• The CoT She may be foxy, boxy and have some funk in the trunk, but if a car can’t put on a good race she isn’t very attractive.
• Kyle Busch He conquered all three series during 2008. He won a combined 21 races in NASCAR’s top three series, but also angered a combined 21 drivers with his aggressive, unapologetic style.
• Goodyear Tony Stewart called their product “pathetic” after the Atlanta race. A race that Stewart finished 2nd. Goodyear also received some heat for their poor tire at Indianapolis resulting in a series of 10 lap runs and competition cautions (ironic choice of phrase since no one could do any competing).
• Dodge The company offered a $1 million bounty to the driver that won the Daytona 500. After that was paid out to Ryan Newman, Dodge forgot about the rest of the season. No drivers in the Chase, only four wins and one of their “premier” teams, Ganassi, left to merge with a Chevrolet team. Ray Evernham, originally hired to be the flagship owner for Dodge, also left NASCAR.
• Jimmie Johnson This guy is responsible for making the Chase boring. He’s so greedy that no one else has come close in the last three years. Making things worse, he and Chad Knaus didn’t even get caught cheating this year. Does that mean they weren’t trying?
• Tony Eury Jr He built cars in the vein of Mission Impossible. Dale Jr’s ride would be fast and effective for 66% of a race and then self-destruct.
• Toyota The newest Cup manufacturer had the nerve to not only run in NASCAR’s top division, but to win 10 races. What a bunch of jerks! Who do they think they are, building Camry’s in the United States and actually being a profitable car manufacturer. And they make fuel-efficient cars? You’ve got some nerve, Toyota.

Enjoy the holiday and always be thankful for life’s blessings. And remember, no matter how bad things seem, the fact that you are reading this means you have things pretty good.

Other 2008 Notes and Loose Ends

• After a string of talented rookie classes, there was bound to be a letdown eventually. Without further seasons for evidence, it’s safe to say that 2008 is one of the weakest rookie classes in a long time. DEI’s Regan Smith won Rookie of the Year despite zero wins, top 5’s or top 10’s. The last rookie with fewer than three top 10’s was 1990 when the late Rob Moroso won with one top ten. Even accounting for Smith’s controversial 18th place finish at Talladega, it was still a miserable season for rookies. Rod Roddy, tell Regan what he’s won: A place in the unemployment line! Come on down!

• In a week of indulgence, allow me to review a few of my preseason predictions: Jeff Gordon would struggle-check. Regan Smith, ROY-check. Toyota won more than six races-check. Kyle Busch will be Gibbs’ best driver-check. A fulltime team will shutter their doors-check (sadly). Sonoma and Watkins Glen will be the most exciting races of the year-not so much. Keep in mind I also predicted that Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr would make the Chase and neither came close.

• On the back of his win at Homestead Carl Edwards passed Jimmie Johnson to score the highest total driver rating for 2008. Edwards had the most wins (9), top 5’s (19), top 10’s (27), driver rating (108.6) average finish (9.5) and most laps in the top 15 (78.6%). For his part Johnson was third in wins (7), third in top 5’s (15), second in top 10’s (22), second in driver rating (107.3), first in poles (6), laps led (1959) and first in championship trophies (1). To put it in stick and ball terms, Edwards won the MVP but Johnson went home with the ring. People can complain that Johnson’s year was worse, but the same thing happens in the NFL almost every year.

• Mark Martin scored 4 top 5’s and 11 top 10’s in only 24 weekends of work. He’s returning fulltime in 2009, but what would have happened if he had race the whole schedule in 2008? Based on his averages, Martin would have scored 6 top 5’s and 16 top 10’s for a full season. His 13.3 average finish would have been worth roughly 4450 points which would have been right ahead of David Ragan for 13th place. Even crazier, Martin’s numbers would have put him on pace to be in tenth place after Richmond and made the Chase. Obviously that’s making quite a few assumptions (like DEI putting together 26 good races), but the fact that Martin is still good enough to make the Chase-even in mediocre equipment- is something to keep in mind for next year.

For JTG and driver Marcos Ambrose this is especially good news. The team only moved to the Cup level in August of this year and thanks to a few decent runs, a manufacturer switch (from Ford to Toyota) and some fancy points swapping they have set the table for steady improvement next year.

The #10 car of GEM is no stranger to the top 35. In 2006 the car began with zero owners point and missed the Daytona 500. Scott Riggs managed to run well enough during the season to rebound and enter the top 35 by the end of the season. As diligently as Riggs drove in ‘06, he undid all of the progress in 2007, slipping out of the top 35 by race 11. The #10 car hasn’t been solidly back in the top 35 since. Now on the team’s third different driver in as many years, Reed Sorenson will try to rebound from a horrendous season to keep the car locked in.

As other teams continue to lay off personnel and team sponsorship dollars go to NASCAR’s teat dry up, there could be more changes from inside the top 35. The 2009 roster is far from set. Of course, by February there might only be 43 teams willing to run races. Then the top 35 would be essentially moot anyway. At least for a few teams, they are safe to begin work on 2009 plans instead of sweating out the winter.

Two of the best crew chiefs left their teams earlier this week. Todd Parrott and Ryan Pemberton left Yates Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing respectively. Parrott won a Cup title with Dale Jarrett and has won races with other drivers and has overachieved with almost every team his worked with. Elliott Sadler won two races with Parrott in 2004 and hasn’t come close since. He helped temporarily turn around the #43 with Bobby Labonte in 2006, and at least giving Petty Enterprises the chance to run in the top ten on a regular basis. He won 2 poles with David Gilliland (if Parrott couldn’t make Gilliland successful, I don’t know who could), and also led Travis Kvapil to Yates’ best season in almost three seasons (4 top 10’s, 1 pole). He gets more out of drivers and the equipment than expected.

Like Parrott, Pemberton has taken several teams and overachieved. He and Joe Nemechek formed a solid partnership at MB/2 Motorsports, winning a race in 2004, twice finishing in the top 20 in points and racking up 20top 10’s in three seasons together. Pemberton nearly won the 2007 Daytona 500 with Mark Martin and posted five top 5’s and 11 top 10’s. After Ginn was absorbed by DEI, Pemberton left for Michael Waltrip Racing and hooked up with David Reutimann. The pair came on strong at the end of 2008, scoring 4 top tens while running much better than their finishing positions.

Now both crew chiefs have decided to move on. Reports have Pemberton reuniting with Jay Frye (both worked together at MB/2) at Red Bull Racing. For a team on the rise, Pemberton could be the perfect crew chief for Brian Vickers to break through for his first win with Red Bull. Meanwhile Parrott will find a job and some team will reap the benefits. One team that would be a good fit would be Richard Childress Racing. On the #29 team Kevin Harvick and crew chief Todd Berrier look like they’ve plateaued. Harvick is obviously an immensely talented driver, and not taking anything away from Berrier, the team has one win in its last 72 races. Sure, they’ve made three straight Chases and can consistently run in the top ten, but they aren’t close to competing with the top three Cup teams. Parrott could be the crew chief to squeeze more performance out of the #29 and return him to his 2006 form. It’s hard to see Childress making this kind of decision, but something obviously needs fixing on the #29.

On a scale of 1 (I would have rather watched a Goodyear tire test in its entirety) to 10 (It was so good, I had my wife drop confetti on me after the Homestead race), where would you rank the season as a whole? Tell us what you think.

I do know there is a direct correlation between his on-track success and post-race affability and my (not always so) private mockery of him.

This week’s (November 24, 2008) issue of Sport’s Illustrated featuring Jimmie Johnson on the cover with the billing NASCAR Cool and accompanying insightful article by Lars Anderson actually pushes me a little more toward the ‘Jimmie Johnson Fan’ camp.

I don’t want to dislike the guy. I just do.

Jimmie and Chandra Johnson aren’t unaware of the legion of detractors to which I belong. This fact is one of many that Lars addresses in his in-depth interview and article.

Why do sports fans know Jimmie Johnson only as the guy pushing his Lowe’s number 48 into the lead, burning rubber in the winner’s circle and then thanking sponsors and crew for making it all happen? Why don’t they know him as a world-traveling, multidimensional, surprisingly loquacious sports star? There’s a pause before Chandra, looking straight at Jimmie as she answers, says, “You’re too nice.” He smiles when she brings up his pretty-boy image. “Maybe,” Chandra says with a laugh, “if you were an arrogant ass, you’d get more attention.”

“It used to keep me up at night,” says Jimmie, gazing out the tinted window. “But not anymore.” He takes a breath, and the smile disappears. “I can’t think about all that,” he says. “I just want to win another championship.” (Excerpt from article)

Some claims Lars makes in his article I can’t swallow.

First, that Jimmie Johnson is the greatest stock car driver of the 21st century.

I’ll give him leeway on the technicality that the 21st century is still only eight years young. I’d prefer to think that ‘Jimmie is the most consistent and best-performing NASCAR driver so far in the 21st century.’ Certainly doesn’t sound as spectacular. Lars backs up his choice of phrasing with statistical data. You know I’m a fan of that.

Lars writes Jimmie is a mystery to many die-hard NASCAR fans. He reasons Jimmie is not like many of our past NASCAR champions. Dale Earnhardt, for instance, was a classic banger who wouldn’t hesitate to knock another driver into the wall if he thought he needed to.

Another reason for Jimmie’s success is he’s a genuinely nice guy, and his crew feels a great sense of loyalty to him. Anderson delves into the unique relationship between Jimmie and crew chief Chad Knaus and the strength that he brings to the establishment of this stock car dynasty.

The bottom line and what I take away from this insightful article is that maybe my dislike towards Jimmie is more jealousy than anything else.

I’m man enough to admit it.

Over the past year Jimmie earned an estimated $23 million in winnings and endorsements. He spends weekends in the Hamptons and vacations in exotic locations like Paris, France and Cape Town, South Africa. He has a loft apartment in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. He owns a six-seat Gulfstream G450 and has on occassion flown to multiple football games in one day.

Maybe I should replace all this anger inside with admiration?

Nah. I’m gonna keep on hating you Jimmie Johnson.

Besides, if you hadn’t kept on winning the Championship the last couple of years I might not be near as rabid for a new start and anticipation of the next season.

Be sure an get your copy of the November 24, 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated and see if Lars can’t convince you to see Jimmie in a new light.

• Is player A better than player B?
• Was it better back in the day or now?

It’s fun to argue and discuss, but for any argument it’s important to use the right context.

Raw numbers don’t work. You have to understand a number of other factors that affect the numbers.

Many people will say Babe Ruth was the greatest hitter in baseball history. There’s certainly an argument and numbers to support that, but Ruth played in an era where blacks were banned from the majors and the home run was initially regarded with disdain.

Does that make Ruth better than Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron or Josh Gibson?

Peyton Manning holds tons of passing records, but he also plays in an era when all teams pass 30-40 times a game. Is he better than Johnny Unitas because he has better numbers?

The Boston Celtics won eight straight rings in the 1960’s, but there were only nine teams in the league.

Jimmie Johnson equaled Cale Yarborough’s record of three straight championships. Who’s feat is more impressive?

According to Yahoo’s Jerry Bonkowski Johnson deserves an asterisk. I’m not here to say which era was tougher (although maybe when I have some time this winter), but let’s at least look at Bonkowski’s flawed criteria:

• In winning his three straight titles, Yarborough didn’t have to go through the Chase format. He had to be great from the start of each season and carry that greatness through three consecutive 30-race schedules.

There is no question the old format required more consistency for an entire season, but this also assumes the two eras were equally competitive. I would argue that the level of competition in 2008 is quite a bit tougher than 1978. The fields were smaller, fewer drivers capable of winning races (more on that later).

• During that 90-race span, Yarborough won 28 races – nearly one-third. He also had 70 top-five finishes. Johnson’s three-peat span covered 108 races, of which he won 22 – or less than one-fourth. He also had 48 top-five finishes – not even one-half.

This is not an equal comparison.

In the late 1970’s the fields were smaller-often with 30 or less entrants. Johnson faces 43 cars each week. With a 30% smaller field, the chances of capturing wins and top 5’s is greatly increased. From 1976 to 1978 only 11 drivers won races. 20 drivers have won races from 2006-2008. The top 5 drivers from 1976-1978 accounted for 58% of the top 5’s. During the Johnson Era, the top 5 drivers have garnered 39% of the top 5’s. That means there are more drivers currently capable of scoring top 5’s than in the late 1970’s.

• Yarborough, on the other hand, had to be on his game from race No. 1. Every race mattered, every race counted and every race was a mini-championship within itself.

Two of Yarborough’s titles also came in dominating fashion: a 386 point margin in 1977 and a 474 point margin in 1978. He essentially killed off the title race several races early, so he didn’t really have to be anywhere near great in the closing races.

There is also the fact that one of the most successful drivers of the era, David Pearson, only drove 22 of 30 races in each of Yarborough’s winning years. In 1976, Pearson won a season-high 10 races and had an average finish of 6.9. For argument’s sake, if we award Pearson 146 points (7th place points) for 8 additional races he would have won the title.

Obviously it’s impossible to say what would have happened, but it does illustrate the difference in competition levels between the two eras.

• While the Chase has served to add a bit of contrived spice and excitement during the part of the season that goes head-to-head with the NFL, it also has alienated scores of fans who have left the sport because of it. Many point out that the Chase has cost Jeff Gordon two more championships – and that it will forever keep him from tying or surpassing Petty and Earnhardt’s career championships record.

This is skewed as well.

That’s like saying if the NFL regular season determined the champion, then the Patriots would have hoisted the trophy last year.

It’s not like the rules were changed on Gordon in mid-season last year. And remember, Jimmie Johnson was dominating the points in 2004 until they began experimenting with engines prior to the Chase. Let’s also remember that under the old format, there were plenty of seasons when the winner built such a large lead they could essentially show up for the final month and still win a Cup.

Not every year was like 1992 when Alan Kulwicki won by ten points in the final race. Whether you think the Chase is contrived or not, please don’t act like the good old days produced door-to-door racing every Sunday all season long.

Again, I’m not trying to decide which era was tougher or not. Yarborough’s and Johnson’s feats are equally impressive. Yarborough faced smaller, weaker fields. Johnson has the Chase, the Lucky Dog and an era heavily reliant on technology dollars.

To say Johnson’s deserves an asterisk because there are different rules is ridiculous.

Richard Petty doesn’t have an asterisk for his pre-1972 wins when NASCAR was wildly different, so why should Johnson deserve one?

Remember, we were looking for the closest cumulative guess for Kevin’s position after the first yellow flag and his finish position.

This week there were no ties. We had clear cut winners for first and second place: Gary and Dave Johnson

So how did the #48 team win three straight titles to become the only team since Cale Yarborough drove the #11 for Junior Johnson? The team has been good enough to assume they can make the Chase with ease. So instead they have turned their focus to going for wins and most importantly, testing and fine-tuning their cars with the final ten races in mind. While a lot of attention is paid to the teams winning races and leading the points, the #48 circles the final ten races and funnels all of their effort towards the Chase. It’s not a coincidence that Johnson has peaked at the right time the last three years. Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch have accumulated huge point leads during the regular season but because of the Chase rules, they will always fall back to the pack like a late-race caution. It’s almost like the #48 team says why waste the effort on points leads, when it will only be taken away come September? So the #48 team essentially boils a 36 race grind down to a 10 race performance. It’s reminiscent of the late 90’s Yankees teams that won three in a row. Those teams often regarded the regular season with nonchalance, but once the playoffs rolled around they were a juggernaut. It requires a special team to have the luxury to use the regular season as one big dress-rehearsal, but that’s exactly what the #48 team have done.

Can the #48 team seriously consider 4 in a row? Yes. Obviously it’s never easy to talk about next year while the champagne smell is still fresh, but the #48 is one of a handful of teams that can pose a serious threat. Barring a serious breakthrough from another team, I can’t see the trophy not going to a Hendrick, Roush or Gibbs team. That automatically puts Johnson on a short list. The new testing ban only ensures that the top teams will stay that way in 2009. There is always the concern of other teams catching up to the #48, complacency or other things pulling Johnson’s attention away from the job, but unlike other team sports, there is no salary cap so most of the talent has stayed intact since 2002. As long as the team stays together and Hendrick provides cutting edge support, the #48 will remain the team to beat.

Other Thoughts

• After a good race, no surprises (despite ESPN’s constant reminders that something crazy could happen), and an historic championship for Jimmie Johnson, the only thing I can say is, “finally my Sunday’s are clear again!” It sounds harsh, but admit it, you’re thinking it too. And if you aren’t, your wife definitely is.

• Does anyone else think Nationwide’s commercial that shows Kevin Harvick doing donuts in a cul-de-sac sends the right message about safe driving?

• The top 35 race finished with Red Bull Racing passing JTG-Daugherty Racing for the final safe spot. RBR switched Brian Vickers to the #84 car for the Homestead race to help crack the top 35. The move paid off and could set RBR up for an even better season in 2009.

• Now that DEI and Chip Ganassi have merged, they have one empty yet sponsored seat. If they haven’t already done so, I recommend that they call AJ Allmendinger immediately. He finished 11th at Homestead and is clearly the best driver available for 2009.

• Two drivers on the cusp of a breakout win: David Ragan and David Reutimann. Ragan could have a huge season with Roush, while hopefully MWR can continue to provide quality cars for Reutimann. Both really established themselves in their second seasons.

The season’s over but you can still hang out with One Bad Wheel all winter. Nothing changes here. We’ll look back at 2008, review the teams, pass out some awards, goof off and start looking to 2009. Only 90 days until Daytona!

Of course since Kevin Harvick is my favorite driver, I have to mention the fact that with his 2nd place finish tonight at Homestead he extended his streak of running at the finish to 80 consecutive races. That is the longest current streak and the modern era record. Kevin will break the all-time record if he can finish the first 5 Cup series races of the 2009 season and thus passing record holder Herman Beam’s 84 consecutive races.

Tonight, Jimmie Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus, and the #48 team, capped off the 2008 season with two of the most impressive records to be set in and for a very long. The team wons a third consecutive Cup series championship, a feat that had only been done once before (by Cale Yarborough in 1976-78). Also, Chad Knaus became the first crew chief to win three consecutive Cup series championships!

WOW! I don’t care which driver is breaking or setting records. Witnessing the accomplishments as they happen is what I truly enjoy about being a NASCAR fan.

Now, onto the major news. {rolling my eyes} As expected, Mike proved to me again that he is the master of these types of “pick the winner” fantasy NASCAR games. While he suffered a 25th place finish from the #17 car, he was looking good to take the win with only 2-3 laps remaining as Kenseth ran out of gas while leading the race. Awww, too bad Mike. NOT!

You see, I performed terribly here in this game and only barely pulled myself out of the basement in the final two races of the season. However, in another game I play I was actually leading the standings going into this final race. At the beginning of this game’s segment (consisting of 18 races) each player picked one driver for each race of the segment using each driver only once. At the start of Homestead I had a 3 point lead over the 2nd place player in the standings. My driver, Kevin Harvick. His driver, Matt Kenseth. Needless to say, the last 35 laps of this race were quite stressful as I watched Kenseth leading the field and Harvick running around the 10th position. I couldn’t have Kenseth beat Harvick by more than 3 positions! The laps clicked off, 30 to go, 20 to go, 10 to go, 5 to go, …… “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RUN OUT OF GAS KENSETH!” I yelled at the television screen with 4 laps to go.

Ahhhh….. the fuel mileage gamble didn’t work for the #17 team and Harvick finished 2nd. I held on to the lead and will be pocketing some decent coin for the holiday shopping season. Verizon Wireless, put a Blackberry Storm on hold for me. I’ll be in on Friday!

PS. Since I won $ in the other game and Mike only wins bragging rights here, “Congrats Mike!”