FanHouse Homestead Miami Speedway

I can't remember the last year that I was so uninspired by NASCAR's finale race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. I know I'm not alone ... so I thought we could chat about it while we sort of half watching the race today. We can discuss all the ways in which the 2007 NASCAR season and its media coverage sucked and yet ... we've already begun counting down the days 'til we can start it all over again in February.

Want to join us? Meet back here in about an hour for pre-race!

Heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the tenth and final race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, things in the Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson Show changed dramatically since last week's edition. Gordon now trails Johnson by 86 points in the standings. Here's a breakdown of their stats at Homestead and the possibilities that loom within the last Chase race of the season.

Homestead Stats: Neither Gordon nor Johnson have a win at Homestead, a track that has seen a myriad of layout changes since it first came on the Nextel Cup tour. Johnson has the best career finish with a 2nd-place in 2004. Gordon's best finish also came in 2004 with a 3rd-place.

A year ago, Gordon finished 24th while Johnson finished ninth to wrap up his first title. A 40th-place finish in 2005 left Johnson with an average finish at HMS of 14.5 while Gordon has average 11.4.

Chase Stats: Phoenix stuck a fork in Jeff Gordon's title hopes after Johnson won his fourth-straight to Gordon's 10th-place finish. The 86-point deficit will be nearly impossible to overcome unless Johnson has serious trouble in the race. If Johnson finishes 18th or better, he automatically looks up the title, even if Gordon leads every lap and wins the race.

In doomsday scenarios for Johnson, if he finishes 40th or worse, Gordon could take the title with a 10th place finish or better. A 43rd-place finish for Johnson would mean Gordon would have to finish 14th or better.

I wouldn't put too much stock in those possibilities this year knowing that he has only failed to finish a race four times. Johnson should have his second NASCAR Nextel Cup title in hand come Sunday evening.

CONFIRMED: Roush-Fenway Racing officially announced Thursday morning that Robbie Reiser would assume role of General Manager at Roush-Fenway after the conclusion of Sunday's Ford 400.

Read the full release here.

ORIGINAL: Matt Kenseth might not be hearing Robbie Reiser's voice in his ear anymore after Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, according to ESPN.com's David Newton:

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Robbie Reiser, who has been Matt Kenseth's crew chief since they entered NASCAR's premier series in 2000 and long before that in the Busch Series, will become the general manager at Roush Fenway Racing.

He will replace Max Jones, who will move into the GM role at Robert Yates Racing. RYR and Roush recently formed an alliance that basically will allow them to work as a seven-car operation without violating NASCAR's four-car cap.

If indeed it happens, this will be the first time in Kenseth's NASCAR career that Reiser wasn't calling the shots for him. Together, Kenseth and Reiser have landed one Cup championship in 2003 and 15 race wins since Kenseth ran his first full season in 2000.

The folks that run Homestead-Miami Speedway cannot be Jimmie Johnson fans.

Even though they do have a sell-out for next Sunday's Nextel Cup season-ending Ford 500, Jimmie Johnson has ruined any type of excitement that was building in the fight to win the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Johnson won Sunday afternoon's Checker Auto Parts 500k at Phoenix International Raceway for not only the fourth-straight race, but also to take a commanding 86-point lead into the final race at Homestead.

Talk about a lead balloon.

A lead balloon, that is, if you wanted to see a finish to the season like we got in the first edition of the Chase, when Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Johnson all had legitimate title chances.

But if you are a Johnson fan, life is good.

After Johnson's late-race domination at Phoenix -- a race in which he led the final 24 laps -- Johnson leads Gordon's No. 24 team by 86 points. The basic math on that is that Gordon must win and lead the most laps at Homestead and Johnson has to finish 18 or worse.

In other words, it's not going to happen.

Gordon stated in the post-race interview that Johnson & Co. have "flat-out killed everyone" in the past few weeks. After all, it's not very often that a driver can lose 154 points in the point standings by consistently finishing in the top-10. To top that off, Johnson becomes the first driver since Gordon in 1998 to win four-straight races.

But in 2007, Jimmie Johnson has been good enough to do that. And because of that, he has stuck a fork in Brian France's Chase.

(This will be the first part of a two-part series airing here on the Fanhouse. It will break down the final two races of the season for the two drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who still have a manageable shot of winning the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. Watch for the next one just before Homestead next week.)

Heading to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend for the 9th of 10 events in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Jimmie Johnson leads teammate Jeff Gordon by 30 points. Here's a breakdown of their past success at Phoenix and what type of possibilities exist with the point standings.

PIR Stats: Jeff Gordon comes to PIR knowing that he was the last winner in April at the track, and that he is the only driver to win there in the next-generation NASCAR race car. Johnson, though, holds the average finish margin by one full position - 7.2 to Gordon's 8.2.

Gordon has 17 career Cup starts at PIR to Johnson's 8. In that time, Gordon has racked up 8 top-5s and 14 top-10s to Johnson's 3 top-5s and 6 top-10s.

Chase Stats: After gaining the 30 point Chase lead last week at Texas, things are looking brighter for Johnson. However, that could change very quickly, as well. If Gordon wins and leads the most laps, he will tie Johnson if the No. 48 finishes 3rd without a led lap or fourth with one. A 43rd-place finish for Johnson at that point would give Gordon a 131-point lead heading to Homestead.

Likewise, if Johnson found victory lane and led the most laps, he could clinch the championship if Gordon finishes 34th or worse by simply starting at Homestead.

Naturally, Johnson can control his own destiny by winning the last two events, but Gordon can as well. If he wins at PIR and Homestead leads the most laps in both events, Gordon would take the title. If he doesn't lead the most laps and Johnson finishes 2nd in each event and leads a lap, the season would end in a tie, with the title going Johnson based on wins.

It shall be interesting, wouldn't you say?