Cup championship still up for grabs
Don't be too hasty in wrapping up NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup this season.
While Jimmie Johnson is certainly in command, the next couple of tracks could wreak havoc on the standings.
Martinsville Speedway, the .526-mile oval in Virginia, is a tight little paperclip where cars have little room to maneuver. Throw in the double-file restarts that NASCAR has now instituted in races and those final laps could alter the finishing order dramatically.
Then drivers head to Talladega Superspeedway, where they can quickly become a victim once more. The restrictor-plate track features swarms of cars racing in tight packs. All it takes is one slip by a competitor and a melee ensues. Cars pile into one another at high speed, often ending the outing for several involved. And everyone has seen how even on the final lap, a potentially strong finish can go awry either through contact with another car or by getting shuffled out of the drafting line.
Certainly Johnson has history in his favor at Martinsville, where he has five wins. But even he and crew chief Chad Knaus are quick to caution that anything can still happen. Johnson needs to stay out of trouble in the next two races to maintain his Chase pace. If he does that, the title race will most likely be a mere technicality in the final weeks of the season.
