Congrtat’s to Jimmie Johnson on his thre-peat.
Written by Rich Hemstreet · November 30, 2008
Jimmie Johnson did enough during the Chase to end up on top. Carl Edwards ran out of events to win… leaving him in second place. The presumptive Chase winner, Kyle Busch, never did overcome his early Chase problems. Let me proclaim it here first, Jimmie Johnson will not win four straight Sprint Cup Championships. However, I do predict Hendricks Motorsports will claim a fourth straight title… but I’m getting ahead of my self.
I would imagine only the top five in the points were very satisfied with their efforts during the Chase. Carl Edwards finished in second place… and he’ll be back in the Chase for the foreseeable future. Edward’s Roush teammate, Greg Biffle, finished third, and was the only one in shouting distance of the top two at the end. I’d say Biffle’s return for the 2009 Chase is 50/50 at best. Following Biffle in the points were RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Boyer. Harvick and Boyer each moved forward in the standings during the final race. The top three all held their positions in the final Chase race. I’d say the other seven may be thankful they made the Chase, but none of them took advantage of the stage they were racing on, except the top five.
The driver I predict will win the Championship Chase in 2009 hasn’t run a full schedule for a couple years. But I think with the Hendrick’s resources supporting him on the track, Mark Martin will be the driver to beat going into Homestead. I also predict that Jeff Gordon will miss the 2009 Chase, but Martin should have at least Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as teammates in the Chase.
Besides Edwards I expect David Ragan and Matt Kenseth to also represent the Roush contingent in the Chase next year. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin should make the Chase as the Joey Logano entry has a tough time staying in the top 35 most of the season.
That still leaves four Chase slots wide open, but don’t look for Tony Stewart or Ryan Newman to make it in their first year as teammates. But one or two RCR cars wouldn’t be a suprise.
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