Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
The 2008 NASCAR season officially came to an end Sunday night as Carl Edwards took the checkered flag for a record ninth time this season only to finish second in the points behind Jimmie Johnson who scored his third consecutive Sprint Cup Championship.
Johnson is now a part of history becoming the second driver, along with Cale Yarborough, to win three consecutive titles. Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, goes into the history books as the only crew chief to achieve the feat.
Johnson’s third title was inevitable with an 141-point lead going into the finale, but Edwards wasn’t giving up. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
If you’re living under a rock or refusing to accept reality than you don’t know or have chosen not to acknowledge that Jimmie Johnson is more than likely going to win the Sprint Cup championship for the third straight season.
Granted there is a 141-point difference between Johnson and Carl Edwards, and this is NASCAR. So, anything’s possible, but luck is on Johnson’s side.
There are obviously several scenarios that could come into play this coming weekend for Johnson (or Edwards). The obvious one could be Johnson having a major problem and getting a DNF (did not finish) skyrocketing Edwards to the top of the points standings with a win. Unfortunately, that scenario isn’t the most logical or most likely. (more…)
Posted in Column | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
It was a weekend full of repeats at Texas Motor Speedway as Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards all made their second trip to TMS’ Victory Lane for the year.
Hornaday, who was the favorite to win, experienced misfortune early on, as the caution came out while he was pitting. He regained the lead and made his way to the front of the pack, passing leader Busch, to captured the win. He is now only six points out of the lead in the Craftsman’s truck series point standings.
The Nationwide race, like the truck race, was dominated by Busch. After starting fourth, Busch quickly made his way to the front taking the lead from Kevin Harvick, who had started second. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
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. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Passing the halfway mark, it’s down to four races to go until the Chase for the Sprint Cup comes to an end. And it looks like it just may very well be none other than two-time reigning champion, Jimmie Johnson sitting pretty after Homestead.
He came into Martinsville, the leader, after two not so good finishes from previous leader, Carl Edwards. The gap between Edwards, who was in fourth, and Johnson was 168 with Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle on Johnson’s tail. The gap now is 198 points between first and fourth-place, Edwards. Burton and Biffle, who switched positions after Sunday’s race, are more than 140 points behind Johnson.
How did Johnson gain so many points to sit nicely on top of the standings? (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
Race No. 3 in the “Chase for the Sprint Cup” at Kansas Speedway was similar to the previous two races. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards were competing for the win, Greg Biffle had yet another Top 5 finish, Kyle Busch continued to have bad luck and at least one Chaser finished poorly.
Now, I could be wrong, but it does not look as if Kyle Busch will win the Championship, as many thought at the beginning of the summer. He added yet another not so good finish Sunday. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
He did it again!
Greg Biffle won Sunday’s race — the second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup — much like he did the weekend before. Biffle, who ran in the top five most of the day, got his No. 16 Ford around teammate, Matt Kenseth, No. 17, with less than 10 laps to go. He was able to hold the lead, get around lap traffic and beat his teammates to the finish line to capture his second win of the season.
He is currently the only driver to win the first two races in the Chase since its inception. He also sits third in points, tied with Jimmie Johnson, and is only 10 points behind his teammate, Carl Edwards, who has the lead.
The Roush-Fenway Racing Fords were fast. Not only did Biffle win and teammates, Kenseth and Edwards finish second and third respectively, but teammate Jamie McMurray lead a good amount of laps early one in Sunday’s race. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
The first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup was good clean racing, for the most part, and as most years go to show, it shook up the points a bit.
Kyle Busch went into Sunday’s race as the points leader, when he left, he was 74 points behind new leaders Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson — they are tied for first.
What happened to Busch? (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
As predicted the weather played havoc with this past weekend’s race activities. Both Nationwide and Sprint Cup series teams and drivers were able to participate in their one and only practice session on Friday. However, Friday qualifying sessions were canceled and both races were postponed until Sunday with the Cup race set to run first.
The starting lineup for both races were set according to owner points, which meant Joey Logano was not able to make his Cup debut in the 02 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. It does look like he will be able to attempt to qualify for this weekend’s race in Loudon, N.H. (more…)
Posted in Column | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
The Chase for the Sprint Cup is upon us. In 11 weeks we’ll have a new champion or a returning champion and the 2008 season will conclude.
The Chase will be set at the conclusion of this Saturday’s race. There will be 12 drivers who will have the chance to race for the Championship and they are sure to make it interesting, or at least we all hope so.
Last Sunday’s race locked the race winner, Jimmie Johnson, along with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton into the Chase. Those three drivers along with Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch don’t have to worry too much about this weekend’s race at Richmond, Va. (more…)
Posted in Column | No Comments »
Loading ...