"Sometimes History is NOT Made with a Bang"

Jimmie Johnson does not appear to be an "excitable boy" (the likes of Kevin "Happy" Harvick, Tony Stewart, et al). That does not mean that he is not competitive.

There can be no doubt that Johnson has cemented a place in NASCAR history with his championship winning season of 2008, which tied Cale Yarborough's feat of back to back to back wins in 1976, 77 and 78.

He wants more...and in the next couple of weeks on our off season Race-Talk programs...we'll let you hear from him...and crew chief Chad Knaus--before the big-post season doings in Manhattan.

We became extremely busy after the race...since CBS News, Radio thought the accomplishment important enough for me to explain it to their listeners on CBS News on the Hour Sunday night. I therefore ask your pardon that I didn't post a snapshot from the post-race news conference.

We'll try harder when we are in New York for the Post Race festivities to post some photos and other commentaries. Our advice for you is to enjoy family and friends as much as you are able...take some time away from the day to day routine and give thanks. We'll try to do this ourselves as we wind down from 2008.

"Buzzie's Kid on Pole; Red Bull 2nd; Champ starts 30th--Cousin Carl 4th..and still no wins for Kevin 'Happy' Harvick"

David Reutimann (son of Northeast modified legend Buzzie Reutimann) won his first pole in Sprint Cup competition for the season ending Ford 400 at Homestead, with a lap timed at 171.636 miles an hour. Scott Speed jumped into the Red Bull #83 car and proceeded to put it on the front row...while teammate Brian Vickers drove the #84 Red Bull car to a 20th starting position (all about the points for 2009--very important for Speed...since he'll be a rookie without any NASCAR testing).

As for the points race...Jimmie Johnson didn't qualify well...but they don't pay points for qualifying. Johnson will start the race 30th...and if he finishes there, he locks out "Cousin Carl" Edwards, who starts from the outside of Row Number 2 (4th).

What is interesting here, is that the #29 car (pictured above) of Kevin "Happy" Harvick, has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2008..."Happy" starts 5th. The other surprising non winners are Matt Kenseth (3rd) and Jeff Gordon (37th).

But Wait, There's (Really) More: The NASCAR testing ban goes into effect on January 1, 2009. Like all other NASCAR rules, it is written in pencil, with a big eraser. To hear major domo Mike Helton explain, the ban will supposedly save teams 100K per test per car--almost 100 million dollars over the entire industry. No tests can occur at NASCAR sanctioned tracks. Will tests occur? The tire supplier--Goodyear--will continue their program, and benevolent NASCAR will jawbone racing boss Stu Grant to make sure all teams are represented fairly--Stu says no problem.

Fairness is supposedly a part of NASCAR's decision loop. Fairness would dictate a rules freeze for 2009. Fairness and NASCAR are, in reality, mutually exclusive terms.

We'll post some comments and snapshots from the Ford 400.

Also...there will be a very trying time for the industry beginning Monday. NASCAR teams are expected to begin layoffs and downsizing once they return to North Carolina. This downsizing will spread--no doubt--to the way the series is covered by print and broadcast media outlets.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

A car related post...this is the pace car for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is a hybrid, with similar running gear to the Ford Escape Hybrid. It has been redesigned so the car will go up to 47 miles per hour on batteries, before the Hotchkiss 2.5 four cylinder engine kicks in. Engineers from the Blue Oval gang say the car will get over 700 miles per tankful of gas around town.

One thing we find with hybrids...is that most of them will start well enough on the electric power and around 12-26 miles per hour before the gas engine kicks in. This changes the equation--and that development is big news for those who drive a LOT around town...cabs come immediately to mind...along with those who don't do a lot of urban driving.

And this is the first public appearance of the 2010 Fusion Hybrid...it's sporting some camouflage because the formal introduction is a few days away. It'll make an appearance at a Ford store near you in spring.

The racing stuff will start tomorrow.

"Double Back Flips for Cousin Carl; Johnson Storms to 2nd; All But Clinches"

The Roush Fenway Racing brain trust of Jack Roush, left, crew chief Bob Osborne, center, and the winning driver at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards, who moved to 2nd in points behind Jimmie Johnson. Edwards won by 2.68 seconds over Jimmie Johnson to win his 7th race of the 2008 season, and 14th of his 154 race Sprint Cup career--that's not the entire story. Johnson lost a lap because of a pit penalty, fell to 30th...regained the lead lap...and on the final pit stop received four fresh tires...and restarted the race with nine laps to go from 11th. That did not last long, as Johnson picked off every driver but Edwards to finish 2nd...and add to his Sprint Cup point lead. With Texas, Phoenix and Homestead left, Johnson leads Edwards (now second in points) by 183, and Greg Biffle by 185. When asked, both Johnson and Edwards contend that there's lots of racing left, and that anything could happen...a bad day by Johnson at either Texas or Phoenix, or both...and the title will be clinched at Homestead (which is what NASCAR is hoping for). A good day by Johnson, coupled with some Talladega like days by Edwards and Biffle, will see an early clinch.

Edwards likes the Atlanta speedplant...Johnson too, but says it drives like a bigger version of Darlington. The double back flip refers to Edwards' Nationwide Series win on Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park. Edwards always executes a back flip from the roof of his car when he wins.

We're heading back to the office to take care of business the next couple of weeks...and will rejoin you from Homestead.

"JJ on Pole--Stop Me If You've Seen this Before"

For the third straight week, NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole in a Championship Chase race. The track as we reported earlier, had a "frog-strangler" shower hit this morning...and had issues with moisture weeping through the seams of the asphalt around the 1.5 mile superspeedway. There were a few laps run in practice...Ryan Newman was fast before the mist returned to wash away activity here at AMS. This means Joey Logano will not run...since the field was set, per the NASCAR rule book, by owner points.

We'll rejoin you from the AMS speedplant on race morning, which is supposed to be indian summer seasonal, with high temps in the 70's.

A hat tip to our radio colleague Capt. Herb Emory from Atlanta's legendary news-talk station WSB-AM 750 for his great work on traffic reporting. He was on top of a situation this morning which would have kept me in standstill traffic for an hour, had I taken that route. Capt. Herb has gotten more Atlantans out of jams than any 20 bailbondsmen on Peachtree Street combined thanks to his traffic reporting.

"Best of The Rest"

What you see here is Greg Biffle's Ford Fusion...getting ready to take the track here at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton (about 20 miles from downtown Atlanta), GA. The track was hit with a "frog-strangler" earlier today...and the track crews are trying to take care of "weepers", which are streamlets of water that percolate through seams in the pavement. If a racing tire were to run over a slick...the effect would be like that of you stepping on an ice cube on a wood floor, and slipping all over the place.

The economy is on the minds of the drivers--make no mistake. Jeff Burton, as he is wont to do, issued a very detailed and clear explanation of how this affects the garage area. So too, the man who drives the #16 Dish TV Ford Fusion. You'll hear more on our "Race-Talk " programs in the coming few weeks.

We'll check back in with a snapshot of the top qualifier (and with lights, the track and NASCAR can go as long as they need to here) after.

"Acid-Dipped Racecars? Too Much RedBull?"

Quick take from the NASCAR Justice department: The Red Bull #83 team got a major handslap because of some irregularities in the way the bodies were hung on the Car of Tomorrow. Driver Brian Vickers was whacked 150 driver points...crew chief Kevin Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad both were given a "time out" from NASCAR tracks (but not the shop...) and General Manager Jay Frye was doing the NASCAR version of the Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa ( Latin for My Fault, My Fault, My Most Grevious Fault) when the news broke. A major lash of NASCAR Justice, IMHO. Dieter Mateschitz was fined $150,000 (about an hours worth of US sales of the energy drink +/-).

The irregularities included thinner than 24 gauge sheet metal on the bodies. NASCAR did not confiscate the chassis, but sawed off the sheet metal and returned that chassis to Red Bull.

Hamlin will have a lot of time to figure out the chassis back at the shop while he is laboring in NASCAR Purgatory (a/k/a indefinite suspension).