Clint Bowyer.........Champion!

Well, Clint Bowyer did it. He held on in the final laps to take the Nationwide Series Championship. You gotta give Carl Edwards credit. He did all he could, he won the race after all, but it was just not enough. Twenty-one points not enough to be exact. These two teams have been the class of the field this year. Although Kyle Busch won more races( he did it with three different teams), and the number 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team won the owners title( they did it with 4 different drivers), Bowyer and Edwards have raced the same cars for the same teams all year long. That's what makes champions. Not swapping driver just to get wins, but having one guy on one team fighting for consistency, fighting for points, fighting for everything. I understand some teams need to swap drivers around to get seat time because they can't afford multiple cars. But the racing season is just that, a season. Ten months of clawing and digging and racing. That's what Bowyer and Edwards did. That's why they were the top of the field. That's what makes this sport great.
I can't wait for February!!

Craftsman's Final Champion

What a race! Hats off to Johnny Benson, the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion. It very literally came down to the last turn of the last lap. It's Benson's first championship in the Truck Series, second overall( he won the Busch Series in 1995). Craftsman is leaving as sponsor of the series after thirteen years. Camping World will take over next year as series sponsor.
I really hoped Ron Hornaday could win the championship, but pit strategy and quick thinking by Benson's crew chief gave the trophy to Benson. Coming into the race Benson had a 3 point lead. Whichever driver finished in front of the other would be the victor. Thats exactly what Benson did. He finished just in front of Hornaday, by .4 seconds.
Thats why the Truck Series is so awesome. Its always down to the wire. Its always hard racing. Its always fun.

Sprint Cup

Or the Jimmie Johnson series if you like.
I am not a big J.J. fan, but you gotta give props to a team that peaks at the right time every year. Carl Edwards did all he could, he finished fourth after fighting his way through the field. Mathmatically it is still possible. But with Chad Knauss on the pit box, I think they should just go ahead and engrave his name on the trophy. At least he drives for Hendrick Motorsports, the same team as Dale Jr. Jr finished sixth, by the way moving him up to tenth in points.
Next week we head to Homestead for the season finale. Carl should pray for a miracle. All Johnson needs to do is finish higher than 36.

I know this blog is about NASCAR, but since I am a guitar player I thought this was funny enough to share.

Nationwide Series

Well, Carl Edwards could very well make history. No driver has ever won two national series championships in the same year. Carl Edwards is trying hard to do just that. Going into today's Nationwide race, Edwards trailed Clint Bowyer by 91 points. In order to gain points, Edwards needed to lead laps, lead a lot of laps, and win the race. He did just that. Bowyer finished a respectable fourth, but Edwards still cut into his points lead by 35 points. Bowyer now leads by 56. Any mistake by Bowyer next week at Homestead and the championship will belong to Edwards.
As for the history, Edwards is only 106 behind Jimmie Johnson in the Sprint cup points. If he has the kind of race tomorrow that he had today, Carl Edwards can very well make NASCAR history.
I love this sport!

Truck Racing

Under the lights in Phoenix the Craftsman Truck Series is definitely the best points battle in all of NASCAR. The start of the race saw Ron Hornaday on the pole. It didn't last long, as Hornaday got loose on lap one and tore his truck up pretty bad. At that point everyone thought that Johnny Benson would take a large points lead into the season finale at Homestead next week. But the truck series is hardly predictable. Johnny Benson was involved in a couple of incidents during the race, one finally taking him out of the race for several laps. Enough, actually for Hornaday to actually pass him! That tightened the points up to a mere 3 points between Benson and Hornaday.
Congratulations to Kevin Harvick driving the number 2 Chevy. It was overall a good night for him, as he won the race, but he also owns the numbers 2 and 33(Hornaday).
Next up tomorrow is Nationwide Series racing from Phoenix.

Under The Lights

If any of you know me at all, you know I am a BIG NASCAR fan. So, having said that, my blog is going to be about NASCAR. I will try to post several times a week to keep everyone up to date on the latest rumors and news. Now, don't be surprised when you start to notice a little bias. I am a Dale Jr fan. I am a Tony Stewart fan. I am a Chevy fan. I will try to not bad mouth Kyle Busch (much).
Anyway, the truck race is about to start from Phoenix. Ron Hornaday is my driver in the truck series. He is 6 points behind Johnny Benson in the points right now. With two races to go, the championship is up for grabs.