[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]“A champion is as a champion does in all things. The way he walks. The way he talks. The way he presents himself. The way he treats those that can not advance his cause. Every champion knows that the only true defeat is a victory without honor.” – R.C. Liggett

Today we saw a very distinct and defining view of the three championship contenders. They are three very different competitors and very different personalities. But which one will truly represent our sport with the class and dignity of a true champion?

Until the race concludes in Homestead next week, Jimmie Johnson is the series champion. He is a four time series champion. He has represented our sport with class and graciousness for four years. There are many who say his time is up. Let someone else win. However, Jimmie Johnson is not willing to just step aside.

Jimmie has handled the pressure with the same grace that he has handled wearing super man’s cape. He has gone out and raced his way back into contention. Granted his crew has faded late in the year and has seemed to struggle throughout the year.

Through the challenges of mind games from Mike Ford and Denny Hamlin, challenges on the track, and struggles in the pits, Johnson has kept his cool. Today was no different. He managed his fuel mileage with coaching from Chad Knaus and made it work. His composure kept him in the championship run. Had he panicked or refused to listen to Chad, he would have been out of the running. The true display of trust and confidence came when on the next to the last lap, Chad said, “Let the 29 go if you have to but stay smooth.” With the 29 closing fast in his mirror, Jimmie Johnson did just that. It was that consistent smooth rhythm that kept him ahead of the 29 and within striking distance of the 11 come Miami.

The points leader is Denny Hamlin. He leads both Johnson and Harvick by a total of 46 points. In 1991, Rusty Wallace was quoted as saying there is a difference between cocky and confident. Anyone can talk the talk but the man that gets the job done, well that is confidence.”

Denny Hamlin has backed up all of his predictions as though he were reading from a script. He and crew chief have played head games with the best. Everything from choosing the pit stall in front of the champions, to talking trash in the media. Up until today, it appeared that maybe it was working.

But fuel mileage threw a monkey wrench into Hamlin’s cake walk. Hamlin stated that his fuel mileage had been excellent all year and he didn’t understand why it was so bad today. He didn’t know whether his crew chief was being conservative or whether he really couldn’t make it. This translates to It wasn’t my fault it was the crews fault that we didn’t have enough to make it.

Hamlin’s frustration was illustrated by his in car camera when he threw his gloves. Hit the instrument panel, slammed the steering wheel and threw a bottle of water at a crew member who had handed him the bottle of cold water when he got out of the car. When he did his post race TV interview with Dr. Jerry Punch he didn’t even look at him. He didn’t look at the camera. And basically he pouted through the interview.

His behavior, based on our definition that we started with, would say that Denny is not quite ready to be a champion of our sport. “A true champion knows that the only true defeat is a victory without honor.” Denny didn’t win. He had the strongest and best car. But circumstances did not play out in his favor. But he lost with honor. He did not lose with dignity.

Kevin Harvick and his Gil Martin lead Shell Chevrolet over came a huge obstacle. A pit road mistake found Harvick returning to pit road to place a missing lug nut. Harvick, who is famous for his temper and berating his crew over mistakes, kept silent. He would state later that he said nothing because his crew had been so good the last few races and things happen.

It was that missing lug nut that kept Harvick in the running. By returning to pit road and then stopping for 2 tires Harvick had 10 laps more fuel than his competitors. He came up through the field methodically. He kept the fenders on the car. He kept the car pointed towards the start finish line and he kept his foot on the floor. Again, as with Johnson smooth and steady wins the war. Although he didn’t catch and pass the 48, he did cement himself into the final race for the championship next week.

Harvick’s temper is legendary. His aggressiveness is well documented on and off the track. As is his sense of humor and his relationship with the fans. Harvick is quick study. He is a great driver and he has a great sense of what it means to lead the sport and he has an experienced car owner to help him climb those ropes and learn the road of a champion.

Jimmie Johnson summed up the race in Miami best when he called it a “one race winner takes all shootout.” But this is no ordinary winner takes all race. This is the Sprint Cup Championship. This is a half a million bucks to win the race and then somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 million dollars to win the championship plus the champion’s purse share next year. This winner takes all defines the term. And if history holds true and the personalities we have seen to date from the three contenders stay true to form, it fits Harvick’s style the best.

Aggressive, hard charging, not afraid to bend the sheet metal, and gutsy enough to keep charging with a less than perfect car describe Kevin Harvick’s driving style and season to a T. But will he win?

Jimmie Johnson has not won 4 championships being a quitter. He knows the odds. He has faced them in the past though not recently. And he has one of the very best in the business sitting on that pit box every week. They say it’s easier to find a job when you have a job and Jimmie Johnson has a job. He is the Sprint Cup Champion taking it away from him may not be nearly as easy as the points might make it look.

Winning this championship will take not only bravado. It will take skill. It will take patience. It will take calculation. And most of all it will take a cool head. Those are all traits that we have not seen as of yet from Denny Hamlin. Although he has a 3 point lead going into Miami that is like having a stop stick to stop a train. That train I believe is Jimmie Johnson.

Next week is not here yet and while it may be anyone’s game, experience and grace under pressure will most likely ultimately prevail. The head games have started, Denny Hamlin and Mike Ford started them, but I believe that Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus will finish them at the head table in Vegas.

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Congratulations to Carl Edwards on his sweep of the weekend at Phoenix in the Nationwide Series and the Cup series. Hard fought and well deserved wins. Welcome back to Victory Lane Carl. You were missed. It was a very very thing classy to share your victory celebration with the fans. Congratulations to Todd Bodine on clinching the Camping World Truck Series Championship. Congratulations to Clint Bowyer on his Camping World Truck Series win.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

He’s the antithesis of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in every way and his fans are well aware and don’t care. Because that’s what they like about him and when the time comes they can be just as large in numbers and can get their point across.

Kyle Busch and his fans have perfected the art of being outspoken. Last weekend in Texas it was hard to tell which of the two were tossing out more harsh words.

It all started on Saturday when Carl Edwards beat Busch in the Nationwide Series race on a late restart that appeared to have jumped the restart. In a post race interview Busch started blasted Edwards and NASCAR and threw out a few words that started with the letter ‘F.’

The following day it became much, much worse.

His No.18 M&M’s Toyota could have been a contender for the race win, even after spinning on lap 159 since he had kept it off the wall and didn’t have any damage. But NASCAR deemed Busch to be speeding on pit road to avoid going a lap down. He was called back to pit road to serve a one lap penalty.

That didn’t sit well with the driver and he began to let NASCAR know exactly how he felt about them. That included more four letter words, plenty of ‘F’ bombs and even a one fingered salute. In response, NASCAR called Busch back down pit road to this time serve a two lap penalty for what they deemed ‘unsportsmanlike behavior’ a term commonly used in football.

Upon hearing that their driver might be facing further penalties their frustration surfaced. To them Busch was just showing his emotion, something that he’s very good at and NASCAR can’t fine a driver for being emotional.

Others didn’t agree that he should have been penalized in the race and since he was, there was no need to further penalize him. The most common defense for Busch was that NASCAR had opened the door when they initiated the ‘Boys have at it’ policy before the year began.

The policy doesn’t cover NASCAR officials and Busch stepped over the line.

On the Tuesday following the race, penalty day, Busch was handed a fine from NASCAR for his behavior. He paid the $25,000 and apologized and acknowledged his probation until the end of December.

Busch may have moved on but his fans certainly haven’t.

Following the penalty they took to the social networking site Twitter to send NASCAR their thoughts. Most of them, as you can imagine weren’t pretty. Then there were others who decided to take a different route.

Black sheep.

That’s what his fans were feeling like and how they interpreted the situation and as such they have changed their Twitter aviator to a black sheep. A black sheep is someone that’s regarded as a disgrace to a certain group and to his fans NASCAR put Busch in that position.

One such fan, Hank Kershell, who goes by @HankKershell on Twitter, from Arlington, TX, nearly exploded as much as Busch did. Kershell is now boycotting the last two races of the Sprint Cup Series season but will continue to support the driver that he’s been a fan of since 2004.

“Back when it was just me, his mom and dad and Grandma,” he said with a laugh. “Well, just about.”

For Kershell he doesn’t like when Busch tries to reign in his emotion, even though it can land him in trouble like it did at Texas. When that emotion is reigned in, he says, it’ll start to diminish how much Busch wins. As long as Busch gives it 100% every time, no matter where he ends up, it’ll still be exciting to watch.

Texas though, “Kyle had an emotional meltdown during the race and I was OK with the fine,” he said. “I would have had a problem with further points penalties.”

The black sheep comes from what Kershell says is penalizing a driver that does a lot for the sport and gets little in return.

“I finally got tired of everyone always trying to treat Kyle like a little child when no one is bring in more new fans to the sport,” he said. “Although I agree with the penalty, their [NASCAR] statement afterwards was pretty condescending as well. No one watching really cares if some official gets flipped off – especially since the official never saw it. Kyle gets flipped off more than anyone in America; many fans are far more childish with less class than Kyle. And there are little kids around them when they do it.”

Many other NASCAR fans around the globe may not meet his passion or conviction by traveling this past, but the sport does have some of the best fans in the world. For now though, Kershell isn’t alone in his black sheep support.

Brandie Merrill, @Kbm18 on Twitter, from Logantown, Pa has been a Busch fan since his rookie season, and she too has changed her aviator to a black sheep. What drew her to Busch was the fact that all he wants to do is win races but also acknowledges that sometimes his actions aren’t appropriate.

“We are all human and we all make mistakes,” said Merrill. “And we all get through them and go on and that’s what I love about Kyle – he’s human and he doesn’t try to be someone that’s he’s not.

“He was already hot under the collar from the last restart on Saturday in the Nationwide Series race when Carl Edwards jumped the restart and NASCAR didn’t do anything about it … I wouldn’t blame him one bit, I say he had all the right to be mad like he was.”

The official being flipped off came from the fact that he was an easy target, says Merrill, since he had to stand in front of the car. That didn’t put Busch in the right though, she said. The additional fine was a different story.

“Maybe NASCAR shouldn’t have made it that high but they did,” said Merrill.

The reason for Merrill’s black sheep was a little different than Kershell’s.

“I changed my aviator to the black sheep in support of Kyle because of the weekend that NASCAR hanged him. I had always thought of Kyle, not only by all the haters, but NASCAR at times as the black sheep,” she said.

NASCAR doesn’t want Busch to keep winning and breaking the records that he is her theory.

“I have a couple of followers that are on the same mission as I am by displaying the black sheep,” said Merrill. “They said that they will change it when Kyle wins his next Cup race. As for me, I haven’t decided yet, I’ll support it as long as I think I should.”

The frustration is still evident in Busch fans even a week after the incident. Their Twitter pages continue to light up and the army of black sheep continues to grow. Appears that sometimes it takes more than a bag of M&M’s to deal with the aftermath of a bad day at the races.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Before today’s Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, I had just about made up my mind that Denny Hamlin was going to win the Sprint Cup championship. They had momentum and the psychological edge. About Lap 250, I still believed that. Hamlin was leading, as he had all day, and only Carl Edwards seemed to have anything for him. When Edwards passed Hamlin at Lap 266, I thought Hamlin was going to finish first or second and gain lots of points and then came that dreaded problem at flat tracks—gas mileage.

We all struggle with gas mileage whatever we drive. Some of us live with SUV’s and pickup trucks that get minimal mileage. Some of us drive hybrids or small cars that get better, but you can bet we all watch it. And it’s only a few tracks where it’s a problem. Phoenix was one of those tracks today. Usually you can bet on a late caution so the drivers and crews can get fuel and tires for a final run, but not today. With only five cautions in the whole race, that wasn’t going to happen, so people gambled. Among the drivers who gambled were winner Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and others. Johnson, who was second in the championship struggle, was short on gas, but Harvick, the guy in third place, had the good fortune of having a lug nut missing on his car. The pit stop to correct that allowed him to get enough fuel to comfortably finish the race. Not so for a dominant Denny Hamlin.

Just when it looked like Hamlin was going to gain needed points on both Johnson and Hamlin, no caution flag was in sight. Though Hamlin led 190 of the 312 laps, he finished 12th and lost 18 valuable points to Johnson. Johnson took a tremendous gamble, but credit crew chief Chad Knaus for rolling the dice. What could have been a disaster turned into a win in the points battle. I do not expect anything less next week at Homestead. I guess when you’ve won that many in a row, you can gamble. And when you know that you are that good, why not take the chance.

This is why I believe that Johnson will win his fifth championship at Ford Championship weekend in Homestead. When you have four trophies, why not gamble for five? You’ve been there so you don’t sweat the small stuff. Hamlin’s crew will sulk on what happened this week and make mistakes just like they did today. What would have happened if Hamlin, with a very fast car, had pitted at Lap 235? We’ll never know, but you can bet it’s eating at Hamlin, the Gibbs racing team, and crew chief Mike Ford right now. How much of hangover on this lost opportunity will carry over into next week? I’ll bet it will be on their minds for a long time. Strange things happen in this sport, but my money’s on the No. 48, and that’s a shame. It doesn’t do NASCAR any good to have the same song every year. It should be an exciting weekend.

Of course you have to admire what Carl Edwards did this weekend. He won the pole for the Sprint Cup race, qualified second for the Nationwide race, race circles around everyone in Sprint Cup practice, and won the Sprint Cup race. If there ever was a sign that the boys at Roush-Fenway had finally figured things out, this weekend was it. Whatever the problem was is probably solved. And next week they head for Homestead where the Roush Fords have dominated for years. Seeing Jack Roush, who cheated death twice in the last few years, celebrating, was a wonderful sight, but that doesn’t help Denny, Jimmie and Kevin. They are in a fight for a championship while the Fords are only looking for a win. And that’s a large part of the problem with today’s format.

I’m not saying that Hamlin, Harvick, and Johnson were trying to win on Sunday. They were, but so much emphasis is placed on the championship that it was hardly mentioned throughout the race broadcast that there was a race outside of the championship struggle. The whole emphasis was on the three drivers who had a chance to win a championship that who would have thought that Greg Biffle pulled off another top five finish or that Ryan Newman, who had won at Phoenix earlier in the year, was second. In fact, we didn’t get that information until Jimmie and Chad were interviewed. As I’ve said many times, in my youth, it was more about who won on Sunday than who won the championship. I guess it’s the lust of the ownership of the series to make NASCAR more like the stick and ball sports where the championship (they think) is all that matters. With this “closest Chase in history” propaganda we’re going to hear all week, we’ll get the same kind of broadcast next week where guys like Biffle and Newman will do great things, but only be afterthoughts. David Pearson won his last championship in 1969 and no one remembers that, but can remember his magic in the No. 21 for a lot of years. Now, so much emphasis is placed on the championship that no one will remember that Carl Edwards broke a 70-race losing streak Sunday. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is who is the champion, something that has been artificially created to compete with sports that cannot be competed with. It boggles my mind.

So, my money’s on Johnson. Hamlin’s team will make mistakes and Harvick will be his steady self. Knaus will pull a rabbit out of his hat and win the almighty championship by a point. When 2011 comes around, many will try to dethrone the magical No. 48 team, but will fail as usual, but until folks realize that it’s the winner who should get the spoils, it won’t make any difference. I’m glad great drivers like Biffle, Bowyer, Stewart, McMurray, and Edwards won races during these last ten events. It’s as if they didn’t even show up in the media’s eyes. I guess there’s always next year. Where we will repeat the same mistake again as ratings fall and attendance goes in the dumpster. And we will wonder why.