November 13, 2007

By Brian Watkins

Brian Watkins

Sunday in Phoenix. While the race in and of itself wasn’t all that exciting, the points battle between Johnson and Gordon did indeed keep things interesting. While the last half of the season, especially the last four races, have been just about as good as they could get for Johnson, I still found myself wishing a wreck, as bad as that sounds, would collect him up in the waning laps and give Gordon the points lead going into Homestead.

Why?

Well, as I said last week, I’d much prefer to see Gordon win the championship.

Is it selfish of me to wish ill on another driver just so the one I prefer can win? Perhaps, but I can’t think of any NASCAR fan that hasn’t wished the same at one point in a race or another. No sane fan can honestly say they want to see anyone injured just so “their” driver can win or improve their position, but a little fender bender or a cut front right that destroys the front sheet metal isn’t too much to ask is it?

As I’ve said before, Jeff Gordon is not “my” driver. In fact at the onset of the 2007 season, he was the driver least likely to even be considered in contention for the “my” driver status. I’ve mentioned several times this season that my opinion of Gordon has definitely done a near 180 from February to November, and I have cheered for him on more than one occasion. The Phoenix race was another of those. I wanted him to win not only because I prefer him to Johnson, but also so that we could go into Homestead-Miami with a two way race. It would have been nice to go into the final event of the season not knowing who the champion was going to be.

Yes, Johnson’s points lead isn’t mathematically insurmountable, but short of someone slipping a mid-season DEI engine under his hood or an ill timed “big one” that gives Johnson a DNF in the opening laps, Johnson and the No. 48 team will be celebrating back-to-back Nextel Cup Championships this time next week.

It could be worse though. In past years, at least we didn’t know who was going to win until the next to last race. The Craftsman Truck and Busch Series champions were announced long before the end of the season, which takes, to me, quite a bit of wind out of the sails of the S.S. Excitement.

Things now, at least competition-wise, are better than in the past. Who remembers a driver winning a race by five or ten or even more laps? Some say that those were the “glory days” of go fast or go home, true racing. In some ways I agree. But at the same time, how much worse would the ratings be if Johnson won the championship two weeks ago and was so many laps ahead at the end of a race that he was already loaded in the hauler and on his way to the next track before the second place car even finished?

As for the title of this piece? That’s my advice to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 team.

The most popular driver in NASCAR is wrapping up his last season at DEI, a season marked by nine DNF’s.(did not finish)

Nine.

While I rarely agree with ESPN’s commentators during a race, I must admit that they had it right after Dale Jr. hit the wall Sunday when they said that this season just can’t end soon enough for him. Amen. While I feel NASCAR has enough awards to hand out already, isn’t there something they could give to Dale Jr. to recognize the fact that he had the right to be the most bitter driver in the whole sport this season, but took the high road. Something of a Mr. Congeniality award? I’m saying this half-joking of course, but it must be said that he has been a true sportsman and a great role model this season. Not only for breaking out of the confines of DEI, but more importantly for the way he handles himself on and off the track, on the good days and the bad.

My advice for Junior at Homestead? Forget trying to get that elusive win. Make it fun. Drive that No. 8 like it’s the last time you’ll ever drive it. Run it into the ground like you would a low-cost rental and see if instead of a win you can get DNF number 10 in grand style. Something akin to Kevin Costner in Tin-Cup. A losing season to remember.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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