Weekend That Was: Texas

It was less than a month ago when Jeff Gordon insisted that no matter what happened in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, this was his year.

Yeah, well, he's going to have to share it with Jimmie Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

Gordon's point after he won the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Oct. 13 was legitimate. In a circuit of the calendar when he became a father for the first time and had so many other blessings bestowed on him, winning a fifth points championship, while obviously a high priority, was not going to make his year; nor was losing it after having it within his grasp most of 2007 going to break his year.

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But when Gordon repeated the statement then, it brought about knowing smiles and a few chuckles. What did Gordon have to worry about in the points race, after all?

Sure, there were still five races left in the Chase at the time. But his lead over Johnson was 68 points -- hardly insurmountable, yet still the largest advantage for a points leader leaving Charlotte in the short history of the Chase.

And there was all that momentum Gordon carried into the race the following week at Martinsville. Remember that?

It seems long ago now. With two races left in the Chase -- this Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway one week later -- it's now Johnson who is in the lead and controlling the motherlode of momentum.

Johnson's third consecutive victory in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday -- combined with Gordon's struggle to finish a respectable seventh -- allowed Johnson to jump 30 points ahead of Gordon in the Chase standings. Again, it's hardly insurmountable. It is, in fact, merely the difference between finishing first and fourth in a single race.

But with nine race victories to his credit now this season, it's time for folks to can the chatter about Gordon getting screwed by the system. He would have long ago locked up this title, they say, under the old points system. He's been the most consistent finisher all season, they'll whine.

Yeah, well, Johnson has won three more races. Even in the unlikely event that Gordon wins the next two -- which almost certainly would secure him the championship -- Johnson will still own the season's series-high victory total. And after all, wasn't one of the reasons for going to the Chase format, and then tweaking said format prior to this season, to place a higher emphasis on winning in a system that still penalizes more for poor finishes than it rewards good ones?

Johnson's late-season surge is on the verge of putting him in the record books with one of the finest seasons in the modern history of the sport. Only six times in the last 20 years has a driver won nine or more races in a season, and on four of those occasions the driver who did it won the championship.

That would be the late Dale Earnhardt in 1987 (11 wins) and in 1990 (nine), and Gordon in back-to-back seasons in 1997 (10 wins) and 1998 (13). The two times when a driver won nine or more times and failed to win the championship were Gordon in 1996 (when he won 10 and finished second in points to Terry Labonte, who won twice), and Rusty Wallace in 1993 (when he won 10 and finished second in points to Earnhardt, who won six times that year).

When you start throwing around names like Earnhardt, Wallace and, well, Gordon in connection with such lofty win totals, it's past time to give Johnson his due in the all-time big picture of stock-car racing. This guy already rates as one of the all-time greats.

And with nine wins this season and 32 now for his relatively brief six-year career as a full-time driver at the Cup level, it's scary to think that Johnson's best years might still be ahead of him. At 32 years of age to his more famous teammate's 36, Johnson might not even have to share some of them with Gordon.

This one, he will. But if Johnson drives well enough to hold off Gordon for the title over the last two races, he will have earned this championship in every respect. Gordon surely will be the first to admit it. Gordon's supporters should line up right behind him, too. (Continued)