Cross' Words: Atlanta

Nine points -- less than the difference between winning a race and finishing second -- separate Cup leader Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson with only three races remaining in the Chase. Get excited, Ethel; this scenario is beyond NASCAR's wildest dreams:

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• Four-time champion vs. defending series champ!
• Car owner vs. his own driver!
• Teammate vs. teammate!
• The past vs. the future!

Meanwhile, ESPN on ABC cannot manage to get out of its way to show the race. Even worse, the coverage has spawned another take on the enormously popular "Brent Mushbooger Drinking Game" (Google it):

• Each time Dr. Jerry mentions safety, bottoms up.
• When Rusty ends a sentence with "Andy," chug-a-lug.
• After Petree repeats what Wallace said, pop a top.

And you only thought Suzy Kolber was the worst thing in motor racing -- until Brad Daugherty spoke up.

But then came Sunday at AMS and ESPN broadcast a piece on Alan Kulwicki and his 1992 championship, which was clinched during the season finale at Atlanta.

Hang on, could this be -- a change (for the better) from the Worldwide Leader? Might the racing take top billing? Could the on-track action be the focus? Will the fans get what they want?

Stay tuned -- after this SportsCenter Minute, of course.

Ethel, we're gonna need more beverages.

Random ruminations ...

• Reed Sorenson's third-place finish -- a career best in 71 starts -- was his third top-five of the season.

• Give it up for Kasey Kahne: ninth-place run at AMS was his sixth top-10 finish in the past 10 races.

• Toyota had four cars finish in the top 20: Brian Vickers (10th), Michael Waltrip (11th), A.J. Allmendinger (16th) and Dale Jarrett (19th).

• Casey Mears' average finish in the past seven races is 11.0; he was 12th on Sunday.

• Kyle Petty finished 13th, his best run since a third-place showing at Charlotte in May. It was his 10th top-15 in the past 98 starts.

• Elliott Sadler posted his sixth top-15; he's had nine in 47 starts with Evernham.

• Ricky Rudd finished 17th in his swan song at AMS -- his 32nd top-20 in 58 starts since his track debut on March 23, 1975, in the Atlanta 500 (he finished 25th).

• Hometown hero Bill Elliott, who finished 18th on Sunday, now has 34 top-20s in 58 starts since his track debut on March 21, 1976, in the Atlanta 500 (he finished last in the 36-car field).

• Robby Gordon was 21st at AMS, marking his 18th top-25 finish of the year. Through 33 races last year, he also had 18 (including a 10th-place finish at Atlanta in the fall, his last top-25 of the year).

• Bobby Labonte's 41st-place run was only the ninth time in 30 races at Atlanta in which he failed to post a top-20 finish.

• Worthless trivia: Jimmie Johnson's victory ensured that he will have the most top-five finishes through four years of the Chase. He now leads Jeff Gordon, 18-14, with three races remaining. JJ already has the most wins (9) and top-10s (25).

Say What?

"Instead of coming in in jeans and picking up the trash on Monday, we'll come back in race mode."
-- AMS president Ed Clark, on Car of Tomorrow test at Atlanta during which Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive for Hendrick Motorsports. Clark said he expects "a few thousand people or more" to attend the test.

Figuratively Speaking

3 -- Tracks at which Jimmie Johnson has swept this season: Atlanta, Martinsville and Richmond.

3 -- Races remaining: Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Johnson is winless in 24 starts at those three tracks.

Oddly, Johnson has the best average finish at Texas (10.2) and Phoenix (7.2) among active drivers with at least five starts at each track.

Up Next

Dickies 500 | Texas | 3 p.m. ET Sunday | ABC
Race No. 34 of 36 | Get tickets | Book travel

• Defending race winner: Tony Stewart
• Most victories at the track: Jeff Burton (2)
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Jimmie Johnson (10.2 in eight starts)
Active drivers only

Sound off

• This week's topic
Both have unique qualities, but which is your go-to during the race: radio or television?

Surf over and weigh in on the blog.

• Last week's topic
Of the drivers no longer in contention for the Cup, whose Chase has been the biggest disappointment?

pookiechuck
I'm disappointed with Denny. I thought he would still be up there in contention.

29thebomb
I'm not disappointed in Kevin; disappointed for him the most. Tire issues, tire issues, tire issues. Jeff Burton did the same thing last year as this, ran good all year til the Chase started.

d9060
Not disappointed in Matt, but definitely for him. After a blown engine and two wrecks -- both somebody else's mess -- I still hoped Matt had a chance at one of his patented last-minute comebacks. ... Oh, what might have been.

Read all the responses ...

Six of one ...
Chase drivers with momentum heading to Texas:

• Jimmie Johnson -- Classy move, donating the purse to the people affected by the SoCal wildfires. Let it be a lesson: Don't forget where you come from. (And yes, my high school grammar teacher, Mr. Larry Middleton, would chastise me for ending that sentence with a preposition.)

• Carl Edwards -- 'Roid rage? Maybe he's just a jerk who smiles a lot. A modern day Eddie Haskell, perhaps?

• Matt Kenseth -- Consecutive top-five finishes for the first time since Texas and Phoenix. Maybe it'll be deja vu all over again for the next couple weeks ...

• Jeff Burton -- Finished fifth, the best of all three RCR drivers in the top 15, for his second top-five in three weeks.

• Clint Bowyer -- Another top 10 (that's five in seven Chase races) and still nothing worse than 12th.

• Kurt Busch -- Nice paint scheme, which lends itself to having a golden opportunity fall to the wayside.

Half a dozen of the other ...
And six drivers who need a jump start:

• Jeff Gordon -- Points lead was 68 after Charlotte; two races later it's a single digit despite averaging a top-five at Martinsville and Atlanta. ... Problem is, Johnson has averaged a 1.0.

• Kyle Busch -- Good news: That jackman won't be at Gibbs in 2008.

• Kevin Harvick -- Back-to-back top-15 finishes for the first time since Moby Dick was a minnow. (Actually, it was Fontana and Richmond.)

• Denny Hamlin -- Tenth place in points, baby -- that's the cutoff for getting a seat on stage during the Cup banquet!

• Tony Stewart -- Wonder if Smoke was as curious about that pit selection as Jamie Little was while interviewing Zippy? Nah, Tony understood.

• Martin Truex Jr. -- Twelfth place ... it is what it is.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.