Much more to Homestead than Johnson coronation (cont'd)

Bump-and-run thoughts after Phoenix ...

Winner

• Jimmie Johnson -- Let's get this party started! (And big ups to Greg Biffle, who finished 11th after starting at the back of the field (changed the transmission).)

Loser

• A.J. Allmendinger -- Some would say the spin of Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart was just one of them racin' deals. ... Kenseth slammin' the door, literally, was payback.

Lucky Dog

• Jamie McMurray -- You understand if you've seen pics of his fiancé, Christy Futrell. Welcome to the "out-punted your coverage" club.

Who's hot

• David Ragan continues to light it up down the stretch: seven consecutive top-15 finishes. And, it seems, he's earned a feather or two for his dart.

Who's not

• The pressure is on, Scott Speed; a 17-point deficit in owner points rests on your shoulders.

In case you missed it ...

• Kurt Busch has three top-10 finishes in the past five races. Too little, way too late ...

• Kyle Petty has zero wins, one top-five finish and 16 top-10s in his last 295 starts.

• Nice work on behalf of the Digital TV Transmission folks, David Gilliland.

• What can brown(nosing) do for you? Dale Jarrett's quip when Ryan Newman gave Tony Stewart a push said it all ...

• It would be insensitive to make another America's Funniest Home Videos comment, so ponder the other side of the equation: ABC was within its contractual rights to switch the race to ESPN2. In fairness, NASCAR is on the hook for that loophole.

Moving on to Homestead

It all boils down to this: Even if second-place Carl Edwards wins and leads the most laps -- a 195-point day -- Jimmie Johnson's third consecutive championship is in the bag if ...

• he finishes 36th or better;
• finishes 37th and leads at least one lap;
• or finishes 39th and leads the most laps.

We can only hope the checkers fly before America's Funniest Home Videos.

Lasting image

Harry How/Getty Images

David Gilliland (38) earned a spot in every 2008 highlight package after his car came to rest on top of Scott Speed's No. 84.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.