Stewart Captures the Win While Johnson Captures the Championship Lead - SCI November 6th Issue

By Jason Harris

Next stop on the Nextel Cup Schedule is Texas Motor Speedway

Folks, I'm just as giddy as when little Johnny stole a kiss from Sally in the back seat of his daddy's car. The action heading into the final two races of the year is nothing short of spectacular. This year's tight competition in the new Chase for the Championship format has Mike Helton, President of NASCAR, looking like Albert Einstein's illegitimate son.

Week in and week out, the Chase has taken on a different face. Early on we all thought Jeff Burton was going to run away with it, and the Hendrick drivers were nothing more than observers. Now, with just two races to go, Jimmie Johnson has stormed all the way from 10th place after leaving New Hampshire to recapture the lead that he held for much of the year.

Next week expect Jimmie Johnson to increase his lead over second place driver Matt Kenseth at Phoenix International Raceway. In 6 starts at Phoenix, Johnson has an average finish of 8th. Also expect the following drivers to do well next week:

Jeff Gordon - Average Finish 9th
Mark Martin - Average Finish 10th
Tony Stewart - Average Finish 11th
Jeff Burton - Average Finish 12th

Next Week's Schedule:

Nextel Cup: @ Phoenix International Raceway.
11/10/06 - 03:10pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil Qualifying
11/11/06 - 12:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil Practice
11/12/06 - 01:30pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil

Busch Series: @ Phoenix International Raceway.
11/10/06 - 04:00pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200 Practice
11/11/06 - 10:05am NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200 Qualifying
11/11/06 - 01:40pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200

Craftsman Truck Series: @ Phoenix International Raceway. 11/09/06 - 05:30pm NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150 Practice
11/10/06 - 10:15am NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150 Qualifying
11/10/06 - 06:15pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150

Smoke Heats up Texas!

There's no disgrace not qualifying for the Chase for the Championship. Well, that is if you win 3 of the final 8 races of the year. And that is exactly what Tony Stewart has done this year.

Tony has dominated the past 6 races dating back to Kansas, winning 3 and posting an average finish of 7th. Since Kansas, Stewart has led more laps than any other driver, and has the been one of the top performing drivers since the Chase for the Championship has starting despite not being a contender.

Using the same car he won with in Atlanta, Tony smoked the field in Texas. Don't expect the #20 team to change too much. Most likely, they will give the same car a wash and a wax and ship it off to Phoenix next week to try and make it 3 in a row. With nothing to lose but pride, Tony Stewart will continue to hang it out there for the final two races at Phoenix and Homestead. His average finish at both tracks is 10th.

Jimmie Johnson Recaptures Series Lead

Jimmie Johnson has followed the model set by Matt Kenseth to help him overtake Kenseth and lead the Nextel Cup Series point’s standings with just 2 races left. Kenseth earned the label of Mr. Consistency by racing just aggressive enough to finish in the top 10 in lieu of pushing his car to the limits to win races (if you want to see that, just watch his teammate Carl Edwards).

This is the same approach Jimmie Johnson has taken over the past 5 races. In each race, with the exception of Talladega where Johnson was prepared to settle for 2nd place until his teammate Brian Vickers wrecked him on the final lap, Johnson has finished in the top 5. During those 5 races, Johnson had opportunities to challenge for the win, but settled for a safe top 5 finish.

You may say this is boring, right? Not exactly! The point’s battle between Johnson and Kenseth is one of the closest in NASCAR's history with only two races remaining. Only 17 points separate the two drivers. Those 17 points will keep both you and I glued to your seat the remaining two Sunday's of the 2006 Nextel Cup season.

Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Recap

Tony Stewart spent most of his afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway staring at the rest of the field of drivers through his rear-view mirror. Stewart, and his car, were second only to the pace car in the Dickies 500. It seems that the former champion has decided that since he's a spectator in this year's Chase for the Championship, he may as well watch it unfold from the best seat in the house, victory lane.

While Stewart stole the show at Texas, the championship contenders, for the most part, all fared well. Six of the top ten finishers were Chase drivers. Jimmie Johnson was the best of those six by finishing in 2nd place and capturing the series' points lead.

The other championship drivers faired as follows:

1. (Leader) Jimmie Johnson is back in a familiar place, 1st, after finishing 2nd in the Dickies 500. The championship leader had a strong car for much of the day, but not strong enough top Tony Stewart.

2. (- 17 points) Matt Kenseth's fought adversity for most of the day. His car handled poorly all race, and he even spun out late in the race trying to avoid the Scot Riggs wreck. But, displaying his championship grit, Kenseth battled and battled to finish 12th and minimize the amount of points given up to Johnson.

3. (-78 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr showed his toughness yesterday. All day long, Jr was ill and fought the urge to spew out his side window. But Earnhardt Jr stayed strong, even after brushing the wall midway through the race, and held on for a 6th place finish.

4. (-80 points) Denny Hamlin's is still in the picture for the championship after finishing 10th at Texas. The rookie is showing a lot of poise, and looks like he will be a contender for years to come.

5. (-105 points) Kevin Harvick rebounded from a pour finish last week at Atlanta and finished 3rd at Texas. Kevin was trying to be the first driver in NASCAR to sweep the Busch and Cup series at Texas after he won the O'Reilly Challenge Saturday.

6. (-157 points) Jeff Gordon is showing that a champion never quits. Leaving Lowe's Motor Speedway just three weeks ago, Gordon was in 10th place. Now, he sits in 6th with an outside chance of winning the championship after finishing 9th at Texas.

7. (-146 points) Jeff Burton's season is crumbling. The championship contender suffered yet another setback after he crashed early in the race. The damage incurred from the wreck took his team over 30 minutes to fix. Burton finished the race in 38th place; his 2nd 38th place or lower finish of the Chase.

8. (-233 points) Kyle Busch had his first bright day of this year's Chase for the Championship. Busch finished 4th after gambling on taking 2 tires on the last pit stop of the day.

9. (-253 points) Mark Martin's may just as well go ahead and retire. Not that Mark doesn't have the talent to compete anymore, because he does. It's just that it's hard to watch one of NASCAR's most beloved drivers get beat up week in and week out in a series of unfortunate wrecks caused by others. Yesterday, Martin finished in 22nd place and earned every bit of it!

10. (-290 points) Kasey Kahne is doing his best to earn the sympathy of all the adoring female fans in NASCAR. Kahne clearly had a second place car until he blew an engine with just a few laps remaining. He finished in 33rd.

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