Kevin Harvick won the pole setting a track record in speed and had the best car all day long. But that isn't enough for the auto racing gods who have decreed that Johnson must win the title every year that he is able to drag his ass into a car.
If you're counting at home, Johnson has won three of the last four races and though he went without a win for the first half of the year, his team never looked out of it. Now he's on a role and excepting some serious bad luck will cruise to yet another Sprint Cup title.
*sigh*
Look, I'll state it upfront in case you don't read my stuff regularly -- Tony Stewart is my guy. But frankly I'd like to see someone, anyone else but Johnson win the title. Maybe it's just me, but I find him to be phony and insincere, an almost condescending attitude in his interviews. I believe his success is primarily due to who he drives for -- Hendrick Motorsports, and who is crew chief is -- Chad Knaus.
There's an old photoshop image that shows Steven Spielberg (I think) shaking hands with the devil. I think that pic should have Knaus in Spielberg's place. Dude is simply out of this world with his setups and strategies during a race. Take Johnson out of the 48 and put Danica in there and I think she'd be winning races too.
I suppose, thinking back, I can remember races where Bill Elliot was 10-12 laps ahead and practically cruising with his arm out the window at the end. So there have been dominant performances in the past. But this is simply taking the fun out of watching a race on Sundays.
I'm figuring once Johnson gets his eighth title, Rick Hendrick will pull Knaus away and put him with someone else, probably Dale Jr. to get him a title. We'll see how good Jimmie is then.
My guess -- not as good. And the excuses will flow. Something along the lines of "Well he's got eight titles already, and he's the greatest driver ever, so even if he's slowed down a bit, blah, blah, blah . . ." The damage will have been done.
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