The long season’s end is finally in sight. What a journey it’s been since Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 last February. Last February, Barack Obama was just beginning to become a household word. That he could be our next President seemed what it should have been, impossible. The Tampa Bay Rays were hardly seen as a team capable of knocking out the Red Sox for the American League championship. No one could have seen the financial meltdown but gas prices were almost double what they are now. One thing that was very foreseeable, Jimmie Johnson could surely pull off the “three-peat” but the road to Homestead would hardly be anything like what developed. It’s been a very strange year for the Sprint Cup series, but Sunday’s race has little left to decide unless Johnson finishes below 36th and Carl Edwards wins. The real action is in the Craftsman Truck Series and to a lesser extent the Nationwide Series.
Tonight the truck series will be decided by which driver finishes ahead of the other. It’s that simple. Johnny Benson leads Ron Hornaday by three points. Hornaday runs for Kevin Harvick’s operation who celebrated Ryan Newman’s debut with a victory in Atlanta last month. Wouldn’t be ironic if that victory cost Hornaday his championship?
While 36 points is a much broader margin, the margin by which Clint Bowyer leads Carl Edwards in the Nationwide series, it’s close enough that both drivers will have to race the fenders off to win the series championship tomorrow.
Irony of irony, wasn’t the purpose of “The Chase” in part to make the final races of the year more meaningful? What an incredible Chase was lined up after Richmond with Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson atop the field for what should have been a madly fought shootout. Quickly Busch ran into trouble with wrecks and mechanical failure pushing him to the bottom of the twelve car field. Edwards would dodge the bullet until October hit and wrecking his own teammate, Greg Biffle didn’t help much at all. Since then, it’s been all Mr. Ho-Hum out in front. Johnson is one of the most talented driver ever and will secure his name among the sport’s elite with Sunday’s championship, but the dude’s about as exciting as oatmeal.
Here comes the “Silly Season” as teams shuffle chasing for tight resources. The DEI-Gannasi merger shows just how tight things are right now while Petty’s operation and the Wood Brothers fight for survival. Bobby Labonte is a talented driver, but clearly the King can’t decree a winning formula without the technology and money. Kyle Petty’s future is not as a race driver as he has been all but invisible since heading to the booth for his six week gig with TNT.
Tonight the truck series will be decided by which driver finishes ahead of the other. It’s that simple. Johnny Benson leads Ron Hornaday by three points. Hornaday runs for Kevin Harvick’s operation who celebrated Ryan Newman’s debut with a victory in Atlanta last month. Wouldn’t be ironic if that victory cost Hornaday his championship?
While 36 points is a much broader margin, the margin by which Clint Bowyer leads Carl Edwards in the Nationwide series, it’s close enough that both drivers will have to race the fenders off to win the series championship tomorrow.
Irony of irony, wasn’t the purpose of “The Chase” in part to make the final races of the year more meaningful? What an incredible Chase was lined up after Richmond with Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson atop the field for what should have been a madly fought shootout. Quickly Busch ran into trouble with wrecks and mechanical failure pushing him to the bottom of the twelve car field. Edwards would dodge the bullet until October hit and wrecking his own teammate, Greg Biffle didn’t help much at all. Since then, it’s been all Mr. Ho-Hum out in front. Johnson is one of the most talented driver ever and will secure his name among the sport’s elite with Sunday’s championship, but the dude’s about as exciting as oatmeal.
Here comes the “Silly Season” as teams shuffle chasing for tight resources. The DEI-Gannasi merger shows just how tight things are right now while Petty’s operation and the Wood Brothers fight for survival. Bobby Labonte is a talented driver, but clearly the King can’t decree a winning formula without the technology and money. Kyle Petty’s future is not as a race driver as he has been all but invisible since heading to the booth for his six week gig with TNT.
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