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JENSEN: A “T” For Texas
Written by: Tom Jensen   
11/09/2009
Fort Worth, TX
 
If nothing else, David Reutimann’s Lap 3 bank shot that pushed Sam Hornish Jr. into Jimmie Johnson and Johnson into the walls at Texas Motor Speedway fueled hopes among race fans that we might actually have a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship race after all.
SPEEDtv.com's Editor-in-Chief Tom Jensen. (Image: SPEED) ยป More Photos

About damned time, if you ask me.

Johnson’s point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin was 184 coming into Sunday’s Dickies 500 at TMS. Now, it stands at a comparatively small 73 points.

That’s a doable margin.

After all, Johnson made up 78 points on Martin at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and 66 more at Talladega Superspeedway. A margin of 73 points can be made up in two races — but only if Johnson encounters some misfortune again.

It’s not a slam-dunk for Martin to come back. In fact, it’s not even likely. But it’s possible. And possible is all that’s needed for an exciting championship finish.

As good as Martin has been this year, and he’s been exceptionally good, it will take two near-perfect races by the No. 5 team and one more bad one by the No. 48 to eradicate that margin. Martin also has history working against him: In five previous years of the Chase format, no driver has ever led the championship after eight Chase races were complete and not gone on to win it all.

Regardless of what happens though, this much is certain: You will see history made in two weeks. Either Jimmie Johnson becomes the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive championships, or Mark Martin completes an epic comeback of Alan Kulwicki-like proportions to finally win his first Cup championship after nearly three decades of trying.

Either way, it’s worth watching.

“There could still be swings in the points,” opined Martin. “There's two races left, you never know what's going to happen. … No matter what the outcome is we've raced our guts out and I'm so proud of this team.”

Some other thoughts from the Texas weekend:

• It was nice to see the elation that Kurt Busch and his outgoing crew chief, Pat Tryson, shared after winning at Texas Sunday. It’s been almost two months since Tryson announced that he’s leaving Penske for Michael Waltrip Racing next season.

Despite that, the No. 2 team has made a strong showing in the Chase and are ranked fourth in points. Under difficult circumstances — Tryson is only allowed in the shop one day a week — they’ve made things work and deserve credit for doing so.

“Pat, great job for you,” team owner Roger Penske told Tryson after the race. “Appreciate the commitment you made in these last races. I want to say that publicly. I know you're
a first‑class guy. What a great win for you and for the team.”

• Even though he failed to complete the historic triple, Kyle Busch is still one whale of a racer.

Unfortunately, he still needs to grow up, too. As devastated and angry as Jimmie Johnson was after the race, he hung around and answered every question from every reporter. Busch ducked all the media again, refusing to answer questions after running out of gas three laps from the end and finishing 11th at Texas.

Hey, Kyle, hate it for you that you lost. How about learning to man up when things don’t go your way? That’s what champions do.

• The guys kicking themselves the most after Texas? Probably Jeff Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte. Jimmie Johnson gave them an opening to join the title fray and they didn’t get it done, finishing a disappointing 13th.

• Matt Kenseth may have missed the Chase for the first time in his Sprint Cup career, but he’s finished third or better in three of the last seven races. Look for things to pick up at Roush Fenway Racing in 2010.

• It’s still hard to fathom that Denny Hamlin could have one victory, two second places and four top fives in the first eight Chase races and still be two full races behind Johnson. It somehow doesn’t seem possible.

• AJ Allmendinger’s No. 44 Ford was painted Petty blue. That looked so very right. Hopefully his 2010 sponsors think so, too.

See you all in Phoenix.

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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