Edginess lost in the Chase
If we tried to take the temperature of the rivalry between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, let's just say it doesn't exactly generate the heat of Alien vs. Predator.
It doesn't hold a candle to Ali-Frazier or even Tyson-Holyfield. And if Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson doesn't register a 7.0 on the Richter scale, it's a bona-fide earthquake compared with Jeff Gordon-Johnson.
Is this NASCAR's worst nightmare? The sanctioning body expanded the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup from 10 to 12 drivers, hoping to salt the field with enough attitude to keep things interesting throughout the 10 Chase races.
So what happened? After umpteen engine failures in the first 26 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. missed the Chase. (The running joke in the garage is that Earnhardt's stepmother and soon-to-be ex-team owner, Teresa Earnhardt, watches every race with her finger on the ''Destruct'' button.) Exit Earnhardt Nation, stage left.
Then, one by one, the volatile bad boys who did qualify have fallen by the wayside. Rotten luck has haunted Kurt Busch from the outset. With his younger brother, Kyle, it's feast or famine a top-five finish or mangled sheet metal.
In the first six Chase races, two-time champion Tony Stewart has dropped 249 points behind Jeff Gordon, the Chase leader. Even if Tony Stewart wins the last four races at Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead odds are he would not finish ahead of both Jeff Gordon and Johnson in the final standings.
Johnson vs. Kyle Busch now that would have been a rivalry. With Kyle Busch leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season to join Joe Gibbs Racing, the lame duck contending for the title against the defending champion would have produced story lines galore.
Despite what the drivers say in public, there's not much love lost between Johnson and Kyle Busch on the track, at least. Witness this radio exchange from Sunday's race, after Kyle Busch tattooed Johnson's bumper in the early going, when the three Hendrick cars occupied the top three spots in the running order.
''Tell the No. 5 (Kyle Busch's) spotter, 'How about backing off a little bit?''' crew chief Chad Knaus suggested to Johnson's spotter, Stevie Reeves. ''We're running 1-2-3. It's lap 92 (of 500).''
''You wouldn't think you'd have to tell him that,'' Reeves replied.
Johnson joined in: ''I don't mind him racing me, but he doesn't have to hit me in the center of the corner.''
Tony Stewart-Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart-Johnson would have had its share of fireworks, too. At this point, only Clint Bowyer (115 points behind Jeff Gordon) is within striking distance of the Hendrick juggernaut.
Realistically, that leaves Jeff Gordon and Johnson (53 points behind) to fight it out for the championship. Will Jeff Gordon win his fifth title, or will Johnson go back-to-back for the first time since Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1997 and 1998?
In rivalry terms, it's Mr. Goody Two-Shoes vs. Mr. Namby-Pamby.
In Sunday's postrace interview session, The Charlotte Observer's David Poole asked Johnson what it would take to get the Hendrick teammates to start talking trash about each other.
''Why don't you just write something, we'll go with it,'' Johnson responded agreeably.
''Help us,'' countered Poole.
The good-natured exchange told a fundamental truth, namely that edgy story lines are absent from the Jeff Gordon-Johnson battle.
What really needs to happen is for Jeff Gordon and Johnson to be tested in the crucible of the season-ending race at Homestead. I can see it now: Johnson ahead by a dozen points, leading the race on the final lap of the final race.
Jeff Gordon tags Johnson's bumper entering Turn 3 and passes to the inside as the No. 48 slides up the track. The win gives Jeff Gordon the title.
On the cool-down lap, Johnson pulls up beside Jeff Gordon's car, lowers his window net and says something that finally puts spice in the rivalry:
''Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?''
If we tried to take the temperature of the rivalry between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, let's just say it doesn't exactly generate the heat of Alien vs. Predator.
It doesn't hold a candle to Ali-Frazier or even Tyson-Holyfield. And if Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson doesn't register a 7.0 on the Richter scale, it's a bona-fide earthquake compared with Jeff Gordon-Johnson.
Is this NASCAR's worst nightmare? The sanctioning body expanded the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup from 10 to 12 drivers, hoping to salt the field with enough attitude to keep things interesting throughout the 10 Chase races.
So what happened? After umpteen engine failures in the first 26 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. missed the Chase. (The running joke in the garage is that Earnhardt's stepmother and soon-to-be ex-team owner, Teresa Earnhardt, watches every race with her finger on the ''Destruct'' button.) Exit Earnhardt Nation, stage left.
Then, one by one, the volatile bad boys who did qualify have fallen by the wayside. Rotten luck has haunted Kurt Busch from the outset. With his younger brother, Kyle, it's feast or famine a top-five finish or mangled sheet metal.
In the first six Chase races, two-time champion Tony Stewart has dropped 249 points behind Jeff Gordon, the Chase leader. Even if Tony Stewart wins the last four races at Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead odds are he would not finish ahead of both Jeff Gordon and Johnson in the final standings.
Johnson vs. Kyle Busch now that would have been a rivalry. With Kyle Busch leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season to join Joe Gibbs Racing, the lame duck contending for the title against the defending champion would have produced story lines galore.
Despite what the drivers say in public, there's not much love lost between Johnson and Kyle Busch on the track, at least. Witness this radio exchange from Sunday's race, after Kyle Busch tattooed Johnson's bumper in the early going, when the three Hendrick cars occupied the top three spots in the running order.
''Tell the No. 5 (Kyle Busch's) spotter, 'How about backing off a little bit?''' crew chief Chad Knaus suggested to Johnson's spotter, Stevie Reeves. ''We're running 1-2-3. It's lap 92 (of 500).''
''You wouldn't think you'd have to tell him that,'' Reeves replied.
Johnson joined in: ''I don't mind him racing me, but he doesn't have to hit me in the center of the corner.''
Tony Stewart-Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart-Johnson would have had its share of fireworks, too. At this point, only Clint Bowyer (115 points behind Jeff Gordon) is within striking distance of the Hendrick juggernaut.
Realistically, that leaves Jeff Gordon and Johnson (53 points behind) to fight it out for the championship. Will Jeff Gordon win his fifth title, or will Johnson go back-to-back for the first time since Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1997 and 1998?
In rivalry terms, it's Mr. Goody Two-Shoes vs. Mr. Namby-Pamby.
In Sunday's postrace interview session, The Charlotte Observer's David Poole asked Johnson what it would take to get the Hendrick teammates to start talking trash about each other.
''Why don't you just write something, we'll go with it,'' Johnson responded agreeably.
''Help us,'' countered Poole.
The good-natured exchange told a fundamental truth, namely that edgy story lines are absent from the Jeff Gordon-Johnson battle.
What really needs to happen is for Jeff Gordon and Johnson to be tested in the crucible of the season-ending race at Homestead. I can see it now: Johnson ahead by a dozen points, leading the race on the final lap of the final race.
Jeff Gordon tags Johnson's bumper entering Turn 3 and passes to the inside as the No. 48 slides up the track. The win gives Jeff Gordon the title.
On the cool-down lap, Johnson pulls up beside Jeff Gordon's car, lowers his window net and says something that finally puts spice in the rivalry:
''Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?''
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