I know this is hardly revolutionary thinking.
But I wanted to give Clint Bowyer a real chance before cropping him out of the title picture. Now, after finishing ninth at Martinsville on Sunday, Bowyer is 115 points behind Gordon, who still leads. Ninth is a fine finish, but at this time of year against a tandem like Gordon and Johnson, if you’re only keeping pace, you’re losing ground.
With four races left, needs to make up at least 29 points per race. Leaving the laps-led bonus out for a moment, Bowyer would have to win each of the final four races and hope that Gordon doesn’t finish any better than sixth in any of those races; the former is slightly more unlikely than the latter.
So, for what it’s worth, the career finishes of Gordon and Johnson at the final four tracks, thanks for Racing Reference from oldest to most recent (wins in bold):
GORDON
• At Atlanta: 31, 4, 31, 8, 15, 1, 32, 3, 3, 42, 17, 19, 1, 1, 38, 9, 4, 2, 6, 16, 6, 2, 1, 10, 34, 39, 2, 4, 6, 12.
• At Texas: 30, 31, 43, 25, 5, 2, 3, 3, 15, 14, 22, 9, 4.
• At Phoenix: 35, 4, 5, 5, 17, 7, 10, 7, 6, 3, 7, 3, 12, 3, 10, 4, 1.
• At Homestead: 10, 7, 28, 5, 5, 3, 9, 24.
JOHNSON
• At Atlanta: 29, 3, 22, 32, 3, 4, 1, 2, 16, 6, 2, 1.
• At Texas: 6, 8, 9, 3, 5, 11, 2, 38.
• At Phoenix: 15, 2, 6, 15, 7, 7, 2, 4.
• At Homestead: 25, 8, 3, 2, 40, 9.
That’s a pretty stout track record for Bowyer to beat. Wins and top-fives are far more prevalent than anything else.
• SO, IF YOU BELIEVE the rumor mill, NASCAR will have a new boss real soon. A handful of different outlets are reporting that Brian France will hand off to his uncle, Jim France.
Yahoo posted the write-up from a place called Cup Scene Daily, which shouldn’t be confused with NASCAR Scene and its Web site, scenedaily.com, which we link to frequently. It was also mentioned in a column by Robin Miller.
Anyway, here’s the lead from Cup Scene Daily:
“If rumblings are to be believed NASCAR may soon have a new CEO.
“According to some there is speculation inside International Speedway Corporation that current NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France will step down from his post ‘in days’ to make room for his uncle, Jim France.”
The key words here: rumblings, may, speculation. In the third graf, CSD used the term “conjecture,” which is the same thing as rumor.
Rumor. Rumblings.
Where have I heard this before? Ah, it’s coming back to me: That fateful column in the Daily Oklahoman by Jenni Carlson that led to the now-famous tirade by Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy, male, age 40.
The ensuing 43-page thread on SportsJournalists.com came to a few basic conclusions: Gundy was out of line with his response. Carlson was out of line by failing to get any sort of concrete information, instead relying on — her words — “the rumors and the rumblings.”
Back to CSD: They write that because of NASCAR’s stagnant state, a change in leadership may be necessary.
Huh?
It’s impossible to argue that NASCAR has hit a plateau; we all know this. But why would Brian France willingly cede control of a billion-dollar enterprise? Why would any of us?
Does France not have enough self-confidence to say, ‘Hey, I can get this thing turned around’? If he’s that weak-willed, how did he get to run the show anyway? Furthermore, would someone that wishy-washy institute the Chase for the Cup and the COT, against pressures from fans, owners and drivers?
It doesn’t make sense. Things don’t add up.
I may yet be proven wrong. If this announcement happens later this week, I’ll be the first to stand up and congratulate Robin Miller and CSD on their reporting.
I’ve made this offer before.
And I’m still waiting to have to make good on it.
(Photo by Steve Helber/Associated Press)
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And now we’re down to two: Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.