Have you ever gone to see a movie and come away thinking it was terrific then read that the critics thought it bombed? You wonder “What the hell is wrong with me? Or is it them?”
That’s what happened last week after the Talladega race. I had my heart in my throat a dozen times as the lead changed hands quicker than Chris Brown’s fists.
Then I read a bunch of articles from all over the country where the writers complained that Talladega was a snooze-fest.
No, people, the snooze fest was the so-called World Series. Kudos from me if you managed to stay awake during any of the games.
With three races to go in the Chase and the NASCAR season, Jimmie Johnson (9-2) leads by a whopping 184 points over Mark Martin (8-1) and 192 points over Jeff Gordon (4-1).
Chad Knaus, the crew chief for Johnson, showed what a genius he is by keeping Jimmie in 30th place for much of the Talladega race and then called him in for fuel when Ryan Newman (40-1) became the designated flyer.
A lot of the cars ran out of fuel on the last lap and J.J. finished sixth and increased his points lead. Chad Knaus is the guru of gas.
Texas Motor Speedway is an extremely fast track and will produce speeds nearly as fast as Talladega. The question is whether the brains of the other crew chiefs will work as fast as the brain of Johnson’s crew chief.
After a 2-2 week and a 9-7 record over the past four races here are my matchups as posted by wsex.com:
Mark Martin (-125 vs Tony Stewart (-105)
Despite Tony’s win and four top 10 finishes in the seven Chase races doesn’t seem to be a threat the way he was during the first 26 events. Mark seems to be in every race. He has a win and five top 10s. At TMS they each have a win. Tony has an AF of 12.6 and Martin’s is 13.8. Not much difference between them but I am picking Martin because he seems to be racing harder all the time.
Carl Edwards (-125) vs Greg Biffle (-105)
Biff has three top 5s in his last four trips to Texas but Carl has two wins in his last three here. Also Carl’s AF is 13.4 compared to Biffle’s 22.1. That’s enough for me to pick Edwards.
Clint Boyer (-140) vs Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+110)
Although Junior has a win and an AF of 13.9 in his career at TMS his AF here over the past six races is 19.0. Boyer has three top 10s and an AF of 13.6. Junior is definitely looking better these days but I have to go with Boyer in this one.
Juan Pablo Montoya (-115) vs Denny Hamlin (-115)
This really shouldn’t be much of a contest. In eight trips to Texas Denny has five top 10s and an AF of 11.6. In five visits Montoya has two top 10s and an AF of 20.4. Denny has three wins this year, Montoya has zero. Pick Hamlin to finish ahead of Montoya.