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| On The Verge Of History
Story URL: http://nascar.scout.com/2/812031.html | |
| Crimson Cowboy DriverInsider.com | Nov 15, 2008 |
|
Thirty years ago, Cale Yarborough became the first driver to win three straight championships in NASCAR's premier circuit. Nobody had done that before or since. Now, Jimmie Johnson is about to join him. He won at Phoenix Sunday afternoon, putting the Sprint Cup championship within his grasp. It was 1976-1978: Cale Yarborough won three straight Winston Cup championships. Never before or since had a driver in NASCAR's premier division had such a run of dominance. Now, Jimmie Johnson is about to join him in history.
After
Carl Edwards won at
Texas and closed to within 106 points, there was a slight window of
opportunity for him to catch Jimmie Johnson. That window may have been
slammed shut. Jimmie Johnson dominated in winning the
Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix. Johnson just flat out dominated
the race, leading 217 of the 313 laps. It was his seventh win of the
season and also completed a sweep of the two events at Phoenix.
Carl Edwards found himself in the middle of
the pack through a good portion of the race, but did rally to finish
fourth. But, Edwards led no laps while Johnson got bonus points for
leading a lap as well as the most laps. Johnson extended his lead in the
points to 141 over Edwards. To clinch the championship, Johnson needs to
finish 35th or better at Homestead. Barring an extremely odd set of
circumstances, his third straight title seems to be a given.
There were ten cautions, slowing the race for
55 laps. There was a short delay for rain in the early part of the
event. There were two big incidents.
The seventh caution flew on lap 275 when
Juan Pablo Montoya
spun Casey Mears.
The incident collected Scott
Speed, David Gilliland, Scott Riggs, and Marcos
Ambrose. The back wheels of Gilliand's car ended up on Speed's
hood. The cleanup cause the race to be red flagged for about 18 minutes.
There was also a multicar incident right at the
checkered flag,
involving several drivers at the finish.
Between Johnson and Edwards,
Kurt Busch finished
second with
Jamie McMurray third.
Denny Hamlin placed
fifth, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
sixth, Kevin Harvick
seventh, with Kyle Busch,
Jeff Burton, and
David Ragan rounding out the top ten.
Other notable finishes include
Greg Biffle in 11th,
Clint Bowyer 12th,
Matt Kenseth 15th,
Tony Stewart 22nd, and
Jeff Gordon 41st.
For Gordon, if he doesn't win at Homestead, it will be the first time
since his rookie year of 1993 that he would go winless for an entire
season.
In one rather odd circumstance, with the
delays and cautions, ABC cut away from their coverage of the race at 7:28
Eastern, going to their regular Sunday lineup, sending the remainder of
the race to ESPN2. Instead of showing the end of the race, ABC decided to
show "America's Funniest Home Videos".
The NASCAR season draws to its conclusion this
week at the Homestead-Miami
Speedway. The trucks will race Friday night in the
Ford 200 with the
Nationwide Series Saturday in the
Ford 300. The
checkered flag on the season drops Sunday as the
Sprint Cup races in
the
Ford 400. By: CrimsonCowboy Copyright © Scout.com and DriverInsider.com | |