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The good news from Martinsville is that Jimmy Johnson did not win the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race yesterday. The bad news from Martinsville is he increased his points lead on each of his closest competitors. Only Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart are less than the winner’s share of points in a race behind Johnson. Yeah, that was a weird sentence. Winning a Sprint Cup series race is worth 185 points, with a 5 point bonus for leading a lap, and maybe an additional 5 point bonus for leading the most laps, meaning a winner can potentially receive 195 points. Martin is 118 points behind Johnson, and Gordon trails Johnson by 150 points. Tony Stewart is in third place, 192 behind the leader, and Juan Pablo Montoya is fourth, lagging 200 points behind Johnson.

What I am saying, is despite all the TV hype about how close the Chase is, the Sprint Cup championship may be decided before the final race in Miami. Gordon is doing very well, but all Johnson has to do is finish a place or two ahead of him in the coming races, and he will have better than a 185 point lead going into the season finale. Martin is not doing badly, but he is losing quite a few points to Johnson every week. Actually, it would not surprise me to see Gordon finish ahead of Martin in the final standings.

One thing TV analysts have been right about is that Talladega is a wild card. Even if he is caught up in the proverbial “big one,” Jimmy Johnson is going to come out of Talladega leading the points. There are enough start and park cars to ensure that. Plus, I have watched Johnson be the instigator of the big one and still manage to escape the carnage. To me he is more likely to leave Alabama with a full race lead than to arrive back in Charlotte with a close race on his hands. Johnson may make history winning a fourth championship is a row, but fans are going to dislike him even more if he does. 

One person in my household-my wife Jane-already feels sorry for Dale Earnhardt Jr. I have to admit I am getting close myself. Was it two or three times Earnhardt hit a wall yesterday? After going 2 laps down he was the lucky dog on several cautions and got back on the lead lap, running in 15^th. Then he goes sliding through his pit and loses 15 spots on a pit stop. Amazing. Actually, I am less of a fan of the “Junior Nation” than I am of the driver himself. He has had a truly bizarre season, one that would be tough on any driver. His season may not be quite as insane as Nebraska turning over the football four times inside the five yard line against Iowa State last Saturday, but it is pretty close. Some of his problems are self-inflicted, some are a result of poor performance by his team, and some are just weird. The 88 team may be the Chicago Cubs of NASCAR.

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Tags: jeff gordon, jimmy johnson, nascar, nascar sprint cup series