NASCAR's Chase looking familiar
CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR’s 2009 Chase For The Sprint Cup is slowly bearing some striking similarities to the 2007 edition of NASCAR’s 10-race playoff.
As with 2007, a pair of Hendrick Motorsports drivers appear to be the clear-cut cream of the crop.
Only this time, the battle is shaping up to be Jimmie Johnson versus Mark Martin instead of Jimmie Johnson versus Jeff Gordon.
Johnson and Gordon fought down to the wire in 2007, with Johnson winning the title by 77 points over his four-time champion teammate. The third-place driver, Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer, finished a whopping 346 points behind Johnson in the final tally.
The top two drivers combined to win six of the 10 Chase races, with Johnson snaring four victories and Gordon notching two.
Roll the tape forward two years and Johnson and Martin have been equally dominant – at least so far – in the Chase.
“It has the feel of the year where Jimmie and Jeff put together just that incredible run,” Richard Childress Racing’s Jeff Burton said Thursday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “Jeff had a Chase that was worthy of a championship, but Jimmie had one that was just a little better. … Right now it feels like you’ve got … to be top-three [every race]. That’s the feel it has right now, but it can change.”
In four Chase outings, Johnson has won twice and Martin once. Neither has finished worse than ninth.
The two drivers are separated by just 12 points while third-place Juan Pablo Montoya is 58 points back of leader Johnson.
From there, the gap widens significantly.
And it appears that may continue - much as in 2007.
Johnson and Martin qualified first and second, respectively, for Saturday night’s NASCAR Banking 500 at LMS.
Who could have guessed?
