[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Eight down, two to go. In two races we will crown the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion. Leader of the pack Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead Saturday afternoon in Texas. Many thought Johnson was out of contention to win the race on the final restart but he hung with Keselowski and then he took the lead from him. Johnson now has a seven point lead over Keselowski heading into Phoenix. Johnson has been known to have success at Phoenix and Keselowski will need to make sure Johnson doesn’t have a performance at Phoenix like he had this past weekend at Texas.
Jimmie Johnson started on the pole Sunday in Texas and he led over half the race but he fell back a few positions towards the end of the race before triumphing to the lead in the final few laps. On the final restart, Johnson stayed with leader Brad Keselowski until the exit of turn two when Johnson took the lead. Johnson was able to hold Keselowski off on the final lap to take the victory. Johnson has now hit his hot streak in the Chase. This hot streak has led him to five consecutive championships in the past. Johnson knows what he needs to do in these final two races to bring home the championship trophy and he will do all he needs to do in these next two races.
A truly heartbreaking finish for Brad Keselowski left him finishing second to the driver who he’s competing with for the championship. A pit strategy call by strategy expert Paul Wolfe gave Keselowski the lead under the second to last caution. Keselowski held off Kyle Busch on the second to last restart but he was unable to hold off Jimmie Johnson on the final restart. Keselowski did the best he could without winning though. A seven point deficit to leader Jimmie Johnson won’t be too difficult to overcome but beating a five time champion in the game he has won five times will be the difficult part.
The championship battle is likely down to a two horse race, much like last season. That leaves Clint Bowyer in the dust. Bowyer had a slight chance at the championship heading into Texas but he needed to beat Keselowski and Johnson and he didn’t. Bowyer now sits 36 points back of leader Jimmie Johnson and without some luck and bad finishes by Johnson and Keselowski, Bowyer won’t be holding up the championship trophy this season.
We saw an incredible two driver battle for the championship shape up last year and we should expect the same this season. Keselowski and Johnson will be battling it out throughout the next two races for the championship. Last year’s championship battle ended with a tie after the final race concluded, could this year’s battle get any closer than that? The way it is shaping up, it definitely could be. Phoenix will be a key race for Brad Keselowski who can’t let Johnson win or even place better than him. Two of the sport’s greatest drivers will be battling it out for the championship and you won’t want to miss this battle take place. It promises to be epic.
