Jimmie Johnson only needed to finish 18th or better last Sunday night to capture his second straight NASCAR Nextel Cup championship, but like he has done all season, Johnson met and exceeded expectations. Johnson ran a smart race, kept his eye on where Jeff Gordon was running all night, finished 7th and captured the title by a margin of 77 points. Gordon, who more than likely needed to win, and have Johnson run into some trouble finished 4th, and missed out on winning his 5th career title. Despite setting a record by recording 30 top 10 finishes this season, Gordon can't be too upset losing the title. While Gordon and Johnson are teammates for Hendrick Motor Sports, Gordon actually is a part owner of Johnson's team. Entering the 10 race playoff format known as the Chase for the Cup, Gordon had a 523 point lead of Johnson. With the rules changes to the points format however, Gordon's lead was nearly completely erased at the beginning of the 10 race playoff, and unfortunately wasn't able to keep up with Johnson and his Lowe's team. Johnson won an unprecedented four straight races leading up to the final event at Homestead, and for the second straight year he established that he not only is driving for the top team on the circuit, but once again can call himself the champion of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Matt Kenseth picked up his 2nd win of the season in last race of the year. The first came in just the second race of the season at California, so needless to say, it was a big win for the DeWalt team. Kenseth finished the last 5 races all in the top 5, and will look to carry on that momentum next season. Next season will mark a historic change for Kenseth and his Roush Racing team. Robbie Reiser, the only crew chief Kenseth has ever had in his 10 year career will be moving to a general manager spot for Roush Racing. Replacing Reiser will be former team engineer Chip Bowlin.
The change for Kenseth and his team is a minor one considering what the sport will look like next year. Here is a quick look at some of the biggest changes to look forward to next season, and what might come from these changes.
Dale Junior's new ride (photo from ny daily news)The biggest and most talked about change going into next season has to be Dale Earnhardt Jr's move from DEI, the team his father started and his step mother has brought down, to Hendrick Motor Sports. HMS is the elite team in NASCAR, and for the first time in his career, the sport's most popular driver will be driving for the best team. No longer will Jr be driving the red Budweiser number 8, which he is most famously known for. Next season, Earnhardt will drive the number 88 for Rick Hendrick. His new sponsors are Mountain Dew Amp energy drink, and the National Guard. For so many years Earnhardt has underachieved in less that stealer equipment at DEI, and next season should be the year where he silences all the overrated chants.
Joe Gibbs Racing switches to Toyota
From a business standpoint, the biggest move in the off season may be Joe Gibbs Racing's switch from Chevrolet which the teams has won championships with to Toyota. Last season was Toyota's debut season and NASCAR, and success was hard to come by. The final Nextel Cup points standings found no Toyota drivers in the top 30, and the manufacture wasn't even close to competing for wins this year. JGR has consistently been one of the best teams in the sport, and will field three of the most talented drivers in the league in two time champ Tony Stewart, and young guns Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch new to 2008.
Open Wheel Invasion
Former open wheel drivers coming to NASCAR certainly isn't news, as in recent years. NASCAR has seen such drivers as Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Kasey Kahne come from USAC, and most recently Juan Pablo Montoya arriving from the IRL, and Formula 1. However next season will see some of the most successful open wheel drivers in the past 10 years jump to the sport. The first is Sam Hornish Jr who will drive for Roger Penske. Hornish is a 3 time Indy Racing League Champion, and won the 2006 Indianapolis 500. Hornish was the face of the IRL, but will find himself as a little fish in a big pond in NASCAR. The second open wheel all star to invade NASCAR is the 2007 IRL champ and 2007 Indy 500 winner, Scottish driver Dario Franchitti. Franchitti left Andretti Green racing one of the elite IRL teams, and will drive full time for NASCAR's Chip Ganassi Racing. Franchitti's driving ability is second to none, but Ganassi does not have the best equipment in the series, and I think it will be tough for him to achieve any major success early. However, Franchitti will have a great teammate in Montoya to learn from. The third and perhaps the most successful is Canadian driver Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve was the the 1995 CART champion, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, and was the 1997 Formula 1 champion. Villeneuve has the career stats, but driving a Toyota for Bill Davis racing will not help. There are going to be lost of open holes now in open wheel racing, and it may only be a matter of time before NASCAR snags names like Sebastian Bourdais, Tony Kannan, and lord knows maybe even Danica Patrick.
(photo: Dario Franchitti, from MSNBC.com)
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