ShareThisPrior to last Sunday's NASCAR race in Texas, Jeff Gordon had all but conceded the 2009 Sprint Cup Championship to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson -- and Mark Martin wasn't holding out any high hopes for himself.
Martin tried to downplay any title expectations by telling the Associated Press, "I didn't take this job to go out and try to get a championship trophy."
And Gordon said in no uncertain terms he wanted to race well down the stretch and finish second in points.
For Gordon, the goal of a silver medal remains. For Martin, the dream of an elusive series crown no longer seems like an impossible one.
Heading into this Sunday's Phoenix event Martin is now 73 points behind Johnson, who is gunning for a fourth consecutive championship. That's still a pretty good deficit, but nothing like the 184-point hole he was in last weekend before Johnson finished 38th and he wound up in the fourth spot.
If Martin can shave off 111 points in one race, there's no reason to think he can't take care of 73 in two.
"I don't know why everybody tries to cap this thing out and doesn't just wait and watch," Martin said. "There are still two races to go, and still things that can happen."
If the grand old man of NASCAR can pull it off, it'll be a remarkable feat. But he can take heart in the fact that late comebacks have happened before.
The biggest came in 1992, when the late Alan Kulwicki found himself 85 points out of first place with two races remaining. He would overtake Bill Elliott and the late Davey Allison to seize the crown. The second largest deficit erased was 45 points, with the late Dale Earnhardt rallying to edge -- you guessed it, Martin -- back in 1990 over the final two Winston Cup events of the season.
Of course for Martin to do it, he has to run up front at Phoenix and Homestead while Johnson finishes near the back of the pack. And the car trouble that plagued Johnson at Texas was the exception to the rule.
Plus, the driver of the 48 Chevy could still win it all this weekend, as long as he exits Phoenix with a 195-point edge.
Beyond that, Johnson needs to average fourth place finishes in Arizona and Florida; finish fifth and lead a lap in the two races; or finish sixth and lead the most laps in both events.
One way or another, history is going to be made.
If Johnson holds his lead, he becomes the first driver ever to win four series titles in a row. If Martin gets it done, he will be NASCAR's oldest Cup champion at the tender age of 50.
The battle between the teammates should be a good one, and makes the final two showdowns of the 2009 campaign relevant.
Before Texas it appeared the three remaining races would serve as little more than an extended coronation for Johnson. And while he's still the odds-on favorite to win it all, he doesn't have it wrapped up just yet.
A little uncertainty is good for the sport -- although it's a certainty a Hendrick driver is going to be the Sprint Cup champion again.
(Contact Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at adamsonl(at)independentmail.com.)
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