Final Race – Lots Of Reasons To Watch
by John Wiedemann
11/19/2009

While the 2009 Sprint Cup Series wraps up the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, there are a number of stories to pay attention to. Many drivers have yet to win this year while others are looking for a top finish to improve their positions. Still others are looking to get back to running well and continue the momentum into 2010. There is also one driver that is looking to make history.

Of course the number one story to watch is Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team hoping to wrap up a stellar season with their fourth championship in a row, a feat no one in NASCAR's top series has been able to accomplish. Johnson needs to finish 25th or better to clinch the title, no matter what Mark Martin does. If Martin, the only driver left that can challenge Johnson, leads the most laps and wins the race, he would need Johnson to finish out of the top twenty-five. While this is a tall order, Johnson only needs to look back at Texas, two races ago, where he finished 38th. On the other hand, Johnson only finished out of the top twenty-five six times out of thirty-five Sprint Cup Series races this season. Even those who claim their dislike for Johnson should be watching this weekend. The race will either result in making history or produce a crazy points battle at the end. It may include both.

There are still a number of drivers that are looking for their first win of the year, drivers that you would not have guessed to be in this situation when the season started. Number one on the list has to be Carl Edwards. While Edwards won nine races in 2008 and looked to finish the season strong, he has no Sprint Cup Series wins in 2009 and has faded at the end of this season. Edwards only has two top ten finishes in the nine Chase races this year, a stark comparison to the three wins and eight top five finishes in the 2008 Chase. Edwards is the defending champion of the Ford 400 this weekend. Also looking to a trip back to victory lane are Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Although he is having a great comeback year, Ryan Newman would like to cap it off with a win. Juan Pablo Montoya also has had a great season, but he would love to add an oval victory to his NASCAR career stats.

Teams looking to finish out the season on an upswing towards 2010 have to include those in the Roush-Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing organizations. RCR had three teams in the Chase in 2008 and none of them found their way back this year. Over the last couple races the RCR teams look like they may be making their way back, but the results of the previous season don't always prove to carry over. At the end of 2008, RFR looked poised for a dominant 2009 based on Edwards wins and the results of all five teams at the end of the season. Two races into the 2009 season had Matt Kenseth with two victories and it has been all downhill since then. Comments from drivers and crews with RFR make one wonder if they have yet to discover the reason for the performance drop. Homestead-Miami Speedway has been a good track for both RCR and RFR in the past, we'll see this weekend.

The latest news on the ongoing scuffle between Denny Hamlin and Brad Kesolowski has Hamlin claiming that he will use Saturday's Nationwide Series race to get revenge on the young driver. According to Hamlin, many drivers have a score to settle with Kesolowski and Hamlin wants to be the first one in line. There are probably many other scores to be settled in all three series racing this weekend, something to keep an eye on.

The top 35 teams based on owner's points are guaranteed a spot in the 2010 Daytona 500 as well as the first five races of next season. There are 114 points between John Andretti, currently in 35th, and Scott Speed. Speed will need to finish in the top six to have any chance at passing Andretti. If Andretti finishes twenty-seventh or better, he will lock up the spot.

Matt Kenseth has had DeWalt as his primary sponsor for his entire Sprint Cup Series career. Sunday's race will be the final race that DeWalt will sever that capacity for the Daytona 500 winner. Finishing up 2009 the way he started the season would be a fitting way for Kenseth to celebrate the relationship with DeWalt.

While Jeff Gordon will be eliminated from the Chase for the Championship when teammate Jimmie Johnson starts the race, Gordon will be looking at a personal goal. Gordon has won at least one time at every track he has raced at in the Sprint Cup Series, with the exception of Homestead-Miami Speedway. With top five finishes in half of the ten events he competed at the track topped by a third place finish in 2004, Gordon has had his chances. This weekend gives Gordon another shot.

These stories and more make this weekend a must watch. Besides, the cars won't hit the track again until next February .





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