Jimmie Johnson appeared to be breezing into the history books, joining Cale Yarborough as the only other driver to win 3 consecutive championships.  But the 48 train was derailed in Texas.  Johnson used his mulligan with a 15th-place finish in Texas.  He dodged a huge bullet in Atlanta, but was never able to get back on the lead lap in the Dickies 500.  Carl Edwards won the race and led the most laps, taking advantage of Johnson's struggles and earning maximum points.  While Johnson still holds a 106-point lead over Edwards, he can't afford another slip like he had in Texas.

This is still Johnson's championship to lose as it stands right now, but Edwards will be looking to close the gap a little more this Sunday in Phoenix.  Johnson has won the last 2 races at Phoenix, but don't count out Edwards by any means.  In 8 starts, he has 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s, an 11th, and only 1 DNF.  Even though he has yet to win, that's a pretty good record.  He runs well here, and if he finishes just a couple positions ahead of Johnson this weekend, things will be very interesting heading into Homestead.

Edwards and teammate Greg Biffle have both said that if they are less than 100 points behind Jimmie Johnson heading into the season finale in Homestead, they'll have a chance to win the championship.  I agree with that assumption from these 2 Roushketeers.  Johnson has had a few good runs at Homestead, but a Roush driver has won this race 5 out of the last 6 years, including 3 in a row for Biffle from 2004-2006.  Johnson only had 1 major slip-up in 2005 when he wrecked and wound up with a DNF in 40th position.  But we know anything can happen, even when you're on top of the world.  If you don't believe me, just remember what happened to Davey Allison in the season finale in 1992.  He was running in 6th position, right where he needed to finish to win the championship, and he got caught up in a wreck.  This championship is far from over, but as I said, it is Johnson's championship to lose.  He needs to stay out of the trouble that took out Allison back in 1992.  He also can't afford to go a lap down early again at Phoenix and have Edwards and Biffle finish in the top 5 again.  If that happens, Johnson is in some serious trouble heading for the season finale in Homestead.

The fat lady hasn't sung yet, but she will if Johnson finishes well in Phoenix.  If he has just a so-so day, we're going to be seeing a very interesting race in Homestead!

Until next time, I'm your NASCAR VP saying get the fat lady off the stage, it's not over yet!

BK over and out