OK,Ok I GET IT! GIVE JIMMY JOHNSON THE TROPHY NOW!
Posted on Nov 12, 2007 - 7:44pm by Tim Wylder in NASCAR
Take that picture and replace the car with the Nextel Cup! Four wins in a row! My goodness! You talk about turning up the wick at the end of the season? Jimmy Johnson and the Lowes Chevy team didn’t turn up the wick, they broke open the lamp and dumped the oil right into the flame.
Who still has a chance? Nobody really!
Jimmy Johnson just has to finish 18th or better to win the championship at Homestead Miami Speedway next weekend. “Unless you lead every lap and beat Jimmy Johnson to win the race, we don’t have a shot,” Gordon said. “We’re just coming up short at a crucial time. Those guys have just knocked it out of the ballpark, and it would be tough to beat that even if we were hitting on all eight cylinders.” Johnson’s win mathematically eliminated everyone except Jeff Gordon. Clint Bowyer was just to far out to be a factor anymore. Either way you look at it, Rick Hendrick has another championship before the last race is even run. That is very good news for us Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans as he will be driving one of those Hendrick Motorsports cars next year at Daytona! Frankly after seeing my Alabama Crimson Tide get beat by unranked Mississippi State, I am ready for the football season to be over and for the Daytona 500 to kick off another Nascar season.
OK OK, we can have football a little longer, and I know that I am ending the season in my head with one race to go. Is there any doubt in any-one’s mind that the chase is over? There is none in mine. I would have liked to see a bit more of the chase contenders up closer to the top in the points at the end of the season to make it interesting, but that is not a product of the chase format. That is a direct product of a race team having its stuff together and keeping it in place way more than the other teams. You can’t argue with dominance. Jeff Gordon didn’t have a crappy late season either. The 48 team just really put it in the hammer lane and didn’t let up! There will be some talk about the get together that Jeff Gordon had with Kevin Harvick with 56 laps to go. Gordon said that he was going backwards at the time, meaning he was losing the handling on the car, so he kind of discounted the effect that a tire rub gained in that incident, had on his finishing position. But fans look at things a bit differently in most cases and there might be talk about Harvick ending Gordon’s chances for a fifth Cup Championship.
Here Is How They Took The Checkered Flag.
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS WINNINGS
1 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 190/5 312 Running 245,011
2 7 16 Greg Biffle Ford Dish Network 170/0 312 Running 175,075
3 18 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT NANO Technology 175/10 312 Running 172,291
4 21 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 160/0 312 Running 156,211
5 13 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 160/5 312 Running 141,125
6 34 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 150/0 312 Running 136,386
7 2 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 151/5 312 Running 133,895
8 38 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg’s / CARQUEST 142/0 312 Running 99,475
9 12 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 138/0 312 Running 114,966
10 3 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 134/0 312 Running 124,911
11 20 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 130/0 312 Running 84,975
12 9 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 127/0 312 Running 109,333
13 11 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 124/0 312 Running 87,925
14 4 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 121/0 312 Running 100,183
15 5 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow / FleetPride 118/0 312 Running 72,850
16 15 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Ground 115/0 312 Running 84,925
17 14 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 112/0 312 Running 106,700
18 32 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 109/0 312 Running 107,036
19 25 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 111/5 312 Running 95,258
20 37 40 David Stremme Dodge Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit 103/0 312 Running 71,725
21 22 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 100/0 312 Running 68,625
22 19 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 97/0 312 Running 68,400
23 23 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 94/0 312 Running 77,475
24 39 7 Robby Gordon Ford MAPEI / Menards 91/0 312 Running 67,925
25 29 109 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 88/0 311 Running 65,000
26 28 01 Aric Almirola Chevrolet U.S. Army 85/0 311 Running 75,575
27 16 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Siemens / Dodge Dealers 82/0 311 Running 85,695
28 42 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 79/0 311 Running 94,314
29 36 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 76/0 311 Running 83,133
30 26 06 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 73/0 310 Running 64,150
31 17 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 70/0 310 Running 88,883
32 41 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA Insurance 67/0 310 Running 99,400
33 24 10 Patrick Carpentier Dodge Sears Auto Center / Valvoline / Stanley 64/0 310 Running 72,400
34 43 21 Bill Elliott Ford Ore-Ida Extra Crispy / Heinz 61/0 310 Running 82,359
35 33 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Pedigree 58/0 309 Running 94,233
36 30 36 Johnny Benson Toyota 360 OTC 55/0 308 Running 63,050
37 8 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 52/0 291 Running 70,925
38 31 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 49/0 241 Accident 62,825
39 40 66 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 46/0 212 Engine 82,333
40 10 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers Lifetime Powertrain Warranty / UAW 43/0 147 Accident 109,716
41 27 127 Jacques Villeneuve Toyota UNICEF 40/0 136 Accident 62,380
42 1 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 42/5 125 Engine 87,155
43 35 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 34/0 118 Accident 107,820
NEXT WEEK IS THE FINAL RACE IN THE SEASON.
The Homestead Miami Speedway is the home of the last race of the season. Located south west of Miami, near the city of Homestead, it is the southern most track on the circuit. The weekend is billed as “The Ford Championship Weekend” as all three Nascar series end their season there next weekend. Television coverage starts with ” Bud Pole Qualifying” on ESPN 2 Friday at 3 P.M. eastern time. Race coverage starts Sunday with the “Countdown To The Green” on ABC at 2 P.M. eastern with the green flag dropping a little after 3 P.M. eastern time. This is it! The last race of the season. Miss this one and you have to wait until February for the Daytona 500. Stay safe out there and go Junior!
Kasey Kahne Wins With The Fan Vote
Pole Sitter Clint Bowyer Wins Big!
Jimmy Johnson Wins The Subway 500
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Another great NASCAR post, Tim! I happen to be a Jeff Gordon fan so I’m sorry to see him all but eliminated; nonetheless, no matter who you’re pulling for, you’ve got to admire the fashion in which the #48 team has gone about attacking the Chase. He’s winning races on the way to winning the Championship. That’s the way it should be! Still, I’m looking forward to next year, as well. I think Kyle Busch is a great driver but Jr.’s gonna be a great catalyst for the whole team.
Yep, gotta agree JJ has it sewed up. Anything is possible - he might blow an engine or have some other malady, but the way his team has been working that is unlikely.
Maybe next year we won’t be saying “maybe next year for Junior.”
I think that next year will be more than a building year for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He will be in the same equipment as the two most dominant teams in the sport. I see a championship run for Junior next year. Look for my post this Friday and through the weekend. I will be covering the last race for the “8″ car and Junior. Yea, there is a race being run between Johnson and Gordon, but the Junior story will overshadow that in my book. It doesn’t matter who drives the “8″ now, it will never be the same as Junior’s “8″. Thanks for the comments and all guys.