See the race for the cup and help Carolina needy children.
What generous hearts the NASCAR community in Concord, NC has shown for these kids! What a great opportunity for you to enjoy a final chase race in Charlotte for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and you will be treated to a full afternoon concert from the nationally acclaimed group MERCYME and TOBY MAC, premier headliners performing from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The its time start the engines under the evening lights! All for $30.00 and help a very needy child.
The Favorite?: Several drivers pick Jimmie Johnson to win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title.
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MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: September 16, 2009
Tony Stewart might have been better off not finishing first in points in the Sprint Cup regular season.
Only one driver — Stewart in 2005 — has won the regular season and championship since NASCAR started its playoff system five years ago. And although Stewart hopes to repeat that feat, the odds are against him.
Kyle Busch, for instance, led after the regular season last year but finished 10th as Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive championship.
Mark Martin, by virtue of four regular-season wins, will start first in the reshuffled seedings 5,040 points. Also in the Chase for the Championship are Stewart and Johnson (5,030 each), Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne (5,020 each), Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers (5,010 each), and Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle (5,000 each).
So who’s the favorite? Here’s who some of the drivers named (other than themselves):
□ Brian Vickers (1 win): “It would be hard to bet against Jimmie right now. Obviously, four in a row has never been done, but he’s won the past three, so I would be hard-pressed to pick someone else. Tony, if I had to pick someone besides Jimmie. He is looking really good right now. They have the same equipment, same car, same engine, same engineering staff, same information, so it’s going to be left to the drivers and the crews. We know both of those teams are going to be very strong.”
□ Tony Stewart (3): “Whoever is in it. How do you make a favorite? I guess Jimmie Johnson after three years of winning would be considered the favorite. But with the field the way it is this year, I don’t know how you can just pick one guy. This series thing can change so fast in the course of one race. The whole complexion of the season can be changed after one week.”
□ Ryan Newman (0): ” … I think there is more potential for any team to beat themselves than there is to beat who they think is a better competitor. If you’re sitting here thinking about who you have to beat, then you’re not thinking about your own racecar and what you have to do to be successful. You’d be crazy not to sit there and say that Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson are the team to beat, but if I sit here and think about that, then I would just be doing your job.”
□ Greg Biffle (0): “I really feel like the 99 (Edwards) has pretty good momentum. He’s done well, and he’s proven he can do well everywhere he goes. I think that he’s definitely a guy that can do it. The 14 (Stewart) has shown signs that they’re capable this year. You can’t really count the 48 (Johnson) out, and I hate to bet against any of those guys up there like Denny Hamlin or Jeff Gordon….”
□ Jimmie Johnson (3): “Maybe other people view it that (I have a target on my back), but I live by the thought that that’s last year…. If we take last year’s setup to the tracks, we’ll run 15th. Nobody has had a clear advantage. I’m optimistic and feel we have a very good chance. We led a bunch at Michigan and didn’t get it done. Bristol we were fast and had troubles…. We have the speed.”
□ Mark Martin (4): “All of ‘em. All it takes is a 10-race roll to win that thing.”
□ Denny Hamlin (2): “Us. We’re the ones to beat right now.”
Besides yourself?
“We’re the only ones that can beat ourselves,” he said, grinning.
