Racin' With Russ
By Russell Schmidt

Johnson and Busch dominate Phoenix
Mondday, November 12, 2007

Kyle Busch had an easy time winning the Craftsman Truck race followed by his third checkers in the Busch ranks, but Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive Cup win on Sunday in Phoenix was just plain uncanny.

Once again, the team made no mistakes. On or off the track, they dialed in their car and the driver left nothing on the table, many commenting he was not driving like he was in a tight battle leading teammate Jeff Gordon by only 30 points. Instead, the points leader made several daring three-wide moves en route to his 10th win on the season.

Johnson was among the top ten, until the final 20-30 laps. That's when they really seem to hit the afterburners, get to the front and stay there, despite the best late-race challengers.

Gordon struggled once again with the handle on his Dupont Chevy, staying among the top ten, but barely.

Rounding out the top five in this one included Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

The race started with polesitter Carl Edwards leading most of the first 100 laps, until his Roush engine let go, sending the Office Depot driver home early and suffering a big hit in the points down to ninth.

Another driver with a short day was Dale Earnhardt Jr, his day over with a driver error, losing the car a third of the way in, winding up at the very bottom of the charts. This season can't end soon enough for the fan favorite.

Johnson leaves the West with an 86 point lead over Gordon as they head for the finale in Homestead, Florida. The Lowe's Chevy driver has only to finish 18th or better to wrap up his second consecutive title.

My opinion? It's his to lose... and I still don't like the Chase format as it really doesn't reward the best driver. It's created two seasons, one a 26-week and the other a 10. Under the old system, Gordon would have wrapped up his fifth title by more than 300 points. Now that the third year of Chase is over…will it go away anytime soon? Nah! NASCAR likes it and has implied there will be no changes of any kind in the near future. What do you think? Drop me a line.

As mentioned earlier, Kyle Busch won the truck race on Friday night, but not without battling the likes of Ron Hornaday who has been on an overaggressive mission of late.

Once again, Hornaday fought... correction... beat his way into the lead, only to fade at the end while Busch rocketed into the lead and stayed there for the win.

Wrapping up the top five included Hornaday, Mike Bliss, Jason Leffler and Kevin Harvick.

Points leader Mike Skinner wound up eighth, lost part of his lead over Hornaday who now sits just 29 points back with one race to go. As I've said before, this battle will probably go down to the final turn of the last lap. The gloves are off…big time with these two grizzled veterans. Might be the best show of the weekend.

Over on the Busch side, Kyle Busch led the most laps and despite a strong effort by Matt Kenseth, notched another win, his 11th career by the end of the day. A big pat on the back for Kenseth however, as he competed most of the race without power steering, a Herculean effort for anyone.

Completing the top five included Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Scott Wimmer and Harvick. Newly crowned champ Carl Edwards finished seventh.

Open wheelers Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr finished 29th and 39th respectively.

From Rumorville

Speaking of Hornish Jr, it was officially announced by Penske that the IRL Champ and Indy 500 winner will pilot a third stocker alongside Kurt Busch and for now... Ryan Newman, for next year and beyond. Hornish Jr will drive a Mobil 1 sponsored No. 77, and may wind up using Busch's points to make the first five shows of next year. Hornish finally made his first Cup race on Sunday, finishing two laps down in 30th. He's got a ways to go to get a grip on the 'taxi cab' line.

Petty's gone? Well, not exactly, but after more than half a century, the Petty's have made a very big decision to move out of Level Cross and down the road to Mooresville, alongside most of the competitors. This reluctant move is necessary however, to keep up with the 'Jones's' in some of the latest technologies, something the Petty's have fallen behind in over the past decade in particular. Look for the move to be completed by the end of the year.

Did you know?

Despite Jeff Gordon's odds of winning a fifth title is slim to none, the four-time champ racked up his 29th top 10 finish over the weekend, something only Dale Jarrett did in 1999.

That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will review the final madness in Homestead, Florida and discuss the season's NASCAR champions and more racing news from around the globe.