Nextel Cup fate rests in Johnson’s hands
The Nextel Cup title is Jimmie Johnson’s to lose. Unfortunately for Johnson, he knows how easy that is to do.
Three years in a row, he’s had a miserable start in the Chase for the championship. Had he simply started the postseason the way he ran the rest of the year, he’d be closing in on his third title right now.
Instead, he needed frantic rallies to climb back into contention – only to still fall short at the end.
In 2004, he was eight points shy of the title in the tightest finish in NASCAR history. A year ago he was second in the points at the start of the race, blew a tire, wrecked and dropped all the way to fifth in final standings.
So even though he heads into today’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., with a comfortable 63-point cushion, the victory party has yet to be planned. No one inside Johnson’s camp would dare jinx this, even though the outcome seems inevitable: He starts 15th, and needs only to finish 12th or better to lock up the title.
Yes, there are 400 miles left on what, so far, has been a dream season for Johnson.
Asked what worried him most about today, Johnson didn’t blink.
“Myself,” he said flatly.
“Nextel Cup teams held their final practices for today’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. All that’s left to do is run the 267 laps and 400.5 miles of the Ford 400 and determine the series champion.
The mathematical equation is simple:
Jimmie Johnson, leading second-place Matt Kenseth by 63 points, needs only to finish 12th without bonus points for leading a lap. If that happens, the title is his regardless of how Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the other eligible contenders, perform.
Hamlin, however, is trying to become the first rookie to win the title.
Meanwhile, Harvick is chasing history, trying to become the first NASCAR driver to win both the Busch and Cup series titles in the same season.
Busch Series
Matt Kenseth passed teammate Carl Edwards for the lead with 11 laps to go then pulled away for his second consecutive Busch Series victory.
Kenseth won last week in Phoenix, but he had to hold off Kevin Harvick for a three-lap sprint to the finish to claim the win in Homestead, Fla. Harvick, meanwhile, finally got to celebrate the Busch Series title he won four weeks ago. Even though it has long been clinched, NASCAR waited until the season finale for the championship celebration.