Love Johnson or hate him, he's able to quiet his critics

It's not like it's all of a sudden, but you just got to wonder. Is it something in some water supplies?

Do people hate the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format so badly that they would hate the very people who excel in a period in which the Chase just happens to be in effect?

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It seems that's the case, and it's giving me a mild case of indigestion -- or a craving for whatever these people are sampling. Not.

The heat's been coming down on Jimmie Johnson, so you Johnson haters, knock it off, already. If I were you -- and I'm not volunteering -- I'd appreciate this period in the sport for what it is: A chance to watch one of the best, ever, just handle everything that's been thrown at him.

Am I a Johnson fan? Uh, yeah. In my book, a guy who likes to hit the golf ball, drive a golf cart around on two wheels and drink a few beers is off to a pretty good start.

If he gets the order mixed up a little bit, that's called the human condition and, from what I've gathered from a lot of fan (and hate) mail, is just the thing people crave rather than another crate of vanilla.

And still the barbs fly: "He's a stroker," "He's favored by the rules," "He can't drive" or "He has a bad attitude." Puh-lease.

Over the last few weeks, a pretty strong statistical case has already been made for how consistently good Johnson has been. But NASCAR racing -- particularly of the Sprint Cup variety -- is nothing if not one of the most provincial sports going.

That's gotta be it. A caution fell and your guy got screwed (this time), so it's a conspiracy, a phantom caution or a gimme.

Gimme a break. Apparently you've never carried a NASCAR radio or scanned the control channel. Cats behind the wheel are wailing for cautions all the time, particularly when it suits their fortunes.

The track's eyeballed, a number of NASCAR observers weigh in and a caution is either thrown or it isn't. Don't waste your time doing the research, because I'm pretty sure it would prove the benefit goes around and comes around on that one.

Anyone who would say Johnson strokes or can't drive hasn't watched many Chase races for the last three or four years. Considering everyone in the field is trying to win -- including his teammates, who are some of the best in the sport -- if Johnson was doing anything but going all-out, he wouldn't put up the numbers he has.

And you don't like his attitude? Are you telling me you'd like a guy who was happy to finish eighth or ninth, after he battled an evil car every lap around one of the most daunting venues NASCAR visits? Revisit the vanilla crate comment.

And appreciate moves like the save Johnson made coming off Turn 4 at Lowe's early in the race, in which his car wobbled a couple times and, when he tried to put the power down to get down the straightaway, really stepped-out. Then try to come back and make the "no driving SOB" comments. Betcha can't.

Lost in the shuffle
Clint Bowyer's No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Nationwide Series team now leads both sets of standings -- driver and owner -- and with the consistency Bowyer's shown in the junior series, it might be all over but the crying with only four races remaining.

The advantage the Gibbs gang with its group of Sprint Cup thugs -- and of course I say that lovingly -- in its No. 20 Toyotas is gone. And even though Joey Logano will acquit himself well in the stretch, he won't out-do Bowyer and the RCR bunch.

Chased-Out Standings

Following Charlotte

Pos.	Driver	Points
1.	David Ragan	639
2.	Bobby Labonte	598
3.	Elliott Sadler	549
4.	Kasey Kahne	545
5.	Kurt Busch	544

* An unofficial list of the top-five non-Chase for the Cup competitors over the 10 Chase races.

Lost in the shuffle Part II
The Chasers made a great start to the Chase, posting eight top-10 finishes in each of the first two races and only dropping back to seven of the top-10 finishers at Kansas. But after the annual Talladega anomaly and only four Chasers in the top 10, there were only five there at Charlotte.

Hmmm. Makes me wonder if a non-Chase winner will come sooner rather than later. And if it comes sooner, how about David Ragan for a possible victor? Halfway through the Chase, Ragan leads the unofficial "Chased Out" standings by 41 points over consistent Bobby Labonte.

Between the two, Ragan has the better finishes, so rates a slight nod over his more Victory Lane-familiar non-Chasemates Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.

Finally full in Trucks
The future for the current Craftsman Truck Series might be cloudy, with manufacturers dropping by the wayside, but with the first full entry in a while for a Truck race, this weekend's Kroger 200 at Martinsville is brimming with intrigue.

First, you got a number of guys making Truck debuts, like former Canadian touring division champion J.R. Fitzpatrick and TRG Motorsports teammate Ben Stancill. But then you've got Jamie McMurray, making his first Truck start in four years, as well as Johnny Sauter, Kevin Harvick (revisiting the site of his infamous parking episode in April 2002) Hermie Sadler (stepping out of his broadcast role) and Sam Hornish Jr. (making his Truck Series debut in concert with former Penske Cup crew chief Chris Carrier, who'll be a welcome sight back on the pit box).

But the best part of the show might be watching Scott Speed, fresh off a short-track outburst in the ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Toledo last weekend. However, any stray thoughts should be tempered by the fact that Speed actually scored a top-10 in his Martinsville debut last spring.

Then again, it's interesting to see McMurray's early Christmas wish coming true.

"For the last few years, I've been asking Jack [Roush, team owner] to put me in the truck for this race," McMurray said. "Martinsville is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit and to be able to get into the truck this weekend will be a lot of fun. The last time I was in a truck was back in 2004 at Martinsville and we won the race, so I'm really looking forward to it."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.