NHRA’s season ends in Pomona

By David Mirsky

Jimmie cracks corn for 3rd NASCAR Sprint Cup

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/16/08 — The Ford 400 at Homestead Florida was NASCAR’S final race of the 2008 racing calendar where one of two drivers had the chance to win this year’s championship. Jimmie Johnson was the odds on favorite, leading the point’s battle into this final race. Carl Edwards, who had been at the top of the points race for most of the year was the only other driver to have a chance of winning the Sprint Cup Championship today, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. To win the championship, Johnson only had to finish today’s race in 35th place, no matter how well Edwards finished. Edwards, on the other hand, had to accumulate as many points as he possibly could. He needed to lead more laps, and to win the race to even be in the running to win the championship. Basically, Johnson would have had the worse race of his life to lose the championship…and if you know Jimmie Johnson, as a two time champion, that was going to be nearly impossible to expect.

This race for the most part was uneventful, the only race that mattered was between Johnson and Edwards, and it looked like all the other drivers stayed out of the leader’s way, not wanting to affect the outcome of this close championship battle. There were a minimal amount of yellow flags, and no crashes, but plenty of tension and anticipation as to the race’s last lap. More tension came about with less than 10 laps left in the race when crew chiefs began telling their drivers that because of the lack of yellow flags, fuel management was coming into play. Even Edwards had to roll back the throttle in order to conserve fuel. Many other of the top 10 cars were forced to pull into the pits for fuel, taking them out of those top ten finishes.
At the end of the day, Carl Edwards proved a worthy adversary by winning his 9th race of the year, and coming up less than 60 points behind Jimmie Johnson’s 15th place finish. Johnson is only the second man in NASCAR history to have won the championship three straight years in row; 30 years after Cale Yarborough did it. To win one championship is hard enough, to win three championships over a career is nearly impossible, but to win three championships in consecutive years is something most of us won’t ever see again. Congratulations Jimmie…you deserve this year’s championship…you’re a great driver. And so ends this year’s NASCAR season. After this year’s winter break, NASCAR will return in January.
Also ending their season’s series was the NHRA, ending up in Pomona for the POWERade series championships. Cruz Pedregon, who 16 years earlier won his first FUNNY CAR Championship finally repeated by winning this year’s finals by beating Ron Capps giving him championship. Tony Schumacher clinched the TOP FUEL Championship in Las Vegas earlier. This is Schumacher’s 6th title. Taking his 4th title, Jeg Coughlin won the PRO STOCK crown, and Eddie Krawiec won the PRO STOCK motorcycle championship. John and Ashley Force both lost their races in the second round. Neither were in contention for the championship titles. However, Ashley’s crew won top honors, as crew of the year, a tougher than tough job that deserves recognition.
Also newsworthy is Helio Castroneves, and his pending court case with the IRS who has indicted Castroneves of tax evasion. The federal court judge refused to postpone the trial to November, and the trial will proceed in March, conflicting with next year’s race schedule.
And finally, Bernie Ecclestone’s fashionable Croatian wife, Slavica has filed for divorce from the F1 czar, who also happens to be one of England’s richest men, with a worth in the billions of dollars. The outcome of their divorce should exceed much more than Beatles’, Paul McCartney’s recent multi-million dollar settlement. Slavica is 28 years younger than the 78 year old Ecclestone. The couple have two daughters, in their 20′s.
And to our readers, I want to thank you for clicking us on. I hope I was able to bring you “the cut to the chase” race reports, and other various articles during this season…F1, NASCAR, NHRA,etc…that kept you up to speed. And unless Angelie Jolie and I end up on a deserted island somewhere, I’ll be back for next season’s races. Enjoy the holiday season, and if I don’t see you, have a great New Year!