Notes, quotes & commentary from a championship weekend in Homestead.
Well, there you have it.
We, as NASCAR fans in 2009, have seen something that has never been done before in the 61 years of NASCAR competition, and something that could very easily not happen for another 161 years if this sport lasts that long.
Yep, Jimmie Johnson -- the smooth-drivin' Californian -- is the first guy in all of NASCAR's moonshining and intimidating history to take four straight championships at any level. But, strangely, he's not the first to do so in a major stock car racing series.
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway Time: Sunday 3:15 PM ET TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s Distance: 267 laps (400.5 miles) Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson 2008 Winner: Carl Edwards
The Storylines
Like Jimmie Johnson or not, and like the Chase or not, should Johnson go on to win his fourth career Sprint Cup championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway it would be completely worthy of every bit of the praises gien and the historical references noted.
On one hand, it was a celebration for all that Johnson has done right in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he marches towards an improbable fourth straight Sprint Cup championship in the season's final race next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
But on the other, it seemed to identify a brutal certainty for two of NASCAR's marquee drivers as once again Mark Martin's (2nd in points) and Jeff Gordon's (3rd) collective shots at NASCAR's biggest crown were figuratively going up in smoke.
Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway Time: Sunday 3:15 PM ET TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s Distance: 312 laps (312 miles) Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr. 2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
The Storylines
What makes any NASCAR finish exciting, and any sporting event for that matter, is when the unexpected happens. A last-second shot, a last-second touchdown, an underdog felling a Goliath and even a last lap pass -- yes, even Jimmie Johnson smacking the wall last week at Texas -- all create the unanticipated result that feeds into creating the rush of a sporting event.
Unfortunately, the most recent data we have from Phoenix International Raceway doesn't leave a lot of hope that we'll be seeing the unforeseen Sunday afternoon at the 1-miler.
The chaos of Lap 3 last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway certainly tossed the NASCAR world into a frenzy.
When the dust settled, version one of the No. 48 Texas Chevrolet became version two and both Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon failed to add the word "clutch" to their 2009 resumes, one point about NASCAR's most dominant driver became exceedingly clear.
Jimmie Johnson, point being, is still the de facto guy to beat for the 2009 Sprint Cup championship -- and it's going to take plenty more Texas-like highly unlikely events to keep three-time from becoming four-time.
Notes, quotes and a dash of commentary from a NASCAR weekend in Texas.
What a difference a crew chief makes.
Kyle Busch, a Sprint Cup nobody in the last few weeks, rocketed back to his expected form with new team leader Dave Rogers calling the shots Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch had the dominant car and led 232 of 334 laps before a fuel miscalculation or a blind shot at a win kept him from making history by being the first driver to win three races in one weekend.
And strangely, Busch's old form of letting his crew chief do the post-race talking returned, too.
Where: Texas Motor Speedway Time: Sunday 3:15 p.m. EST TV/Radio: ABC, PRN Radio Twitter: @FanHouseRacing Forecast: Mostly cloudy, Low 70s Distance: 334 laps (501 miles) Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon 2008 Winner: Carl Edwards
The Storylines
Ladies and gentleman, there was nothing wrong with last week's race at Talladega -- if you ask Tony Stewart or NASCAR.
This week, each of them blamed the fan uproar solely on the media (mainly ESPN) for ultimately putting such ideas about the bad racing at Talladega into the heads of fans. Race fans, Stewart and NASCAR feel, were induced with propaganda by television to believe that they were getting shafted by NASCAR.
Notes, quotes & commentary from a NASCAR weekend at Talladega.
What a weekend it was, huh? Yes, I do have some comments and ideas about the overall product at Talladega this week. I'm going to wait, though, until the end of this post. First, the finer notes on Sunday.
Can anyone make sense of NASCAR's pit road penalties? Had Sunday's race been at another track where track position isn't so easily gained like it is at Talladega, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and eventual race winner Jamie McMurray would have been downright hosed.
And good or bad as it relates to your particular driver, the rule that nabbed them just isn't fair.
A car length here, a lane change there and one incredible pit call.
No matter what it was, Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team seemed to do it right on a mild then wild Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway -- even when it looked like holding par in the point standings wasn't going to happen as the laps clicked off and the drama kept rising around the 2.66-mile wildcard.
But when the cars stopped flipping and the smoke stopped rising, Johnson -- to the chagrin of plenty -- stood alone in his pursuit of the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup with what amounts to be an insurmountable lead with an unstoppable team.
Ryan Newman left Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday obviously sore and presumably irritated after flipping violently in a late-race crash near the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' AMP Energy 500.
Newman, who was uninjured, was trapped in the car for almost 15 minutes as safety crews cut him out from exactly the type of wreck he had warned NASCAR against after an amazing crash involving him and Carl Edwards at the same track in April. And after being checked out of the infield hospital, Newman didn't hesitate to get on NASCAR again.
"Drivers used to be about to race each other and respect each other," said Newman. "Guys like Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison -- all those guys have always done that. I guess they [NASCAR] just don't think much of us [drivers] anymore."
Well, there you have it.
Race: Ford 400
The cloudy white smoke from 
Race: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 
The chaos of Lap 3 last Sunday at 
What a difference a crew chief makes.
Race: Dickies 500
What a weekend it was, huh? Yes, I do have some comments and ideas about the overall product at Talladega this week. I'm going to wait, though, until the end of this post. First, the finer notes on Sunday.
A car length here, a lane change there and one incredible pit call.
Ryan Newman left Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday obviously sore and presumably irritated after flipping violently in a late-race crash near the end of the NASCAR 
