The Sprint Cup championship may be “in the bag” for Jimmie Johnson, who rallied back for an early race pit road speeding penalty to finish second.
Johnson, who once again “captured” the pole due to qualifying being canceled, lead early in Sunday’s race, but fell back to 30th after getting a pit road speeding penalty for too fast exiting pit road. Many laps and two cautions later, Johnson was the first car a lap down and got his lap back. He was 20th.
He never seemed to be a factor, that was until the final caution, for debris, when Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, made the call to bring him in for a four-tire stop. He restarted 11th and as quickly as the green-flag flew, Johnson was picking up spots. In a matter of 12 laps, he ran down all the cars in front of him, except the leader, Carl Edwards. He finished second but he did manage to gain 34 points in the standings. He is now is 183 points in front of Edwards.
Edwards, who was jubilant and happy in the post-race interview, became subdued when an ABC reporter told him in “Victory Lane” that Johnson had finished second, “Are you kidding? You’ve rained on my parade. I could have gone without that one.” His expression and reaction, I am sure, was like many others across NASCAR nation when they watched, or heard of, Johnson’s extraordinary feat.
According to one online source, if Johnson keeps this up at Texas, then he’ll clinch the title at Phoenix — one race shy of the season’s end at Homestead-Miami.
Although Johnson may be well on his way to capturing a third straight championship, something no driver has been able to do since Cale Yarborough (1976-78), the other Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers fared alright. They all managed to finish in the Top 20, which was a good feat for a couple of them.
Jeff Burton, who went into Sunday’s race second in points, was having an OK day until lap 303 when he got into the back of Dave Blaney to cause a wreck. The Dodge teammates, Juan Pablo Montoya, who was having a good run, and Reed Sorenson, were caught up in the wreck. Montoya fell out of the race while Sorenson was able to get back on the track several laps down.
As for Burton, he had a bent up car but was able to finish the race on the lead lap in 18th position. Unfortunately, he fell to fourth in the points and probably ended his last hope at winning this years Championship.
The problems keep coming to Kyle Busch. He finished the race fifth, a spot ahead of older brother, Kurt, in what looked like one of his best runs, so far, in the Chase. He may have had a good day, but his car failed post-race inspection and the rear-end housing of the No. 18 Toyota was confiscated by NASCAR so that they could “double check the measurements” at their research and development center in Concord, N.C. At press time there does not appear to be a penalty forthcoming.
It’s on to Texas Motor Speedway where both Edwards and Johnson have won. Edwards won in April and Johnson won this race a year ago. If Edwards is going to win the Championship, he has no room for errors and must hit his mark from to start finish in this Sunday’s race. It is here that he’ll have to pull out all the stops and give it all he’s got or else it’s Johnson who will take home the most important trophy in November — the Sprint Cup.
Don’t miss:
From Texas
- Sprint Cup qualifying, Friday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2
- Chevy Silverado 350K (Craftsman’s truck race), Friday night at 8:30 on SPEED
- O’Reilly Challenge (Nationwide race), Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2
- Dickies 500 (Sprint Cup race), Sunday at 3 p.m. on ABC
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