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Denny Hamlin won yesterday at Martinsville.

Buuuuuut Jimmie Johnson finished second, while Mark Martin finished eighth.

That means that Johnson’s points lead extended from 90 to 118, taking even more drama out of the Chase barring a a big calamity including Johnson next week at Talladega.

The old system–the one where the points went over the whole season, like in soccer–would actually be closer than the Chase is now.

Tony Stewart would be leading, with Johnson 80 behind in second and Jeff Gordon 117 behind in third.

Yes, under the yawn inducing old system, the third place driver would be closer to first than Martin is now.

I’m sure NASCAR is loving that.

With his win Saturday night, Jimmie Johnson now has a 90 point lead on second place Mark Martin.

The Chase is only halfway over, so, multiply that lead by two, and it’s feasible that Johnson will win the Chase by 180 points.

The most points any driver can make up in a race is 161, and in the start-and-park era, that’s a pretty farfetched scenario.

So while it’s not all that probable, Johnson could wrap this thing up at Phoenix, the ninth of 10 Chase races.

That’s definitely not what NASCAR had in mind.

But who can stop Jimmie? In these first five races, he has finishes of fourth, first, ninth, first and first.

Juan Pablo Montoya has finishes of fourth, third, third, third and 35th, but he’s 195 points behind Johnson, thanks to the 35th place finish.

Of course, since one bad finish can swing the points that much, a poor finish could certainly stop Jimmie. And that poor finish could easily come at Talladega in two weeks, when the big one can strike anyone at any time.

However, this week’s race is at Martinsville, a place where Jimmie has had a ton of success. He could very well leave Martinsville with a 100+ point cushion, giving him a huge margin for error at Talladega.

With the way things are going right now, Johnson will probably narrowly skirt the big wreck at Talladega, while Martin gets caught up in it. (Martin always seems to get wrecked at Talladega)

And if that happens, watch out. The finale at Homestead will definitely not be must-see television.

The inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class was elected today.

And I don’t think anyone can argue with the inductees.

Those going in first are Bill France Sr, Bill France Jr, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson.

Yeah, just five people.

And that stinks.

Left out were David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison. All three of them deserve to be in on the first ballot.

But they’ll have to wait til next year.

Five is a great number for a standard hall of fame class. However, since this is the first class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, why couldn’t the class have been 10? Sure, that might have meant a two night induction banquet affair, or really short speeches to keep it to one night, but that’s a small price to pay.

Obviously when it opens, the HoF will have more to it than shrines to the five original inductees. But what incentive is there for a fan to go when there are only five inductees?

And what good is a NASCAR Hall of Fame without David Pearson, even if it’s only for a year?

– Greg Biffle is one of the nicest guys in NASCAR, and is one of the best quotes too. Biffle was candid in admitting that his decision to take four tires late in Sunday’s race cost him the race, but later added that he was having the time of his life. Biffle may be on the borderline for contention for the Sprint Cup, but given the way he ran at Kansas, he isn’t out of the hunt.

– A local television reporter asked Tony Stewart why he liked the track. “It’s round,” Stewart said. Deep.

– Another local television reporter told a certain driver that he was like “a fine wine.” Said certain driver is a recovering alcoholic. Uncomfortable grimaces and silence in the media center ensued.

– The reclusive George Gillett came in for a press conference on Saturday, and bizarre is the only way to describe the 30 minute session. Gillett was all over the map, first taking a phone call while on the podium before answering any questions. (The common conspiracy theory, given the way the press conference went, was that the phone call was staged. By the way, his ringtone is You’ll Never Walk Alone.)

The press conference was held to announce a partnership between Gillett and a Saudi prince that included plans to build NASCAR academies–no, I’m not making this up–in the Middle East in exchange for some marketing rights to Richard Petty Motorsports.

One of the sponsors for Richard Petty Motorsports is the Air Force, so Gillett was asked, rather indirectly, if the partnership with the Saudi prince would tick off the Air Force. No, I’m not making this up either.

As the press conference went on, Gillett avoided three or four questions by claiming that his hearing was bad and at one point called Kasey Kahne a “dear guy” who had no idea how to deal with the media. (Kahne is one of the most media friendly drivers around.)

– I can’t help but wonder that Joey Logano’s crash from Dover has been replayed more times than it would have been if Logano got hurt. Yes, the new car is very safe, and that wreck looked very scary. And yes, Logano admitted that he was scared during the wreck. But while the highlights make for good television, a wreck like that is safer than a sudden impact, because the energy dissipates over time, instead of an impact like Dale Earnhardt’s. If Logano wasn’t such a nice kid, he’d have told everyone to shut up about it now. Maybe he should have gotten Kyle Busch to say it for him.

And Tony Stewart was certainly being the Tony Stewart that people have come to admire or disdain after winning Sunday’s Price Chopper 400.

Don’t let the Kansas City Star story fool you. Mr. Stewart was not gleeful or giddy.

He was far from it.

“Yeah, as soon as I get done with this stimulating conversation that we’re having here, (that will) make me feel smarter when I leave here, then I’m going to get to Knoxville as quickly as I can. That’s my goal to get out of here soon. Just a hint,” Stewart said.
Moments earlier, Stewart joked about taking the chair when it was mentioned to him that Gordon had—just minutes before—sat in the same chair that Stewart was sitting in.
“That’s awesome. I never would have thought Jeff Gordon would have came in here,” Stewart sarcastically said.
And those in attendance thought it was a joke as Stewart said that he was going to take the chair and have Gordon sign it.
But no, it wasn’t a joke, as after the final question, Stewart wheeled the chair out of the media center, intent on proving the point that, yes, he was serious about taking the chair.

Saturday night’s finals of the Knoxville Dirt Late Model Nationals were rained out. Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman were scheduled to race. The finals were postponed and moved to Sunday evening.

Since Stewart won, that meant that he was going to get to Knoxville, Iowa late. And yes, he did take the chair, which was last seen somewhere in the vicinity of his hauler.

The win cut Stewart’s deficit to points leader Mark Martin by 39 to 67 points. And apparently restored Stewart’s arrogance.

When Tony’s arrogant, watch out. That usually means bad things for the competition.

A report broke late Thursday that Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson’s cars barely exceeded NASCAR’s tolerance levels on certain parts of the bodies after Sunday’s race at Dover, and that NASCAR had asked Hendrick Motorsports not to bring those cars back to the track.

Not true, said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp.

So why the fuss?

Well, Johnson and Martin are 1-2 in the points standings. And Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus–widely regarded as the best in the business–has been suspended and fined for rules infractions before.

“Obviously Chad has more fines than anyone in NASCAR history, so that’s where the rumors are going to come from. I think good for them. I wish that was us, when we go to inspection, we should have everything maxed to every limit that we possibly can without going over. That’s the job of ingenuity as a crew chief and as a team in the sport,” Brian Vickers said.

That’s precisely why Hendrick Motorsports has been the dominant team this season. They maximize every millimeter given to them by the rulebook.

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Danica signs a three year deal to stay with Andretti Racing.

…starts Sunday at New Hampshire for Jimmie Johnson.

While some people feel that a fourth straight title for JJ would be a great thing for NASCAR, I completely disagree.

Johnson is a great driver on a great team and by every indication is a great person.

Johnson isn’t bland, but he isn’t controversial either. Maybe he’s more of a vanilla bean than straight vanilla.

But he doesn’t inspire. Sure, there are Jimmie Johnson fans, and there are probably some very passionate Jimmie Johnson fans, but mention Kyle Busch or Jeff Gordon (and Junior to a smaller extent) and people are automatically on one side or another.

If you don’t like Johnson, you’re probably ambivalent. And sick of him winning.

Four straight titles is undoubtedly a sexy storyline, as it’s never been done in the modern era in any major professional sport. But NASCAR would be best served to have someone else win the title this season.

Until the 2009 Sprint Cup Chase

So for those of you that will be so hung over on football and beer Sunday evening that watching cars go in circles for 500 miles seems entertaining, here’s what you can expect on Sunday night.

A Hendrick car is going to win — Yeah, I’m going way out on a limb that may not hold me here, but consider that Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have nothing to lose because they’re locked in the Chase, and they’ve run extremely well at Atlanta before. Add in Mark Martin, who has been spectacular on the intermediate tracks when he hasn’t been snakebitten, and of course the points leader Tony Stewart, and there’s a chance that six Hendrick cars finish in the top 10.

If a Hendrick car doesn’t win… — It’s going to be Kyle Busch. Shrub won last year at Atlanta and needs another great run to get back into the Chase. I don’t think that he’s going to miss the Chase, and a win Sunday night would give him five, enough to guarantee at least a share of first place after the points reset. Assuming, of course, that he actually does get into the Chase.

The cluster between 7th and 12th — Just 50 points separate those six drivers, and 12th place Matt Kenseth has just a 34 point lead on Shrub. So yeah, it’s conceivable that Busch could end up in seventh or eighth when the night is over with. The same goes for Brian Vickers, who’s now just five points behind Busch. If I was to guess, I’d say that Juan Pablo Montoya is the likeliest driver currently in the top 12 to fall out after Richmond.

And honestly, it was a really eventful weekend.

–The big boys were off, so NASCAR’s Busch* Series had the Sunday show this weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villenueve. It was a clusterf*ck of a race, taking four hours to run 200 miles on the 2.7 mile 14 turn road course, but if you had the patience for it, it produced some wacky racing, including Marcos Ambrose’s curb-hop on the final turn of the final lap to give Carl Edwards the win.

–The weather in Montreal was rainy for most of the weekend, and Sunday was no exception. With approximately 16 laps to go, the rain started to fall and NASCAR called the teams into pit lane so that the crews could equip the cars with rain tires and windshield wipers. Last year’s race was run predominantly in the pouring rain, and drivers were very hesitant to be aggressive, so the racing wasn’t all that exciting. This year? Well… let’s just say that there are fewer wrecks at the bumper cars at the state fair than there were in those final 12 laps. With two laps to go, there were about five cars spun and stuck in the middle of turn two in front of the whole field, and NASCAR was so frustrated that they kept the race green. I bet Ambrose was wishing they’d have thrown the caution…

–Those aerodynamic adjustments that the IndyCar Series made about a month ago sure are working, and it looks like the series has regained distinction of having the best oval racing in the country. It was the fourth closest finish in IndyCar history, and was even more impressive considering that Ryan Briscoe used his last magic mushroom on the next-to-last lap while Scott Dixon was using one coming out of the final turn. I wonder what would have happened if Dixon would have had Bullet Bill.