Carl Edwards has back-to-back wins, but has gained only 72 points on leader Tony Stewart. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Texas

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi

Obviously, Vince didn't live to see the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

E-mailer John McKay passed along his sincere thanks for writing off Mark Martin, despite his second-place finish at Atlanta. "But as I understand the NASCAR points system," John said, "he is not mathematically eliminated."

Carl Edwards

If ever there was a doubt that the current point system is flawed, here's a wake-up call:

If Driver A finishes 43rd in one Chase race, but leads a lap, leads the most laps and wins the other nine races he will accumulate 1,744 points (190 x 9 = 1,710 + 34 = 1,744).

If Driver B leads one lap and finishes second in all 10 races, he will total 1,750 points (175 x 10 = 1,750).

In the end, Driver A has nine more wins, but loses the title by six points under the Cup system. So yes, one bad finish hurts a driver's chances more than a victory -- or victories -- enhance his chances to win the championship.

Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have been the most consistent drivers in the first eight Chase races. They continue to rack up top-10 finishes, which makes it harder for other title contenders to make up ground. Carl Edwards has back-to-back wins, but has gained only 72 points because Stewart's average finish the past two races is 7.5.

In this scenario, in this point system, winning isn't everything. Which reminds me of another Lombardi pearl of wisdom:

"If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?"

News o' the day

Monday's news that Bobby Labonte and Joe Gibbs Racing are parting ways didn't rock the Richter Scale, but was nonetheless disconcerting. OK, so BLab is 0-for-70 since winning at Homestead on Nov. 16, 2003. So are a lot of other drivers.

Maybe a change of scenery is just what the 2000 Cup champion needs. Labonte's average finish of 21.9 -- with three DNFs -- in the second half is better than the first 18 races, when he had seven DNFs (five in the first nine races) and an average finish of 23.7.

Said Labonte: "Joe Gibbs and his family gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, and I want to thank them, and all the employees at JGR, for 11 years of hard work. I will always cherish the times at JGR, and the only thing that I regret is that we didn't win more races and or championships."

Silly Season? Indeed.

Since Labonte began driving for Gibbs on Feb. 19, 1995:

Bobby Labonte

• Only three other drivers have more wins: Jeff Gordon (71), Dale Jarrett (29), Tony Stewart (24). Labonte and Mark Martin each have 21.

• Only Gordon (36) and Jarrett (30) have more second-place finishes that Labonte (29).

• He's fourth in top-five finishes (108), behind only Gordon (184), Martin (138) and Jarrett (137).

• He's fifth in top-10s (175), behind Gordon (242), Martin (221), Jarrett (197) and Rusty Wallace (177).

Labonte also had a couple years remaining on his contract. But as with most teams, putting a wunderkind in the seat is becoming commonplace. Welcome to the big leagues, J.J. Yeley; you have some big shoes to fill.

Flags

• Red -- Rusty Wallace fell to ninth in points after finishing 22nd on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, his fourth consecutive finish of 17th or worse. Wallace has 24 top-15 finishes in 34 races but only three in the Chase. He was second in points (-7) after Dover but has dropped from sixth to eighth to ninth -- 315 points behind -- during the past three weeks.

• Yellow -- Jeff Burton limped across the line 30th on Sunday at Texas. That finish ended a streak of back-to-back top-10s for the No. 31 team and was the first finish outside the top 15 since Kansas. Burton has five top-15 finishes since the Chase began at Loudon -- more title contenders Kurt Busch (4), Jeremy Mayfield (3) and Rusty Wallace (3).

• Green -- Casey Mears finished a career-best fourth for the third time Sunday at Texas. He also finished fourth at TMS in April and at Watkins Glen in 2004. He has four top-10 finishes during the past eight races -- as many as Chase driver Greg Biffle and more than Kurt Busch (3), Rusty Wallace (3) and Jeremy Mayfield (1).

Inside the Chase Standings after Texas Rank Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 6,255 -- 2. J. Johnson 6,217 -38 3. C. Edwards 6,178 -77 4. G. Biffle 6,133 -122 5. M. Martin 6,132 -123 6. M. Kenseth 6,120 -135 7. R. Newman 6,081 -174 8. Ku. Busch 5,974 -281 9. R. Wallace 5,940 -315 10. J. Mayfield 5,848 -407 • Race Results, click here • Series Standings, click here Final lapsA pit decision by Edwards earns him a second consecutive win Small gainsJohnson talks about finishing ahead of Stewart Texas showdownCatch all the highlights from TMS with TrackPass Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Quote, Unquote

"Johnson was driving the 25 car. Does he race the 25 car? Why was he driving the 25 car?"
-- Greg Biffle, on Jimmie Johnson testing Brian Vickers' car at Phoenix

• Full story, click here

Around the Track

• Carl Edwards became the 10th different race winner in 10 races at Texas. He has 16 top-10 finishes in 34 races and has moved from sixth to third in the point standings in the past three races. Edwards now is 77 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

• Car owner Jack Roush has won five times at Texas -- all by different drivers: Carl Edwards (Fall 2005), Greg Biffle (Spring 2005), Matt Kenseth (2002), Mark Martin (1998) and Jeff Burton (1997). Sunday marked Roush's 88th victory, and 14th in 34 races this season.

• Rusty Wallace is the only driver ranked in the top 10 who has not won a race this season, but he also is the only driver in the top 50 without a DNF. He is one of three drivers, including Elliott Sadler and Joe Nemechek, who won in 2004 but hasn't won this year, yet Wallace has been running at the finish in 47 consecutive races (Bristol in August 2004), the longest current streak.

Up Next

Phoenix International Raceway

• The maximum points that can be gained (or lost) in a race is 156. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth are within the 156-point window and, mathematically, could overtake Tony Stewart at Phoenix. Eight of the 10 Chase drivers are within 312 points of Stewart with two races remaining and have a mathematical chance to catch Stewart.

• Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have four consecutive top-10 finishes at Phoenix International Raceway, while Jimmie Johnson has four consecutive top-15 finishes. Busch, who won the spring race at PIR on April 23, also is one of five Chase drivers who have won a at Phoenix, including Matt Kenseth (2002), Mark Martin (1993), Tony Stewart (1999) and Rusty Wallace (1998).

• Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to be ranked in the top 10 in the point standings after every race this year. He has been among the top-10 drivers since Atlanta in March 2004, 67 consecutive races -- the longest current streak. Johnson, Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart have top-10 finishes in four of the past five races.

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

Mail Call

Rant on ...

You mean to tell me, that we gave up the beating and banging of Darlington in favor of a nearly caution-free race at Texas? Hey NASCAR, why not just give the Roush guys a 1-5 finish instead of adding more 1.5-mile cookie-cutter tracks; it just makes things cheaper. I've got to admit, I bet some of those NASCAR guys were sweating with the thought of the race actually not finishing under the lights the way the race was going by so fast.
-- D. Rochat

Our national anthem is not a pop rock song. Can't they just play it and not have some half baked rocker screw it up? Most of these clowns couldn't carry a tune with an eighteen-wheeler to help them. I love my country and hate to witness this defamation of our anthem.
-- W. Scott

I hope that since NASCAR has seen the wisdom of increasing the number of owners by limiting the number of teams an owner can field that it will also soon see how limiting the number of track owners. That way, legendary tracks such as Rockingham and Darlington would have a better chance of success. That doesn't even address the fact that a greater diversity of track owners would increase the sponsor base. Also more people would be willing to invest in new tracks, since they would be less likely to be shut out of Nextel Cup the way Kentucky has been. Oh wait, NASCAR owns most the tracks. Never mind!
-- R. Birge

There are a lot of fat jokes about Tony Stewart going on, all of them in the Power Rankings as you may have saw. What is with that? I mean when did NASCAR become a sport were you have to weigh a certain amount to be excepted? Do people honestly think Tony Stewart races because he wants to lose weight? No. There are some people who laugh about the fat jokes but honestly, I'd like to see someone skinnier be as great of a driver as Tony Stewart.
-- Anonymous

Inside the Numbers Chase drivers at Phoenix Driver Races Avg. M. Martin 18 9.1 J. Johnson 4 9.5 Ku. Busch 6 12.0 T. Stewart 7 12.4 R. Wallace 18 16.9 R. Newman 6 19.7 M. Kenseth 6 21.8 C. Edwards 2 22.0 G. Biffle 3 23.0 J. Mayfield 11 26.4

Fantasy Perspective

• Chase drivers at Phoenix ...

Tony Stewart has four top-10 finishes in seven races.

Jimmie Johnson has four consecutive top-15 finishes.

Carl Edwards has raced twice, with a seventh-place finish in April.

Greg Biffle does not have a top-10 finish in three races.

Mark Martin has 13 top-10 finishes in 18 races.

Matt Kenseth has three top-10 finishes in six races.

Ryan Newman has two top-10 finishes in six races -- both top fives.

Kurt Busch has four consecutive top-10 finishes -- all the the past four races.

Rusty Wallace has eight top-10 finishes in 18 races.

Jeremy Mayfield has one top-10 finish in 11 races.

• Eleven of the 18 races at Phoenix have been won from a starting position outside the top-10. In April, Kurt Busch became the first driver to win from a top-10 starting position (second) in the past four races at PIR. Ricky Rudd won in 1995 from 29th, the furthest back a winner has started.

• Rusty Wallace has top-10 finishes in every other race at Phoenix beginning with his victory in 1998. He finished 36th in April keeping in pace with the streak and must score a top-10 this weekend to continue the unusual streak. His average finishes during the eight-race stretch: 3.5 and 29.0.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.