Kansas.com: Motorsports

Johnson drives way into NASCAR lore

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus never slowed down enough to consider what a record-tying third consecutive championship would mean to their legacy.

Don't count on them doing it now.

After tying Cale Yarborough's 30-year mark as the only driver with three straight championships, Johnson and his crew chief were already thinking about going after No. 4.

"I could go race again next week and start the season and go for four," Johnson said after Sunday's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "It's on our minds. It's not that we're chasing a number, we just know what we're capable of. We know we can do better. It's a search to do the best we can."

Knaus, the first crew chief in series history to win three straight, even offered to report to work today to start their pursuit.

Johnson's run began with milk, cookies

JENNA FRYER — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:06 CST

Rick Hendrick set history in motion over milk and cookies served on a plate donned with Mickey Mouse ears.

In a snack setting designed for children, the car owner called Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus together to discuss the strain in their relationship following their failed 2005 championship run. If the two couldn't stop bickering like little kids -- and Hendrick wasn't convinced they could -- he was fully prepared to split them.

"It was getting to the point where Chad and Jimmie were having more bad days than good days," Hendrick said. "I called them into my office... and said 'If we're going to act like kids, we're going to have cookies and milk and we'll have some down time where we can talk about what you don't like about each.' "

They cleared the air that afternoon, and Hendrick scrapped any plans to overhaul the race team.

Man, did he make the right call.

Bowyer wins Nationwide

MIKE HARRIS — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Carl Edwards won the season-ending Ford 300 on Saturday night, but came up 21 points short in his attempt to overtake Emporia native Clint Bowyer for the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.

All Bowyer had to do to keep Edwards from winning a second straight title in the second-tier series was finish in the top eight. He did that easily, taking fifth to stay on top of the standings, right where he has been most of the year despite winning only one of 35 races.

"We've been consistent," Bowyer said after climbing out of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. "We did the things it takes to win championships. I want to thank Richard for giving me the opportunity."

Edwards wrested the lead from Kyle Busch late in the race and stayed out front to the end of the 200-lap event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He earned his seventh Nationwide victory and kept Busch from recording a record 11th series win.

Edwards did all he could in his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, other than getting the five-point bonus for leading the most laps, but it wasn't enough.

Bowyer clinging to lead

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

Clint Bowyer knows what it feels like to finish just out of the reach of a championship. He's done it three times at the highest levels of NASCAR in his five-year career.

"Anytime you finish second, it's just hard," said Bowyer, 29, an Emporia native and former Motocross champion. "It is way harder than finishing third because then you are thinking to yourself, 'What could we have done differently there? What could we have give up not to win there?' "

Bowyer, who drives for Richard Childress Racing, will do all he can to make sure such a scenario doesn't play out at Homestead-Miami Speedway today, when he attempts to take home his first series championship.

Just as Jimmie Johnson has been trying to hold off hard-charging Carl Edwards in the Sprint Cup series, so too has Bowyer.

Six weeks ago, Bowyer appeared as if he was going to cruise to the Nationwide title. But Edwards, the reigning series champion, has three wins and seven top-five finishes in his past seven races.

ABC's decision irks NASCAR followers

JENNA FRYER — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

It's been 30 years since a NASCAR driver won three straight championships. Yet, as Jimmie Johnson closed in on the mark, ABC cut away.

What could have been so important to force viewers in the Eastern and Central time zones to flip over to ESPN2 for the conclusion the race at Phoenix International Raceway?

A new episode of "Desperate Housewives" might have been acceptable.

No such luck, though.

ABC ditched its NASCAR coverage for "America's Funniest Home Videos" with 34 laps left in Sunday's race. That's right, Johnson's seventh win of the season was interrupted by cats running into walls, dancing brides falling and children inflicting unintentional pain on adults.

Johnson inches closer to title

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

They popped the champagne in Victory Lane and celebrated as if Jimmie Johnson just won another championship.

Almost. But not quite there.

Johnson moved inches closer to his record-tying third straight NASCAR title Sunday, trouncing the field at Phoenix International Raceway to deliver a knockout punch to Carl Edwards' championship hopes.

Johnson needs to finish only 36th or better next week in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to join Cale Yarborough (1976-78) as the only drivers in NASCAR history to win three straight titles.

"He's doing something pretty special," said 2004 champion Kurt Busch, who finished second. "It's just tough to beat."

Hornish happy in NASCAR

JENNA FRYER — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

Roger Penske introduced Sam Hornish Jr. as his newest NASCAR driver exactly one year ago in a glitzy affair at one of Penske's Scottsdale dealerships.

There's been nothing glamorous about the year since, as Hornish has struggled through a rough rookie season. But as tough as it's been, the three-time Indy Racing League champion insisted Friday he has no plans to follow Dario Franchitti back to open-wheel.

Franchitti waved the flag on his NASCAR career this summer when his Sprint Cup Series team folded because of a lack of sponsorship, and whispers began shortly after that Hornish also would return to IRL.

"I think all of that is basically untrue," Hornish said at Phoenix International Raceway, where he made his Cup Series debut last season. "I don't know where we got off on the wrong foot there, but it all started basically when Dario decided to go and run Indy cars and then all the questions started coming on what I was going to do.

"But I'm focused on running here, and I'm focused on trying to be the best Sprint Cup driver I can be. I came over because I wanted the challenge of doing this. I wanted to see it out. I wanted to get to the point where I felt like I could win races."

Edwards victorious in Texas

MIKE HARRIS — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:36 CST

Taking risks is a whole lot easier when you believe you don't have much to lose.

Carl Edwards squeezed a victory out of his last tank of gas, racing the last 69 laps of Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway without pitting.

And, this time, series leader Jimmie Johnson ran out of magic.

The combination of Edwards' successful gamble and Johnson's 15th-place finish chopped a big chunk off what had been a daunting 183-point lead for Johnson heading into the Texas race. Edwards trails by 106 points with two races remaining.

Although Edwards dominated most of the event, leading 199 of the first 264 laps on the 1.5-mile oval, it was the daring call by crew chief Bob Osborne that got his driver this win after several other competitors had used two-tire strategies to get ahead of Edwards near the finish.

Hamilton wins F1 title with thrilling finish

TALES AZZONI — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:36 CST

Lewis Hamilton became Formula One's youngest champion on Sunday, making a last-lap pass to finish fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix and win the title by one point over Felipe Massa.

Ferrari driver Massa won the race in front of his home crowd, but it wasn't enough to erase the seven-point lead Hamilton held entering the season-ending race.

"I am speechless," Hamilton said after the race. "It's been a long journey in which I had the support of many people. My team did a fantastic job during the entire year and we sacrificed ourselves lot. I am happy for having achieved this for all of us."

Just one year after Hamilton lost the title by one point after entering the final race with a seven-point lead, the 23-year-old McLaren driver passed Toyota's Timo Glock on the last lap to win the championship. Fernando Alonso was 24 when he won the in 2005 for Renault in 2005.

Hamilton fell to sixth place after being overtaken by Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel with two laps to go. After Vettel passed Glock, Hamilton also moved up one spot and finished the season with 98 points.

Johnson's lead solid despite loss

JENNA FRYER — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:40 CDT

Carl Edwards did his seventh celebratory backflip and headed to Victory Lane confident he'd closed in on Jimmie Johnson's bumper in the race for the Sprint Cup title.

As the champagne flowed, his spirits were dashed.

Even with his win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards didn't dent Johnson's lead in the championship standings.

With a masterful final drive to the checkered flag, the two-time defending champion rallied from a rare penalty to finish second and stretch his points lead to a commanding 183 points over Edwards with three races remaining in the Chase for the championship.

"Are you kidding me?" a deflated Edwards asked when told Johnson had finished second. "You've rained on my parade. I could have done without that one. That's unbelievable, he does a great job."