What could have been?
Mark Martin is doing what he needs to do to be able to compete for the Championship Trophy on Sunday at Homestead. He qualified fourth outside the second row, right toward the front where he needs to be.
That’s what the story could have been, but one small problem. Guess who’s sitting on the pole?
Jimmie Johnson, that’s who qualifying a full mile per hour plus faster than the second qualifier, a bit of a surprise, rookie, Scott Speed. In third next to Martin is Marcos Ambrose. After Martin, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott, and Clint Bowyer round out the top ten.
So given it would be so easy for Johnson to add another five points to his tally with one lap led after lap one making his victory that much more inevitable, what’s left to watch? Isn’t it all over?
For the sake of the 2009 Sprint Cup Championship, only catastrophe could ruin Johnson’s dream. There are so many ways to look at it all of which add up to his championship win. It will not only be NASCAR history but a major feat in all of sports winning four consecutive championships, an accomplishment of only the most elite competitors in the best of times.
Where this puts Johnson in NASCAR history is open to speculation, but remember, NASCAR just inducted its first five members of into their Hall of Fame. Does this already put Johnson in the same class as Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Junior Johnson?
For starters, there are only three drivers with four championships so far. Besides Earnhardt and Petty with seven, Jeff Gordon has four. Now does anybody want to imagine Johnson’s chances of bringing home at least three more trophies? (Maybe even the next three in a row.)
For casual fans, a race is a race no matter how it figures into “The Chase” or the whole championship drama. Homestead is proving to be an exciting track with no defined lines allowing drivers to race all over the track. That’s good racing!
Naturally, this is the silly season. Who might be hopping in his ride for the last time and who is poised to take his place? Once again, Bill Elliott makes a cameo appearance for the “Legendary” (we note we feel obliged by NASCAR tradition to cite them as such) Wood Brothers qualifying in 9th, far better than many “chasers” who will be considering all the what-if’s during the off season.
We paid attention to Joe Nemechek’s plight when he had some remarkable qualifying runs earlier in the fall only to have to park his car before a tire change. In what must be a frustrating roll to begin with, the NEMCO racing car failed to qualify at the track that took his brother John in the early days of the truck series. While we condemn the start and park efforts, Mr. Nemechek is a class act who has always raced like a true professional while fulfilling his responsibilities to the greater community with his off the track efforts. How sad it is that he and his family have such a huge investment in a sport they know they can’t even compete in beyond even one pit stop.
No doubt the parking lot will fill quickly in the early laps of tomorrow’s Nationwide race and then Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. We hope that NASCAR can find some means to discourage the practice. How did it impact Jimmie Johnson’s situation at Texas.
As the last few leaves fall off the trees in the mid-Atlantic, the end of NASCAR season sure hastens the cold weather months just as the Daytona 500 lets the world know, winter’s almost done.
Bring it on, and gentlemen start your engines one last time for 2009.
That’s what the story could have been, but one small problem. Guess who’s sitting on the pole?
Jimmie Johnson, that’s who qualifying a full mile per hour plus faster than the second qualifier, a bit of a surprise, rookie, Scott Speed. In third next to Martin is Marcos Ambrose. After Martin, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott, and Clint Bowyer round out the top ten.
So given it would be so easy for Johnson to add another five points to his tally with one lap led after lap one making his victory that much more inevitable, what’s left to watch? Isn’t it all over?
For the sake of the 2009 Sprint Cup Championship, only catastrophe could ruin Johnson’s dream. There are so many ways to look at it all of which add up to his championship win. It will not only be NASCAR history but a major feat in all of sports winning four consecutive championships, an accomplishment of only the most elite competitors in the best of times.
Where this puts Johnson in NASCAR history is open to speculation, but remember, NASCAR just inducted its first five members of into their Hall of Fame. Does this already put Johnson in the same class as Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Junior Johnson?
For starters, there are only three drivers with four championships so far. Besides Earnhardt and Petty with seven, Jeff Gordon has four. Now does anybody want to imagine Johnson’s chances of bringing home at least three more trophies? (Maybe even the next three in a row.)
For casual fans, a race is a race no matter how it figures into “The Chase” or the whole championship drama. Homestead is proving to be an exciting track with no defined lines allowing drivers to race all over the track. That’s good racing!
Naturally, this is the silly season. Who might be hopping in his ride for the last time and who is poised to take his place? Once again, Bill Elliott makes a cameo appearance for the “Legendary” (we note we feel obliged by NASCAR tradition to cite them as such) Wood Brothers qualifying in 9th, far better than many “chasers” who will be considering all the what-if’s during the off season.
We paid attention to Joe Nemechek’s plight when he had some remarkable qualifying runs earlier in the fall only to have to park his car before a tire change. In what must be a frustrating roll to begin with, the NEMCO racing car failed to qualify at the track that took his brother John in the early days of the truck series. While we condemn the start and park efforts, Mr. Nemechek is a class act who has always raced like a true professional while fulfilling his responsibilities to the greater community with his off the track efforts. How sad it is that he and his family have such a huge investment in a sport they know they can’t even compete in beyond even one pit stop.
No doubt the parking lot will fill quickly in the early laps of tomorrow’s Nationwide race and then Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. We hope that NASCAR can find some means to discourage the practice. How did it impact Jimmie Johnson’s situation at Texas.
As the last few leaves fall off the trees in the mid-Atlantic, the end of NASCAR season sure hastens the cold weather months just as the Daytona 500 lets the world know, winter’s almost done.
Bring it on, and gentlemen start your engines one last time for 2009.
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