Posts tagged JimmieJohnson at FanHouse

Thursday afternoon, word came out that two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves was facing an indictment of tax fraud charges in Florida for allegedly hiding $5 million in income.

Helio, along with his sister and his attorney Alan Miller, was called in to a courtroom Friday morning in the Sunshine State and he pleaded not guilty to a lot of charges that could put him in the slammer for a long time.

The folks in the courtroom must have seen Helio's fence-climbing techniques after winning races and had the guy in handcuffs, as well as chains around his ankles. I mean, come on, I know the guy is fast on a race track and a decent dancer, but I'm highly doubting he's much of a flight risk.

Anywho, Helio was released on bail of $10 million, but was ordered not to leave the country and could only travel for work -- meaning he will miss the upcoming non-points IndyCar event in Australia.

This situation, though, doesn't stop with the winged open-wheel cars because it turns out that Castroneves' attorney -- Alan Miller -- is the same guy who represents many, many NASCAR drivers including Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears.

Cameras have had staying power in the world because they are able to do something humans can't. Simply, cameras can stop action in ways we don't see. Here's some of the best shots from a fast-paced weekend at Kansas Speedway as FanHouse brings you another edition of "Scenes From":

How'd your favorite Chase for the Sprint Cup driver fare last weekend at Kansas Speedway? Is he still a viable contender, or have we found some true pretenders? Take a looksie to find out where FanHouse ranks your Chaser:

Round 3: Chase Winners

Jimmie Johnson (Finished 1st) - Johnson nearly got caught up in watching Carl Edwards make his crazy dive-bomb move on the final lap, but stayed cool and power back by him. His consistency will be tough to beat.

Carl Edwards (Finished 2nd) - Sometimes, its possible to play video games too much, though Edwards proved that he isn't afraid to try anything for a win.

Greg Biffle (Finished 3rd) - Sure, he may have passed a very ill guy for third place at the finish line, but those five points could loom large come Homestead.

Jeff Gordon (Finished 4th) - I'm throwing Gordo into a Chase winner this week because his gutsy performance showed that the No. 24 team could be a dark horse championship contender if he can return to form at Talladega, Charlotte, and Martinsville.

Now that's a move that we've all tried on our NASCAR video games before.

Carl Edwards swept around Jimmie Johnson in the final corners of Sunday's Camping World 400 at Kansas Speedway, but swept too far as the No. 99 Ford grazed the turn four wall and Johnson's No. 48 powered back by to give a 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup win to someone not named Greg Biffle.

It's amazing the stories, controversies and otherwise good discussion fodder that us lucky NASCAR fans get over the course of the Sprint Cup series' 36-race season.

And at the same time, all of that information from all four, or maybe five, corners of the web and television we soak in each week leaves us forgetting about the stories that seemed so important when they happened. Lucky for you, FanHouse is happy to bring "Takin' a Look Back" to a web browser near you.

First up? Kansas Speedway's 2007 fun and follies:

NASCAR was Wrong Sunday at Kansas - Last year's race had an interesting finish as winner Greg Biffle appeared to run out of gas before the checkered flag under caution and fell significantly enough off the pace car's speed that Clint Bowyer passed him.

A year later, I'm still on Bowyer's side -- he should have been the race winner.

Chasers Glad to Not Be in Kansas Anymore - After the 2007 edition, Kansas seemed to join the likes of Martinsville or Talladega as wild cards in the Chase after 8 of the 12 Chase drivers suffered extensive problems throughout the course of the rain-delayed and finally rain-shortened event.

Note: BFF = Best Friends Forever. Use it and you'll impress your kids.

Kyle Busch is doing his best impersonation of the New England Patriots from last February's Super Bowl XLII.

In other words, he's falling over his own feet when it really matters most.

Busch, who's season-leading eight wins in 2008's regular season Sprint Cup action earned him a significant anti-Kyle fan base, has simply plummeted to the bottom of the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings when he was supposed to be cementing his status at the top.

And that drop -- as Sunday's race at Dover proved -- isn't just a one-time thing. It's turning into a reoccurring theme.

It could be bad karma (he didn't make many friends on-track this season) or it could (and likely is) just bad luck, but one thing is for sure: Kyle Busch is dead-last in the championship standings battle after finishes of 34th and 43rd.

That yellow brick road he was walking during NASCAR's summer swing has seemingly taken a hard right towards a deep, dark cliff.

Ouch.

It wouldn't have been too incredulous to say that season-long favorites Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson would have won the first two races of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But Greg Biffle? Come on.

I would have called it a crazy guess, and after Sunday's race at Dover, I would have looked like the dumber person in the conversation, though that's not much a surprise. Biffle, though, definitely fits the "surprise" bill.

Here's a quick look at how each contender in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup will start when the field takes the green flag Sunday afternoon at Dover International Raceway for the second race in the ten race run.

Jeff Gordon - Starting: 1st - Chase Spot: 11th - A pole for Gordon is best way to start off a weekend that is as close to a must-win situation as he'll get in the Chase if he wants to find himself in any sort of contention to be in position to win the championship.

Denny Hamlin - Starting: 3rd - Chase Spot: 6th - It's been a year and a half since Hamlin has had a good run at Dover. He'll need to find one after slipping back late in the race last week at New Hampshire.

Greg Biffle - Starting: 5th - Chase Spot: 3rd - Biffle's win a week ago should serve as a warning to the rest of the field, especially coming to Dover where he has a win and four top-5 finishes in his career.

Clint Bowyer - Starting: 6th - Chase Spot: 9th - FanHouse classified Bowyer as a "Chase loser" after last week's race at New Hampshire thanks to a lower-than-anticpated finish. He'll need to capitalize on his high starting spot Sunday to get out of that hole.

It's been an interesting week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup world, and by interesting I mean pretty doggone slow. It feels like every team in the business -- especially the ones in the Chase -- just put their collective heads down and went to work for a week without distraction.

Luckily, Friday afternoon brought something to talk about as the Sprint Cup teams headed to Dover for second race of the Chase for the Championship, and luckily for a struggling Jeff Gordon, he earned the right to start out front for Sunday's race.

It's hard to believe it -- doesn't it feel like Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500 like a week ago? -- but the 2008 edition of the Chase for the Sprint Cup is now officially at full throttle following Sunday's first round of the ten race swing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Unless you were living under a rock Sunday or perhaps digging out from Hurricane Ike, -- which, obviously, is a perfectly good excuse to miss the first race of the Chase -- Greg Biffle made a quiet, yet steady, statement that he's in no mood to be counted out of a championship run.

Naturally, Biffle's win Sunday at New Hampshire -- his first since Kansas in '07 -- will put him towards the top of the "Chase Winners" category because, well, you can't do a whole lot better than win a race (but I do give him props for the direct shot with the champagne spray in the picture. That takes talent!). The real importance of this post, though, is to summarize how the rest of the Chasers handled their first foray into the 2008 championship battle.

Did Kyle Busch -- who led the point standings nearly all year -- prove his worth? Was Clint Bowyer ready to take off his disguise of barely making the Chase (he finished third in the championship battle a year ago) and put on his "I'm here to play for keeps" hat? And what about Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Was he ready for his first Chase with Hendrick Motorsports?

It's all here, folks, so jump on in and find out who were your Chase Winners and Chase Losers following Sunday's first round at New Hampshire: