The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey

1 2 17 Matt Kenseth Fluidmaster Ford
2 25 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
3 3 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Now Hiring Ford
4 8 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
5 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Bostitch Ford
6 14 29 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
7 4 43 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Ford
8 1 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet
9 17 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
10 6 39 Ryan Newman cookies for kid’s cancer Chevrolet
11 11 6 David Ragan UPS Freight Ford
12 16 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
13 20 22 Kurt Busch Shell Pennzoil Ultra Dodge
14 32 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
15 5 16 Greg Biffle 3M Give Kids A Smile Ford
16 26 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
17 7 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet
18 28 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
19 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy/Natl. Guard/Chevy 100th Anniv. Chevrolet
20 31 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota

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Johnson In Unchartered Territory
Jimmie Johnson, he of seemingly never-ending Chase success, is currently 10th in points. That’s his lowest Chase position ever. His previous low was ninth, three different times.

An 18th-place finish at New Hampshire put him 29 points behind the points leader, Tony Stewart. Johnson need only look at his own past history to know that this lead is not insurmountable. In 2006, he was 136 points behind then leader Jeff Burton after two Chase races – and came back to win his first championship.

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Bull’s-Eye On Defending Five-Time Champion

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2011) – NASCAR’s Chase Media Week ended Thursday, with all 12 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers converging on Chicago’s LaSalle Power Company for the annual Chase Media Day.

Drivers were ushered from television to radio to print media to a fan Q&A during the day-long session, and a familiar theme dominated each conversation: Who’s going to end five-time champion Jimmie Johnson’s unprecedented reign?

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Johnson Vulnerable Heading Into 2011 Chase?

It’s not so much that Jimmie Johnson has lost his mojo. Certainly not.

It’s more that the competition has grown in ferocity. That’s the reason why 2011 seems more like the year that someone steals Johnson’s crown.

Then there’s this statistic that might provide some blood-in-the-water: Johnson is entering this Chase with one win, the fewest of any of his previous seven Chases.

There’s also the possibility of a slow start. Chicagloand is one of five active tracks at which Johnson has not won. The others: Watkins Glen, Michigan, Homestead and Kentucky. Though, that might not matter. Johnson has had slow Chase starts before, finishing 39th in the 2006 opener and 25th last year. Both those races were held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.