By Scott Serrano
PA SportsTicker Auto Racing Editor
(C) 2008 PA SPORTSTICKER, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Can someone please tell Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl
Edwards and Greg Biffle that the only chase remaining in the
"Chase for the Championship" is for second place?
Edwards did all he could to make the Chase interesting on
Sunday, winning the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta.
Biffle continued his solid Chase by running 10th.
Unfortunately, Jimmie Johnson did all he could to move a step
closer to a third consecutive championship. He rebounded from a
pit road penalty early in the race and took four fresh tires
during the final caution en route to picking off nine cars over
the final eight laps to finish second.
Johnson now holds a 183-point edge over second-place Edwards,
with Biffle just two points back of his teammate.
Man, that race for second place is shaping up to be a doozy with
Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer all
within 135 points of Edwards.
First place? Forget about it.
"I mean, we don't even care about that," said Biffle of gaining
on Johnson. "We're just running as good as we can, and whatever
happens happens.
"I'm tired of people asking me how we're gonna catch him. We're
just gonna race as hard as we can every week. We've got three
more chances and then we're gonna start over next year."
Wait until next year sounds about right.
It's mathematically possible that Johnson could clinch his third
straight title this week in Texas.
If he leaves the Lone Star state with a 323-point lead, Johnson
would need only to start the final two races to become the first
driver since Cale Yarborough (1976-78) to win three straight
championships.
Yes, if Edwards or Biffle wins out, the Chase would tighten at
the top.
But as Johnson has shown, even pit road penalties cannot slow
him down. Remember, his worst showing during the Chase thus far
has been a ninth at Talladega - and that was when he played it
safe while all the other Chasers struggled.
"Man, Jimmie is magic," Edwards said. "We've got to go win
those next three and hope for the best."
The best is second place at this point.
HAMILTON ON THE VERGE: Jimmie Johnson isn't the only driver on
the verge of clinching a title.
Lewis Hamilton, fresh off an easy victory in the Chinese Grand
Prix, holds a 94-87 advantage atop the Formula One standings
over Felipe Massa entering the final race of the year on
Saturday in Brazil.
The only way Massa can catch Hamilton and win the title is if
the Brazilian wins the race on his home soil and Hamilton
finishes ninth or worse.
For those keeping score, the 23-year-old Hamilton has finished
out of the points only four times this season, meaning he is the
overwhelming favorite to become the youngest Formula One
champion in history.
AUSSIE WINS DOWN UNDER: Australian Ryan Briscoe held off
reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon by 0.5019 of a
second at Surfer's Paradise to become the first Australian to
win the Nikon 300 in the race's 18 years.
It was a non-points race, but that mattered little to Briscoe.
"It means almost a million points to me," said Briscoe, who
recorded his third victory in his first season driving the No. 6
Team Penske car. "I'm just so happy for all the fans. It was a
great event and we're going to turn up the wick tonight. It's
really special. It's a great place to have an IndyCar race."
EARNHARDT JR. VS. KYLE BUSCH: Dale Earnhardt Jr. basically
replaced Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports. Busch thoroughly
dominated the head-to-head matchup through the first 26 races,
winning eight times to Earnhardt's once.
Here is how the two are faring during the Chase:
Earnhardt ran 11th at Atlanta and dropped to 10th in the Chase
standings, 419 points out of the lead.
Busch finished fifth at Atlanta. He entered the Chase with an
80-point lead atop the standings, but left Sunday's race in 12th
place and 465 points out of the lead.
Edge through seven Chase race: Earnhardt ... yawn.
SAY WHAT? "Hey, we're going out to win, man. Wins and top
fives; that's what we get paid to do. If we do all that, the
championships will come." - Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's crew
chief.
GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FINISH: Carl Edwards also won the
Nationwide race at Atlanta and pulled within 116 points of
series leader Clint Bowyer with three races to go. ... Michael
Waltrip made his 1,000th career start at Atlanta. He crashed
twice and finished 37th. ... Happy 67th birthday, Dick Trickle.
Feedback? E-mail scott.serrano@pa-sportsticker.com.