On Sunday, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season winds down at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. All Jimmie Johnson has to do to clinch his third straight Sprint Cup championship is finish 36th or better. If Carl Edwards has anything to say about it, Johnson doesn’t have anything locked in yet. For many, the Ford 400 will be a stepping stone to the 2009 season. As the season comes to a close, teams outside of the Chase will likely use the race on Sunday as a testing session, preparing themselves for 2009. If the economy doesn’t get any better, it is very possible that the Ford 400 will be the last race for many of the smaller race teams.
Drivers to Watch
- It is difficult to go into Homestead and watch Jimmie Johnson, as he locks up his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Johnson does have to be careful on Sunday, making sure he doesn’t get caught up in someone else’s wreck or wrecking himself out of the race and the championship. In the last two seasons, he has logged two respectable top ten finishes, and will likely do the same this weekend.
- Going into the Ford 400, Carl Edwards has to be feeling real good about things. Fords have dominated at the track and, by the way he has run this season, Edwards can continue that streak of dominance. Though his championship hopes are virtually gone, Cousin Carl can cap off one of the best seasons of his career with a victory on Sunday. Still though, anything can happen and Edwards can still capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.
- In the last four races, AJ Allmendinger has been doing everything possible to secure himself a ride in 2009. On Sunday, Allmendinger is going to have his last chance to prove that he is a contender. A victory in Homestead will prove just that. In these tough economic times, teams will be very selective of who they get to race for them, but there is no doubt that Allmendinger will be in the field in Daytona in 2009.
- There is no current driver with a longer streak of winning a race each season than Jeff Gordon. For the last 14 years, Gordon has won at least one race each season. That record is going to be lost on Sunday if Gordon does not throw everything into his car but the kitchen sink. The drive that Gordon has to be successful will be enough to get him his one win of the season in Homestead.
Top Story lines
- If (more like when) he gets it done, Jimmie Johnson will be only the second driver to win three Cup championships in a row. Despite what many “good ole boys” will argue, the feat by Johnson and the entire #48 team is historic and deserving of the respect of their fellow competitors and fans, even if Mojo Nixon is right and that Jimmie Johnson is the second “robot built by Yankees to infiltrate our southern sport”.
- On Friday, NASCAR banned all testing in 2009 at sanctioned tracks in order to reduce the cost to race teams. The decision by NASCAR will likely change team strategy for the Ford 400, turning the event into an expensive testing session. What kind of repercussions will come as a result of NASCAR’s policy to try and help teams?
Postscript
- The tough economy is definitely affecting the sport. Many people are fearing “black Monday”, when it is expected that a great deal of employees are going to be let go from the racing teams. The question of the week: which teams are racing (or attempting) their last race in the Sprint Cup series in Homestead?
