ShareThisBy JIM BENTON
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Rick Hendrick is ready for the roller-coaster ride to end.
He and Jeff Gordon co-own the Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson. For owner-points purposes, Gordon is listed as the man, but the No. 48 is one of the Hendrick Motorsports teams.
And it looks as if Johnson will lock up championship No. 6 for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Johnson has a 63-point lead over Matt Kenseth in the Chase for the Championship and, unless something disastrous happens, should join Gordon (four) and Terry Labonte (one) as drivers who have won Cup titles for Hendrick.
"We thought we were out of it, then we felt like we were back in it and it's good to be able to go into the last race a little ahead rather than being behind," Hendrick said Tuesday during the NASCAR teleconference.
Johnson's up-and-down season started in February at Daytona when crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended four races for making an illegal rear-window adjustment during qualifying.
Johnson won two of the four races Knaus missed and his worst finish was sixth. He and Kenseth were the only drivers to lead the standings during the first 26 races of the season.
"I was real proud of the team, how they rallied at Daytona and to win the race and come out and have a good couple races right there back to back," Hendrick said. "Once we got Daytona behind us, it was kind of a good year, so I was more concerned when we started having bad luck trying a few things right before the Chase, and then early in the Chase, with just the unfortunate situation that we were falling behind."
When the Chase for the Championship started, Johnson finished 39th at New Hampshire. After three Chase races, he was 165 points out of first place.
However, after finishing first or second in the past five races, he is a huge favorite to wrap up the championship Sunday.
Kenseth, the 2003 champion, has been refreshingly honest when talking about his chances of catching Johnson, saying, "We're running so bad right now that I don't feel we can beat anybody."
That said, nine times in the first 35 races this season there was at least a 60-point difference in the points earned in a race by Johnson and Kenseth.
Four times, Johnson gained the points; five times, Kenseth profited.
"There's not been a need for me to pick Matt up and boost his spirits," owner Jack Roush said. "He understands what's going on, and this is a tough business. In 2003, we had things going our way with everybody else having trouble that was there to challenge us.
"The way that Jimmie Johnson has run this year, or at least in the recent number of races in the Chase, he certainly deserves to be the champion, and the only way he won't be will be if he has some mechanical problem or gets involved in a wreck and can't finish the race. I hope that Jimmie can run clean. I hope we can beat him by enough to have the issue resolved satisfactorily in our regard."
Johnson, who finished second in points in 2003 and 2004 and fifth last year, has said from the start of the season his team was primed to win the championship.
"It's going to be special because we were just so frustrated to be right there at the door a couple of times, three times, and just not close the deal," Hendrick said. "It's going to be special for Jimmie. He's going to make a great champion. . . . I just hope he can close the deal and we don't have any bad luck."
The other chase: for 35th place
Kyle Petty and Sterling Marlin didn't make the Chase this season, but they still will feel pressure Sunday.
Petty's No. 45 Dodge is 35th in the owners standings, and if he can maintain that position, he will be exempt from qualifying for the first five races next season.
Marlin, driving an MB2 Motorsports Dodge, is 47 points behind Petty for that right.
With the entry of Toyota teams next season, a guaranteed spot in the first five races of the 2007 season will be a luxury.
"We are in our own battle for that last position for 35th in owners points," Petty said. "I can't give enough credit for what this team has done over the last month, for us to not only get back into the 35th position but now we've got a little cushion."
Petty finished 25th on Sunday at Phoenix; Marlin, who was involved in a crash with 22 laps remaining, wound up 36th.
Pit stops:
_ It remains to be seen if Sunday's season finale can as dramatic as the 2004 race, when Kurt Busch finished fifth at Homestead to claim the championship by eight points over Johnson. Busch lost his right front wheel while running second on Lap 94 and just missed hitting the barrier at the start of pit road.
_ Busch has won six poles this season and Kasey Kahne five. A $100,000 prize goes to the driver with the most poles. If Kahne were to win the pole in Friday's qualifying, the tiebreaker would go to the driver with the most second-place starts; Kahne has two and Busch one.
"The fact we won six poles this season makes a big statement," Busch said. "This team wasn't put together until last December and it's truly a first-year team. It's a totally different No. 2 roster than it was in 2005. There's a different driver, different crew chief, a different car chief, a different shock specialist, and heck, even the truck drivers are different than they were last season. Derek (Stamets), our team engineer, is the only carry-over guy from Rusty (Wallace)'s team one year ago."
_ Denny Hamlin is a sure bet to win Rookie of the Year honors this weekend, but he also is trying to become the first driver to win that award and the Nextel Cup championship in the same season. That's a long shot because he's 90 points behind Johnson, but Hamlin could join James Hylton (1966) as the only drivers to win the rookie award and finish second in the standings. Hamlin is assured of becoming the 10th Rookie of the Year to finish in the top 10 in points.
End of the Chase:
With one race to go, Jimmie Johnson has a commanding lead in the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship. He is assured of winning the title if he finishes 12th or better and doesn't lead a lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway or 13th or better with at least one lap led or 15th or better with the most laps led. Five drivers _ Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. _ are mathematically eligible to win the championship.
1. Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Jeff Gordon. Points: 6,332. Wins: Five. Comment: His consistent aggressiveness was hard to beat.
2. Matt Kenseth
No. 17 Car: Ford. Team owner: Jack Roush. Points: 6,269. Wins: Four. Comment: Points aren't given for better-than-expected finishes.
3. Kevin Harvick
No. 29 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Richard Childress. Points: 6,242. Wins: Five. Comment: Busch champion was almost a double winner.
4. Denny Hamlin
No. 11 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: J.D. Gibbs. Point: 6,242. Wins: Two. Comment: The rookie drove all season like a veteran.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No. 8 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Teresa Earnhardt. Points: 6,217. Wins: One. Comment: His team made giant strides this season.
6. Jeff Gordon
No. 24 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Rick Hendrick. Points: 6,165. Wins: Two. Comment: Too many bad races were his downfall.
7. Jeff Burton No. 31 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Richard Childress. Points: 6,107. Wins: One. Comment: Poor Chase didn't ruin a good season.
8. Mark Martin
No. 6 Car: Ford. Team owner: Jack Roush. Points: 6,059. Wins: None. Comment: The sentimental favorite couldn't get it done.
9. Kasey Kahne
No. 9 Car: Dodge. Team owner: Ray Evernham. Points: 6,013. Wins: Six. Comment: Six wins didn't add up to a championship.
10. Kyle Busch
No. 5 Car: Chevrolet. Team owner: Rick Hendrick. Points: 5,973. Wins: One. Comment: He never was a threat in the Chase.
