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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Chase Race Turning Into A Rout
No one outside of other Hendrick Motorsports drivers is within 150 points of Jimmie Johnson...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted October 18, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup point leader, celebrates winning the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

It was a bad night for the haters.

For all the NASCAR Sprint Cup fans who complain about the dominance of Jimmie Johnson during the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Saturday night’s NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was a decided exercise in masochism.

Not only did Johnson gain maximum points by winning and leading the most laps, most of his competition fell badly by the wayside. Halfway through the 2009 edition of the Chase, the numbers are sobering: Johnson, who is threatening to put a stranglehold on his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship, leads his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon by 90 and 135 points, respectively.

The only way a non-Hendrick driver could leave Martinsville Speedway with the points lead next Sunday is if fourth-place Tony Stewart wins the race and leads the most laps, while Johnson finishes 42nd or worse. Given that Martinsville might be Johnson’s best track, that’s hardly likely.

Stewart is 155 points in arrears of Johnson, with 161 points being the most a driver can make up over another driver in a single race. For the record, Stewart gets engines, chassis and technical support from Hendrick Motorsports, so it’s almost as if his is another Hendrick car.

Regardless, as things stand now, eight drivers are more than one full race behind Johnson in points. Four are the equivalent of more than two races behind him. Yes, half the Chase is left to run. But for Johnson to lose at this point would be a huge upset.

That comes as no surprise to Matt Kenseth, the runner-up at Lowe’s on Saturday night, and a man who has had some ferocious duels of his own with Johnson and the No. 48 Hendrick team.

“Them guys are awesome,” Kenseth said of Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus. “Since them two got together, they've been, in my opinion, the group to beat every single year. Whenever it counts and it's crunch time, they do this, and they've done this every year for the last four years, so it shouldn't really be a surprise to anybody.”

“I don't think either of us can stop him at this point as far as points go,” said Kasey Kahne, the third-place finisher at Lowe’s. “It's definitely not over. I mean, anything can happen the rest of the year. But if it doesn't, I think Jimmie is the guy to beat.”

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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