Just win, baby
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Maybe there’s a silver lining to this mess after all.
Jimmie Johnson may or may not have already wrapped up the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, but it’s a given that he’s about the heaviest favorite since Goliath.
And what’s good about that? Well, for a change, folks – and by that I mean drivers and owner and crew chiefs (and yes, those of us in the media, too) – are once again talking about winning races. Not about what has to happen for them to catch the guy leading the points. Not about what they have to do, or what has to happen to the leader.
It’s a refreshing change.
Not in the Chase? No problem, let’s get a handle on 2010 and start trying some new things.
In the Chase but out of the title picture? Same thing. It’s never to early to try and get head start.
It’s similar to the beginning of a new season when teams talk about trying to win races and little else. After a couple of months, talk turns to what it’s going to take to make the Chase. Not winning. Making the Chase.
Then it turns to who is getting in and who isn’t.
And once the Chase begins, it’s all about who has the advantage, who doesn’t have a chance, and how many points one has to “average” to seal the deal.
Now? Now it’s back to basics. Back to what it’s going to take to win.
It’s nice. Too bad it’s taken this long to get there.
