smoke settles in Homestead.

Jeff Burton, a.k.a the unofficial mayor of NASCAR, will reach a significant milestone in his long career in the sport when the green flag waves Saturday night.

Burton, the 43-year-old from South Boston, Va., will start his 850th race in the Sprint Cup Series during a season that has been quite a struggle for him and his Richard Childress Racing teammates. Burton is 18th in the standings with just six top-10 finishes in 2009, and tonight's race will mark the one year anniversary of his last Cup win.

As Burton reaches both anniversaries tonight, his hopes have improved after noting this week that he's seeing improvement within RCR.

"I think we've made a swing," said Burton. "I don't think we are where we need to be by any means but if you look at it individually, our teams are starting to run better."

Kurt Busch knows that his team has been decent during the Chase, and obviously he's looking to continue a pretty good run tonight at LMS.

"I feel like this is a great opportunity for us to continue our stretch where we've finished, on average the last few races, in 7.5," said Busch.

In years past, his level of "decent" would likely have been good enough to be in heavy, heavy contention for the title. But coming into tonight's race, he's trailing Jimmie Johnson by some 121 points.

"That's a good average finish, but we're getting beat by better numbers," Busch said. "In years past when Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. was winning championships, or Jeff Gordon, the magic number back then was seven as far as your average finish. With this new Chase format, seven will only get you sixth in points and 121 off the lead."

And he's right. At the moment, Jimmie Johnson is averaging a blistering 3.75 finish. That's tough to beat.

FanHouse Warmup: Banking 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Geoffrey MillerSat, 17 Oct 2009 16:10:00 EST Let's Face It: Johnson Is Unstoppablehttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/lets-face-it-johnson-is-unstoppable/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/lets-face-it-johnson-is-unstoppable/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/lets-face-it-johnson-is-unstoppable/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Jeff Gordon gave Jimmie Johnson a handshake in victory lane to congratulate his teammate on yet another win, but really, it just symbolized what most NASCAR fans have to be fearing -- it's time to throw in the towel yet again at the feet of King Jimmie.

Johnson led 126 of 250 laps in Sunday's Pepsi 500 in Fontana, Calif., and overcame a dramatic final 20 laps that saw him bounced from the lead by Gordon. No matter. Johnson shot back by just a few laps later and then ran away from the field for the win.

It wasn't a surprise, really, that Johnson won. But it's a surprise to realize that pending crazy circumstances, there's not a team in NASCAR that can top the No. 48.
More Coverage: Pepsi 500 Results | Sprint Cup Series Standings

Need proof? Just go through the list of guys who were chasing Johnson, and trying to stop his pursuit of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, during Sunday's race outside of Los Angeles.

Gordon, the second-place finisher, was quite straight to the point after the race.

"We finished second," Gordon said,"but I feel like we were in a second-class category. We're good, but we're not good enough."

His final question in his post-race conference, though, really left an idea of what Gordon will be gnawing on during his long flight back home on the East Coast. What exactly, a reporter asked, is the difference between the No. 24 and No. 48, knowing the fact that they are based out of the same garage?

Gordon shook his head, grimaced and paused.

"Ask the tech center," said Gordon in a low voice. "I don't know. I really have no idea."

Talk about sounding defeated.

Gordon, though, did gain two spots in the Chase standings and now sits 105 points behind Johnson in first.

Juan Pablo Montoya shared Gordon's frustration.

"It's incredible," said Montoya. "I have four top-5's in a row, and I'm losing ground to the leader."

Incredible, indeed.

Montoya's worst finish in the Chase is fourth -- something he's done three times including Sunday's race. Yet, he's 58 points behind Johnson in third.

It's almost unfair.

"It'd be nice if we could get a freakin' win soon," said Montoya.

It seems that Jimmie Johnson has other plans. He is, after all, batting .500 in the win column in this season's Chase.

Mark Martin finished fourth Sunday and fell from the Chase lead for the first time. He's now a mere 12 points behind Johnson -- though you get that feeling that its more like 1,200.

Tony Stewart finished fifth after a day that saw him a lap down and as low as 30th at one point. The finish certainly staved off his elimination, but he's fourth in points and 84 markers back of the No. 48. Not that the team owner is giving up.

"This team never quits," said Stewart after his comeback day. "Never has, never will."

Certainly, Stewart's attitude is nothing short of noble. There's still opportunities for Johnson to have troubles -- for reference, see Denny Hamlin's mistake Sunday at ACS that left him with a 37th-place finish -- in the final six races. But after watching this story unfold for three straight years, can we really expect anything different to happen?

I certainly don't think so, but more importantly, it seems like some of the drivers don't think so.

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Jimmie Johnson's crew celebrates after Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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    Jimmie Johnson, center, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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    Jimmie Johnson's crew celebrates after Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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    Jimmie Johnson kisses his wife, Chandra, as they celebrate his victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet, crosses the finsih line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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Let's Face It: Johnson Is Unstoppable originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Auto Club SpeedwayGeoffrey MillerSun, 11 Oct 2009 20:40:00 EST Guess Who? Jimmie Johnson Wins at Fontana to Surge Into Points Leadhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/guess-who-jimmie-johnson-wins-at-fontana-to-surge-into-points-l/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/guess-who-jimmie-johnson-wins-at-fontana-to-surge-into-points-l/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/11/guess-who-jimmie-johnson-wins-at-fontana-to-surge-into-points-l/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Jimmie JohnsonFONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson is back in control of NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

The three-time defending Sprint Cup champion easily pulled away from Jeff Gordon following a restart with three laps left to win the Pepsi 500 on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway for his fifth victory of the year and 45th overall.

The win was Johnson's fourth at the 2-mile oval and sent a message to the rest of the contenders he has no plans of giving up his spot atop the series easily.
More Coverage: Pepsi 500 Results | Sprint Cup Series Standings

"What else can you say? They're the best out there," Gordon said. "They've won the last three championships. They're going to be hard to beat for this one. Really, unless they make a mistake, I don't see how they lose it."

Johnson, who led 126 laps, dominated the second half of the race but had to sweat out a series of double-file restarts following a number of late-race collisions, including an eight-car pileup that forced a 22-minute red flag with six laps remaining.

Waiting out the delay, Johnson worried he didn't have enough car to hold off Gordon. He shouldn't have. His No. 48 Chevrolet roared away from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the restart as he quickly put the rest of the field in his rearview mirror to vault him into the points lead for the first time all season.

"That's it, that's what we want," Johnson said. "We've just got to keep chipping away."

Juan Pablo Montoya was third, his fourth straight top-five finish. Mark Martin, who started the day with an 18-point lead over Johnson, was fourth and now trails Johnson by 12 points heading into Saturday night's race at Charlotte.

Tony Stewart rallied from an early pit-road speeding penalty to finish fifth.

Gordon briefly slipped by Johnson in the later stages but held out no real hope of catching him.

"He's unbelievable out there," Gordon said. "From where I was at, he ran away with it today."

Johnson, however, wasn't ready to proclaim the Chase over with six weeks left.

"We got maximum points today ... but I don't want to think about it," he said.

While Johnson surged, several Chase contenders stumbled. Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers all saw their Chase hopes likely evaporate for good.

Hamlin was leading with 60 laps to go when he collided with Montoya on a restart. Hamlin spun into a barrier at the end of pit road and quickly drove his No. 11 Toyota back to the garage. He attempted to get back on the track after missing 25 laps but was black-flagged for not reaching minimum speed.

"I made a rookie mistake," said Hamlin, who finished 37th. "I thought I was clear and I misjudged it. I got to apologize to the team. They deserve better than that."

Kahne and Biffle didn't fare much better. The two got together with about 15 laps to go when fellow Chaser Kurt Busch got loose, sending Biffle into Kahne. The two slid across the infield grass. Biffle ended up 20th while Kahne slid to 34th.

"NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris," the frustrated Kahne said. "We had a bad race to get a caution to put a show on for the fans."

Stewart, who vaulted back into the thick of the title hunt with a win at Kansas last week, started 20th but steadily moved into the top 10 before being penalized for going too fast while exiting the pits, sending him a lap down. Stewart apologized over the radio to crew chief Darian Grubb before scrambling to fifth.

"We were lucky," Stewart said.

They needed to be more than that to catch Johnson, who admitted that he was frustrated by an inability in recent weeks to close out races. He finished ninth last week at Kansas despite having arguably the best car on the track at times.

There were no such troubles this time. He didn't panic when a couple of slow pit stops cost him track position early, letting crew chief Chad Knauss make sure he got the car right.

Once Johnson did, he wasted little time taking control. He led by as much as eight seconds at one point before the cautions bunched up the field.

Montoya brought the car he used at Indianapolis in July, hoping to duplicate the dominance he showed at the Brickyard before giving the victory away with a careless pit road speeding penalty, a mistake that opened the door for Johnson.

Johnson didn't need the handout on Sunday.

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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Jimmie Johnson's crew celebrates after Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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    Jimmie Johnson, center, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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    Jimmie Johnson's crew celebrates after Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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    Jimmie Johnson kisses his wife, Chandra, as they celebrate his victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 auto race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet, crosses the finsih line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    FONTANA, CA - OCTOBER 11: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on October 11, 2009 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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Guess Who? Jimmie Johnson Wins at Fontana to Surge Into Points Lead originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:38:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>FanHouse NewswireSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:38:00 EST Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Kansas 400http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-kansas-400/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-kansas-400/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/sprint-cup-ns-and-qs-kansas-400/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

If there was any doubt about the impact of clean air in NASCAR, Kansas Speedway pretty much cleared it up.

Simply, the undisturbed air that the leader has on the front nose of his race car gives a decided handling advantage. And don't just ask Tony Stewart, but ask the two other drivers that took two tires during the race's final pit stop on lap 239 -- Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson.

Stewart, who got a jump on the lap 241 restart, got the clean air and held off Jeff Gordon and his four new tires while Kahne and Johnson fell to sixth and ninth respectively.

Gordon tried to claw back to Stewart's bumper after working his way past Greg Biffle for second, and appeared to be pulling closer and closer to Stewart. But Gordon reached a point -- at just over a half second behind Stewart -- that he could just go no further. A factor at that point could have been Gordon's tires wearing away due to his hard driving effort, but Stewart's two tires should have equalized out that effect.

Drivers have noted time and time again -- both with the old and new car -- that closing behind another car often causes a dramatic handling shift. A lot of the change has to do with the decreased air on the nose of the trailing race car, causing the tires to have less force pressed into the track.

The lower pressure on the front end can cause the car to feel tight and not want to turn as well with the front tires.

The Kansas Speedway media center is apparently a chair lighter today after a humorous exchange between Stewart and the assembled post-race media.

Prior to Stewart's post-race press conference, Jeff Gordon had answered a question about the championship format and mentioned something along the lines of Stewart having a big lead had the Chase not reset the field.

Well, NASCAR.com's Joe Menzer wanted to ask a question to Stewart related to the topic, and it set off one of Stewart's infamous sarcastic banters with the NASCAR media.

Here's a little bit of the transcript:

Joe Menzer, NASCAR.com: "Jeff Gordon was in here and mentioned--"
Tony Stewart: "He came in here? Jeff Gordon came in here?"
JM: "Yeah."
TS: "Wow."
JM: "I know, you're amazed."
TS: "That's awesome man. I never would have thought Jeff Gordon would have come in here."
JM: "He was sitting right there, I believe."
TS: "He was sitting right here?" (as Stewart pointed to the chair he was sitting in)
JM: "Yeah, man."
TS: "Oh my God, I'm sitting in the seat Jeff Gordon sat in. That's awesome. Can I take this home? I mean I won the race. Can I take this chair home? Alright. I'll send somebody back for it after I leave. Go ahead, I'm trying to contain myself."

Stewart didn't have to send anyone back, as he wheeled the chair off the stage himself after making another comment that he wants Gordon to sign the chair. All reports say that it made its way into the No. 14 hauler and didn't return from it.

So goes the story of Tony & the Chair.

Roush-Fenway Racing has to be walking a little taller after Sunday's race.

Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, the only two RFR drivers in the Chase, wound up 3rd and 10th, respectively. Late pit calls probably took Biffle from the race win, but he's certainly got to be happy with the results.

Edwards wasn't pleased with his car for much of the day, but still salvaged a decent finish at a track that he certainly expects to do better at. Remember, one year ago Edwards made the bonzai move into turn three on the last lap and came up just short of beating Jimmie Johnson for the win.

While those two may be somewhat pleased with their results after a season of struggles -- the team hasn't won a race since Fontana in February -- Matt Kenseth's No. 17 is actually showing life. Kenseth was a contender up front for the second race in a row and looked to be a contender through the stretch until his engine went south.

Jamie McMurray got lapped and David Ragan got caught up in an early wreck, so not all was good for Roush. But baby steps for the team in the right direction are still steps in the right direction.

After receiving an unusual warning about car measurement tolerances from NASCAR last week, the cars of Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin were once again transported back to the NASCAR research and development center following the race at Kansas.

And there's a possibility that will be a norm for those two cars for the rest of the season.

NASCAR warned those teams that they were within thousandths of an inch of the maximum allowed body measurements after Dover, and has decided that make sure both the No. 5 and No. 48 stay in conformity. Hence the reason both cars were taken back to the R&D center, which is above and beyond what NASCAR normally takes back.

NASCAR is fully in its right to take any car it wants back for inspection, and if it wanted, it could take every car back to the R&D center for testing after race -- though that's highly impractical.

Normally, the sanctioning body takes just the winner's car and a car drawn randomly back to the R&D center for a tight inspection. Sunday, those cars included Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.

Lots of folks have wondered if NASCAR is trying to sweep something under the rug with Johnson and Martin, but honestly, look at the bigger picture. Think about how tight the Chase would come if both teams would have been penalized with points after Dover.

Think Jimmie Johnson & Mark Martin being reeled back to the pack would draw some interest? I'd say so -- and that would be in NASCAR's favor.

Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Kansas 400 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Geoffrey MillerTue, 06 Oct 2009 08:57:00 EST NASCAR 'Warns' Johnson, Martin Teamshttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/02/nascar-warns-johnson-martin-teams/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/02/nascar-warns-johnson-martin-teams/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/02/nascar-warns-johnson-martin-teams/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

NASCAR has warned the teams of championship leaders Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson that their Chevrolets were dangerously close to failing post-race inspection last week at Dover, Del., where the three-time defending series champion Johnson won the race and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Martin finished runner-up.

Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus cautioned that there was no wrong-doing, no intent to do wrong and that the attention this is receiving is mostly media sensationalism.

"The cars were legal, that's the thing everybody has to understand,'' Knaus said Friday from this week's Sprint Cup Series venue, Kansas Speedway. "It's turned into a bigger issue than what it really should."

"There's a tolerance for everything and as long as you're within the tolerance that's fine, but when you start getting close to that line you've got to make sure that we understand why, and that's what we're trying to do."

Johnson also deflected the situation during his weekly news conference with the racing press on Friday.

"Well we weren't cheating,'' Johnson said. "The cars were not found illegal. It's not uncommon for cars to stick around at the tech center to be measured. The tech center has ways to measure the vehicle that teams don't have. So they're doing their work and doing their data and collecting all that stuff and the cars were there being inspected.

"Believe me if they weren't legal they wouldn't have been released. So it is what it is and I hate that it's drawing speculation and concern but the cars passed tech and here we are."

It may be much ado about nothing this time. But once again it has raised NASCAR's eternal $10 million question: when is pushing the limit being innovative? When is it cheating?

Certainly when you factor in the history of Knaus, who has been suspended before for technical violations, along with the fact these two teams have already set the bar for the 10-race Chase for the Championship, it's easy to understand why this courtesy "warning" from NASCAR is generating big buzz around the garage.

Johnson has won the past three championships and 10 points separate him from Martin in a push for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cup title.

"First off if we were cheating I wouldn't be standing here, I'd back in Charlotte, so obviously that's not the case,'' Knaus said.

"It's a situation that we do a good job of building very, very good race cars and we take pride in that. We really do. We've always taken it to what we thought were the tolerances, but we never crossed that line and we don't cross that line.''

NASCAR inspectors said Martin's No. 5 Chevy and Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet were within an inch of not conforming to the body specifications following Sunday's race. Close, but not illegal, so obviously there were no penalties issued.

"They (NASCAR) said, 'look, you're a little close on the tolerance,' '' Knaus explained. "But ... they wanted to make sure it was the damage (during the race), it wasn't something that was built in intentionally because, like I've said, we've had so many cars there that have been within the tolerances and are acceptable and these were just a little bit off.

"It's just preventive maintenance more than anything, just to make sure that we don't have a situation.''

Fairly or not, this is receiving attention because of Knaus' past suspensions for pushing the envelope. In the past four seasons years, Knaus has been suspended for technical violations twice -- for a total of 10 races. The first of those was a four-race punishment after Johnson's car failed post-qualifying inspection for the season-opening Daytona 500, which Johnson went on to win.

Knaus' supporters will remind you, however, that you don't win three consecutive championships in NASCAR's most competitive era without successfully pushing the envelope.

Believe it or not, most of the competing teams -- even those directly racing Johnson for the championship -- are siding with Knaus on this one. At least publicly.

"Part of racing, part of this type of sport is that you have to push those boundaries and take it as far as you can,'' said Dodge driver Kasey Kahne, who is ranked 12th in the Chase standings.

"The Car of Tomorrow, since we've had it, is real cut and dry and you don't cross those boundaries. You stay on one side or another and if you cross them, you get hit pretty hard. That's how it's been with the Car of Tomorrow and (NASCAR) has shown it a few times.

"It's pretty black and white. You're either cheating or you're not, and if you're not, you're not."

NASCAR 'Warns' Johnson, Martin Teams originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Chad KnausChadKnausJimmie JohnsonJimmieJohnsonHolly CainFri, 02 Oct 2009 15:34:00 EST Calling Out a Modest Jimmie Johnsonhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/01/calling-out-a-modest-jimmie-johnson/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/01/calling-out-a-modest-jimmie-johnson/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/10/01/calling-out-a-modest-jimmie-johnson/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A news conference on Wednesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway told you everything you need to know about Jimmie Johnson.

The three-time reigning Sprint Cup champion was asked about the prospects of winning seven NASCAR Sprint Cup titles -- the number, of course, that Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty share as the most ever. Johnson, ever the modest and self-doubting gentleman, politely answered that it would be "insane" for his team to win four more titles before his career ends.

Great answer, Jimmie. But come on, dude, let's be real -- we all know that answer is about as far from the truth as it can get.
First, here's exactly what Jimmie had to say, courtesy of the Charlotte Observer:
If Johnson can overtake Mark Martin in the standings and win his fourth straight championship, he'll be more than halfway toward tying the record seven titles won by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

"I don't think that's possible," Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I think getting to seven is just too tough. Jeff Gordon's got four and he hasn't gotten his fifth one.

"I hope I can maybe prove people wrong, but winning four more seems insane."
Keep telling yourself that, Jimmie.

Maybe its his way of avoiding a personal hex or jinx when it comes to winning more titles. Or maybe Johnson is just doing what he has always done -- being a guy that never says or does anything that his mother wouldn't be proud of.

Whatever it is, I've got to say he's wrong. Let's just look at the stats.

At the moment, Johnson is 283 races into his Sprint Cup career and in his 8th year of full-time competition. In his first 7 full seasons, Johnson won three championships -- a championship batting average, if you will, of .429. Ted Williams would be jealous.

The most comparable driver to those stats is exactly the one Johnson mentioned, his teammate Jeff Gordon. Gordon became the owner of four championships after 9 full seasons, though he hasn't been back on top since 2001. Such a clip was three years quicker than both Dale Earnhardt's and Richard Petty's run to four.

Speaking of those two, it took Earnhardt 16 seasons of full-time racing to win his 7 titles, while Petty took 19 seasons. Granted, Petty's numbers were a little different because he was racing at the start of his career in an era where racing 50 times a season was the norm. Petty also only competed in 14 of 55 races in 1965 after winning the championship in 1964 thanks to a stint in drag racing.

If Johnson wins the 2009 title -- a win last week at Dover and some struggles from other Chase competitors have increased those odds just two races into the Chase -- he'll be at four championships in 8 years of NASCAR racing.

And he'll be just 34 years old.

Petty was 35 when he won No. 4 and Earnhardt was 39 at that point.

Obviously, Johnson's torrid pace -- the guy is winning championships now like the New York Yankees wish they could be doing -- has put him in firm position to win 7 championships, even if he doesn't believe it.

Certainly there's no guarantee that Johnson will ever win another championship. He can look farther than to his teammate Gordon to see how the championship production can fall off without warning, and there's more than a handful of factors that can take even the most dominant teams away from the championship.

For reference, see Kyle Busch in 2008.

But Johnson does have NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship system on his side.

The system has been the ace in the hole, really, for the No. 48 bunch. It's enabled them to start off a season in moderate fashion and really build for the 10-race run. It doesn't hurt that the final ten tracks are right in Johnson's wheelhouse.

That, of course, might have something to do with team No. 48's ability to prepare for what really matters and less to do with the physical race tracks the series visits.

Johnson may find it "insane" to consider seven Sprint Cup titles to be out of reach, but me? I find it "insane" that Johnson can get away with such a statement.

He's got a better shot at 7 championships than anyone, ever, in NASCAR history.

What's so insane about that?

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In a June 18, 2009, photo provided by Twentieth Television, host Jeff Foxworthy, center, is shown with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip and fifth-grader Danielle during the taping of the new half-hour version of "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" in Los Angeles. The episode, featuring Michael Waltrip playing for charity, airs Tuesday, Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Twentieth Television, Barry Holmes) ** NO SALES **
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    In a June 18, 2009, photo provided by Twentieth Television, host Jeff Foxworthy, center, is shown with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip and fifth-grader Danielle during the taping of the new half-hour version of "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" in Los Angeles. The episode, featuring Michael Waltrip playing for charity, airs Tuesday, Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Twentieth Television, Barry Holmes) ** NO SALES **

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    NASCAR legend Richard Petty, left, answers a question as defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, right, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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    NASCAR legend Richard Petty, center, shares a laugh with defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, right, and Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, left, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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    NASCAR legend Richard Petty, right, shares a laugh with Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, left, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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    FILE -- This is a March 29, 2009, file photo showing race team owner Rick Hendrick celebrating Jimmie Johnson's win of the Goody's 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race in victory lane at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. With two cars on top of the points standings, Rick Hendrick appears well on his way to a 13th NASCAR championship. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

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    FILE -- This is a May 15, 2009, file photo showing team owner Rick Hendrick talking with driver Jeff Gordon during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. With two cars on top of the points standings, Rick Hendrick appears well on his way to a 13th NASCAR championship. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)

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    FILE -- This is a March 29, 2009, file photo showing Jimmie Johnson, center left, celebrating with team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Goody's 500 auto race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

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    FILE -- This is a Sept. 28, 2008, file photo showing Jimmie Johnson (48) and Mark Martin (8) driving during the first lap of the NASCAR Camping World RV 400 Sprint Cup auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)

    AP

    FILE -- This is a Sept. 18, 2009, file photo showing NASCAR drivers Mark Martin, right, and Jimmy Johnson talking in the garage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

    AP

    FILE -- This is a Sept. 18, 2009, file photo showing NASCAR drivers Mark Martin, right, and Jimmy Johnson talking in the garage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

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Calling Out a Modest Jimmie Johnson originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Hendrick MotorsportsJimmie JohnsonGeoffrey MillerThu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST Johnson Serves Title Notice at Doverhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/johnson-serves-title-notice-at-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/johnson-serves-title-notice-at-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/johnson-serves-title-notice-at-dover/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

It took just 3 hours, 24 minutes and 20 seconds of racing action Sunday at Dover International Speedway to allow "Superman" to reassert his dominance over NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

Jimmie Johnson pounded the field around the concrete one-mile oval for his fifth career win at Dover and fourth of the season to take home the AAA 400 trophy. Johnson led some 271 laps and never looked back despite late cautions that brought the competition back to his bumper three times in final 100 laps.

In doing so, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus served notice that they don't expect a change from recent years at the celebration following the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
More Coverage: Check AAA 400 Results | Sprint Cup Standings

"New leader: the forty-eight," said someone on Johnson's in-car radio as Johnson flashed past Kurt Busch on lap 176, mimicking what NASCAR race control says each time a new driver takes the lead of a race.

It was probably the worst news any of Johnson's competitors had heard all day.

Johnson wouldn't look back from that point, never relinquishing the lead en route to sweeping the two-race series at Dover for 2009. Johnson's win also tied him with David Pearson for the third-most wins ever by a single driver in NASCAR history at the Delaware track.

"I'm pretty sure that dude is Superman," said runner-up Mark Martin, re-issuing the nickname he's used for Johnson at different points in 2009.

The win allowed Johnson to chop 25 points off the lead held by Martin, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, putting the No. 48 within striking distance to not only overcome the 10-point deficit to the No. 5 car, but also jump to a big lead if Martin stumbles next week at Kansas Speedway.

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DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson
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    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: A detail of the signature of Jimmie Johnson is seen on the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet in victory lane as Johnson celebrated his win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L of trophy), driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew including crew chief Chad Knaus (R of trophy) in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L of trophy), driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew including crew chief Chad Knaus (R of trophy) in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus

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    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L) driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with a crew member in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    NASCAR drivers race during the AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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"I'm excited to see that we've gapped some of the other Chase contenders," said Johnson.

Gapped, indeed.

Johnson, second in the standings, now has a 55-point advantage on Juan Pablo Montoya in third, 65 on Kurt Busch in fourth and 96 points on Tony Stewart in 5th.

And while 2009 is starting to show signs of Johnson circa his three straight Sprint Cup titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, the California driver isn't ready to count out Martin quite yet.

"It's going to be difficult to shake Martin," Johnson said. "There's no free lunch in this sport -- especially racing Mark Martin."

The free lunch for Johnson, though, might come this week as teams start to realize that the No. 48, which has been unstoppable in the past three seasons, is back for more.

"All of these people can get wound up about stuff that really doesn't matter," Johnson said, referring to those who think he might have had an advantage at Dover thanks to a tire test he was involved with back in August. "At the end of the day, all of the talk means nothing. We still have to show up at Kansas and run that race."

If history shows us anything about "that race," Johnson & Co. won't have any troubles maintaining at Kansas. He's got a win at the track and has an average finish of 10.4 -- third-best among drivers who raced there seven or more times.

Sure, there's always the possibility that Johnson could face some unseen trouble. But after seeing the past three seasons and seeing the performance from Sunday at Dover, the reality of such trouble seems quite unrealistic.
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Johnson Serves Title Notice at Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Chase for the Sprint CupDoverHendrick MotorsportsJimmie JohnsonMark MartinSprint CupGeoffrey MillerSun, 27 Sep 2009 20:02:00 EST Jimmie Johnson Dominates at Doverhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/superman-flies-past-contenders-at-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/superman-flies-past-contenders-at-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/superman-flies-past-contenders-at-dover/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Jimmie JohnsonDOVER, Del. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson dominated again in a Chase race, sweeping the season races at Dover International Speedway to accelerate his bid for an unprecedented fourth straight Sprint Cup title.

Johnson cut Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin's points lead Sunday with the victory -- his fourth of the year and 44th overall -- in the second of 10 races in the Chase for the championship.

"I'm pretty sure that dude is Superman,'' Martin said. "I've seen that dude up close and I see why he's so successful. He works harder at it than anybody else, I think, on the circuit.''
More Coverage: Check AAA 400 Results | Sprint Cup Standings

No winner of the second Dover race has ever gone on to win the Cup championship. If any driver can reverse that trend, it's Johnson. Much as he did in May, Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet was out in front for the majority of the 400-mile race.

"I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us,'' Johnson said.

Chase drivers took nine of the first 11 spots. Martin followed last week's win at New Hampshire with a second-place finish. Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth and Kurt Busch fifth.

Matt Kenseth was the highest non-Chase driver at third.

Martin holds a 10-point lead over Johnson heading into next week at Kansas Speedway.

"This team is really on a roll right now,'' Martin said.

Other Chase driver results saw Jeff Gordon finish sixth, Kasey Kahne was eighth, Tony Stewart ninth and Ryan Newman 10th. Carl Edwards was 11th, Greg Biffle 13th, Brian Vickers 18th and Denny Hamlin 22nd.

"It's just two races,'' Martin said. "I still say that there's 12 in and 12 can win. It might be a challenge for a couple of the ones toward the end of the back.''

Johnson, who tire-tested in August at Dover, won from the pole. He led 298 laps when he won at Dover in May and added another 271 on the 1-mile concrete track Sunday. Johnson won for the fifth time at Dover.

"That's right boys, maximum points! Thank you!'' Johnson said over the radio.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus also won their 15th Chase race. No one is better down the stretch and it's the main reason why the No. 48 team is going for their record fourth straight title.

"Our team is pretty easily motivated,'' Knaus said.

Easy to see why. Cale Yarborough is the only other driver to win three straight championships and Johnson can move past him with more dominating performances like this one over the final eight races.

Johnson, who won for the first time since July at Indianapolis, crushed Kenseth and the rest of the contenders off the double-file restarts and was never seriously challenged.

He's in great position, but he's still not in first. Even with the 10 bonus points for winning, Martin still holds a slim lead.

The 50-year-old Martin is the sentimental favorite for his first Cup championship and he's in no rush to yield his spot atop the standings. His 1-2 finish in the first two Chase races proved he'll be a major factor in the No. 5.

"I'm happy with the result,'' Martin said. "We just missed it a little bit.''

It's way too early in the Chase to rule out any driver as a contender for the championship, but the Hendrick powerhouse sure looks like it fields the teams to beat.

"They're strong everywhere,'' Hamlin said. "There's no weakness to their race team at all.''

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Jimmie Johnson Dominates at Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>FanHouse NewswireSun, 27 Sep 2009 19:44:00 EST FanHouse Warmup: AAA 400 @ Doverhttp://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/fanhouse-warmup-aaa-400-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/fanhouse-warmup-aaa-400-dover/http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/27/fanhouse-warmup-aaa-400-dover/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The Essentials
Race: AAA 400
Where: Dover Int'l Speedway
Time: Sunday 2 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: ESPN, Motor Racing Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mid-70s, Partly Cloudy, 40% rain
Distance: 400 laps (400 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Greg Biffle

The Storylines

If you've caught any coverage of Sprint Cup practice or qualifying this weekend from Dover, the chance you didn't hear a driver complain about the new Goodyear tire compound was razor thin.

The tire supplier tested at the mile-long concrete track in August and brought back a compound that is supposed to have more grip like a tire for Charlotte or Las Vegas. The right-side tires also feature compound elements learned from Indianapolis that Goodyear hopes will allow the rubber to adhere to the racing groove better.

Several teams were taken by surprise by the change this weekend and have noticed a tremendous difference in the tire's handling characteristics from the May race at Dover -- leaving many to ponder and criticize Goodyear's changes.

Denny Hamlin, qualified 13th for Sunday's race, was the most vocal of opponents on Friday in the garage area.

"There was a tire test here and, from what I hear, they didn't bring back the tire that everyone liked," Hamlin said. "They won't listen to us drivers, so I don't know why we even tire test these race tracks anymore.

"They'll take a lot of data from this tire or they'll piece together this tire and that tire and make a tire that no one has run on and it ends up being terrible."

Greg Biffle wasn't as critical of the process, but felt the changes were unnecessary.

"This tire is really proposing a lot of trouble for us, and we're just super-loose and having troubles getting a hold of the race track," said Biffle. "They should've left the tire alone. There was nothing wrong with the old one."

Of course, there were other drivers who felt that the complaining wasn't needed and that the tire would be fine. Kurt Busch's feelings about the tire were positive, feeling that the drivers just need to do their jobs.

"It's not driving very easy, but we're fast," said Busch, who paced the second practice session. "I think what the car is telling me is that this new tire is asking for the drivers to get up on the wheel and drive hard."

And Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann was quite gung-ho about the grip level of the tire -- something Goodyear probably liked to hear.

"I think Goodyear has got a very good tire," said Reutimann. "It seems like it has a lot of grip and a lot of good drive. The tire has a little more stagger and a couple of subtle things."

Hamlin's irritation didn't stop with the tires after getting booted late out of Saturday's Nationwide race at Dover.

Brad Keselowski made a move underneath Hamlin on lap 189 of the 200 lap event in turn two. Hamlin, who admitted his spotter told him that the No. 88 was down low, tried to cut down to stop Keselowski off the corner. Contact ensued and Hamlin spun lazily across the track before clipping the nose of his car against the inside wall.

Hamlin would pull directly to the garage and finish 27th while Keselowski finished third. The controversy didn't stop there, though.

When the 25-year-old Keselowski pulled into the pits after the race, 29-year-old Hamlin greeted him at his car and exchanged a few words with him. Later, Hamlin said he wanted to offer Keselowski "guidance".

The pair exchanged a shoves with Keselowski's PR rep handling Hamlin for the driver from Michigan.

Don't worry, we've got the Youtube of the whole discussion -- and a little bit of background from a tangle between these two at Charlotte last season -- right here.




 Elliott Sadler, fresh off his 8th-place finish last week, suffered the same problem that his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne had a week ago during qualifying for Sunday's race.

Sadler's No. 19 broke a crankshaft his R6 Dodge engine -- the same ill that knocked Kasey Kahne out of the race at New Hampshire last week. Unlike Kahne, though, Sadler will be biting the bullet on Sunday with the same model of engine because of problems with motor mounts.

Kahne is planning to race the R5 engine -- an older, but more reliable generation of the Dodge motor -- for the rest of the season. Sadler, meanwhile, will have to put a new R6 in for Sunday because the motor mounts on his car at Dover don't align with the R5, and the chassis work to make it fit is too much to handle away from the shop.

Rain is a possibility today at Dover, but the chances seem to be tapering off as the day moves on.

The National Weather Service has the threat of isolated showers at 40 percent through 3pm local time today and otherwise partly cloudy.

Here's to hoping we can get a full race in.

The Prediction

Greg Biffle has scored 108 more points in the last 10 races at Dover than Jimmie Johnson to lead all active drivers in that category. However, Johnson does have four wins at the track compared to Biffle's two.

Johnson is the most recent winner at Dover, but Biffle won last season's fall race at the one-mile concrete oval.

Those two seem like obvious favorites at the fast track in Delaware, but there's just one more stat you should know. Carl Edwards has the best average finish of them all -- he's normally 7th -- and has failed to complete just 5 laps in his career at the track.

Who's your favorite today? Me, I'll take Jimmie Johnson.

FanHouse Warmup: AAA 400 @ Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Geoffrey MillerSun, 27 Sep 2009 11:18:00 EST