November 18, 2009
By Chuck Abrams
Jimmie Johnson made it clear that his hiccup at Texas last week was just that. Johnson and the entire 48 team know how to step it up when the money is on the line. Johnson needs to finish no worse than 25th at Homestead-Miami next Sunday to wrap up his fourth consecutive Cup championship.
Mark Martin ran a good race but not good enough. The fact of the matter is that Martin needs to do more than just win races. He needs to win races and have Johnson have, well, un-Johnson-like races where he finishes outside of the top 20. In fact, the only driver who has any chance at catching the 48 is Martin. Everyone else is virtually eliminated.
Of course we all know anything can happen and racing luck can often take unexpected turns. Just ask Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But barring what would be just horrible racing luck, Johnson will take home another trophy.
So is it too late to start talking about 2010?
Unless someone else steps up to the plate and starts to dominate the way Johnson does, he could easily make it five straight.
There are several factors that play into Johnson’s current dominance. First of all, he is an awesome driver. You may think him a bit vanilla, but you can not deny that Johnson can wheel a race car. Secondly, he has an incredible crew chief and team and they work for Rick Hendrick. While Johnson was not leading the season when they got to Richmond at race 26, he did not need to be. Nor was he the top seed. But Johnson is fortunate enough that the tracks in the Chase are tracks that he excels at. And NASCAR has not changed the Chase so that the team that excels at those ten tracks can easily become the Cup champion.
Without any changes to the system, next year might be a repeat of this year. Heck, even with changes, it might be a repeat of this year.
Other thoughts…
Brad Keselowski’s bright, shiny star certainly seems to have fallen to earth. Since taking over for David Stremme at Penske, he has not had the kind of finishes he was enjoying while driving for Hendrick.
Richard Petty Motorsports has closed their motor building shop. Sigh. What will it take to resurrect a once proud organization? Can it even be resurrected? I dunno, maybe we should ask Robert Yates.
The Danica Patrick saga still reeks. Hendrick says that they are not close to a deal with her to come to NASCAR. Hendrick owns part of JR Motorsports in the Nationwide series. He claims that the ESPN report is premature and that nothing is imminent.
But Rick Hendrick can spin with the best of DC politicians. So in my opinion, his denials of anything imminent, while possibly technically true, are just spin. He did not deny that anything was in the works or that he has not had any conversations with her or her agents. It is how the game is played these days.
That’s all for now. Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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