Jimmie Johnson Dominates in the Desert

Can you see it now, race fans? It’s called “History in the Making”.  Thanks to another win at Phoenix, his 7th of the season, Jimmie Johnson has all but wrapped up the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Championship.  After a week of making things interesting by wrecking at the Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson was tired of toying with the competition and decided to do what he does best; win.

Johnson dominated this race, leading 238 of the 315 laps and increased his lead on second place driver, Mark Martin, by 108 points. ”First of all, I have to thank this race team for having the strength and mental attitude and everything that they do to bounce back from last week and show up and just put a butt-kicking on everybody [Sunday],” Johnson said. “At the start of the race, we were a little loose but still running second or third. As soon as we put new tires on, the car came to life. We made a couple of small adjustments that really, really helped it, and I could get out to a nice comfortable lead, ride, protect what I had, work my way through traffic — not with ease, but better than other guys.”

While the 48 crew knows in the back of their minds the championship will be there’s next week, Johnson commented and stated that he “cannot let down his guard” with Mark Martin nipping at his heals. 

If Johnson can finish 25th or better at Homestead next week, he will do something no one in NASCAR history has every done; win four consecutive Cup Series Championships. 

However, if Mark Martin can win the final race next week and lead the most laps, he will capture his first Sprint Cup Series Championship next Sunday.  Anything can happen on any given Sunday.

Third place driver, Jeff Gordon, will be eliminated from championship contention when the race begins next Sunday.

We will see what else “Magic Man” Martin has up his sleeve this weekend at the final race of the year at Homestead.

Here’s how everyone finished at the Checker O’Reilly 500 at PIR:

Other notable finishes: Kyle Busch (12), Greg Biffle (14), Kasey Kahne (15), Carl Edwards (16), Matt Kenseth (18), Joey Logano (21), Tony Stewart (25), Dale Earnhardt Jr (35), Brian Vickers (38)

Here’s the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Points Standings with one race to go: