Turn 4 Transitions
Friday, November 19, 2010
By Natalie Anthony
Ford 400
November 21, 2010 (Sunday)
1:15 pm – ESPN
Denny Hamlin – 2009 Ford 400 winner!
400 laps may be scheduled for this weekend’s
race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS), but lap 399 is the only one that is
really going to matter the most. The Championship
point spread this season is the closest it has ever been and depicting the
winner will not be possible until Turn 4 of the last lap of this Sunday’s race.
Of course the many scenarios
portrayed by the potential outcomes of the race give Denny
Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick all equal
shots of winning the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. All the number crunching in the sport can be
narrowed down to two things in order for a driver to win the Championship: 1.)
Collect the most points by leading a lap, leading the most laps, and winning
the race. 2.) Vex
and curse the cars and drivers of the other two guys vying for your spot.
There has been some dirt flying
from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) camp and specifically Championship
contender Kevin Harvick has stated point blank that
he is not above racing dirty and dumping Denny Hamlin or Jimmie Johnson in
guarantee he takes the Cup home to RCR.
I can appreciate the determination of “Happy Harvick”
and the lax attitude by NASCAR officials to let the drivers
police their own traffic, but nasty driving will lose the #29 some respect and fans
and could garner repercussions that will haunt him into 2011 and beyond. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson have both
responded to Kevin’s game plan and a one
last ditch effort on their part to win the Championship will not boil down to
wrecking their competition. Their
endeavors to win this last race and take home the Cup started weeks ago when
they were preparing their cars, reviewing HMS stats, drilling (Or in Johnson’s
case switching) pit crews, etc. If Kevin
Harvick crashes out the #11 or #48 to win this
season’s Championship, it will be like the career ending maneuver that Mike
Tyson pulled on Evander Holyfield.
Kevin, don’t bit off more than you can chew because people will still be
mentioning your down fall decades later.
The race at HMS is going to be
tight regardless of the point standings. Denny Hamlin won the race last Fall, but Kevin Harvick rounded
out the 3rd position and Jimmie Johnson finished in the Top 5. I hope that the winner of the race is a
non-chase contender, so that this year’s Champion will have had to struggle
right until the very end competing with not only two other drivers, but the
rest of the field that helped him get where he is going to be on Sunday.
I wish a speedy recovery to Kasey Kahne who will be having double knee surgery over the NASCAR
break.
See you in 2011.
Track Stats
Ford 400
(November 22,
2009)
Top 10
Results
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jeff Burton
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kyle Busch
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10.AJ Allmendinger
Post Questions
& Comments to:
NASCARNATALIEANTHONY@yahoo.com
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