Something about a 'Golden Horseshoe'

We're only three races into the NASCAR Sprint Cup season and Jimmie Johnson has already scored two victories. Familiar tune, isn't it?

One offseason topic was the domination of the #48 team and if that domination hurting NASCAR. I bring this up because of a comment Kevin Harvick (left) made after the race in Fontana in which Johnson received a stroke of luck.

Johnson was in the middle of a pit stop when the caution flag was waved. As the pace car was leading the drivers around, Johnson emerged from the pits, crossing that infamous white line, and avoiding going a lap down.

Oh, Harvick's opinion:

"They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too," Harvick said. "Jimmie is a good friend mine, but there's no denying how lucky they are. They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their a--."

I wish he'd be more opinionated.

I realize this happened over a week ago, but it goes back to the thought of the #48 team's recent run of four straight championships and if it's good for the sport.

To put it in perspective, how would most baseball fans feel if the New York Yankees (either you love them or hate them) won four straight World Series? Waht about football fans if the New England Patriots won four consecutive Super Bowls? That's the company Johnson is distancing himself from.

The only true upside in this is that other teams must truly be on their "A game" every week in order to compete with Johnson and his crew. But the downside can hold potentially bad vibes for NASCAR.

The casual NASCAR fan may be tiring of seeing Johnson in victory lane. They me be tiring of hearing the same smug comments during the after race presser. I watch the race every week, have a certain driver I root for, have followed NASCAR for over two decades and this string by Johnson is ruining it for me. Not because my favorite driver isn't winning, but because it's just plain getting tiresome.

But something hit me about the "golden horseshoe" of which Harvick spoke. Harvick is making me see the light brighter and brighter. And he's correct. I did a little digging into the Sprint Cup Championships Johnson has won and found that he is truly lucky to have the four in a row.

NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup is on

NASCAR's version of the playoffs begin this week from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Sylvania 300. Let's take a look at all 12 contenders from the 12th seed to the top seed.

12. Greg Biffle, #16 3M Ford, Roush Fenway Racing - Biffle finished 3rd last year and 2nd in 2005. Although he didn't win a race this season, he has won previously at this week's stop. Biff also sports 5 career top 10 finishes at Loudon. That stat is a little deceiving though. In the last six races at New Hampshire, he does have his win, but no other top 10 finishes with a best finish of 13th. It's critical that this team get off to a good start considering the recent history at this week's location.

11. Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 Target Chevrolet, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing - This is JPM's first go at the Chase. If you listen to Mark Martin (and seriously, who doesn't), this guy's a major sleeper. While this style of format is new to Montoya, being in pressure situations is not. This team could have at least one win this year if not for a speeding penalty in Indy which took the race's most dominant car out of the running. This is not the most successful track the Target team and Montoya. He has never posted a top 10 finish New Hampshire Motor Speedway and he has a 12th as his best finish. He's still a threat and he's as tenacious as they come.

10. Ryan Newman, #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing - Newman's no rookie when it comes to the Chase. He has three 6th place finishes ('02, '03, and '05). Newman has two wins in Loudon and has 3 top 10 finishes (in 7 races) since his last win there in 2005. Overall, Newman has 9 top 10's in 15 total races at this week's stop. Pretty good record at what can be a difficult place. Newman's making the Chase may be a surprise to some but it shouldn't considering his owner (Tony Stewart) is such a fierce competitor. This year has been better thanmost thought it would be, but Newman is an outside shot at best.

9. Carl Edwards, #99 Aflac Ford, Roush Fenway Racing - What? No backflips this year? It's true but hard to believe. Edwards finished in 2nd last year to eventual champion Jimmie Johnson. 2009 hasn't been as kind to Edwards as 2008. New Hampshire hasn't exactly been a bad place for Edwards, but it hasn't been all that good either. Edwards has 2 top 5's (in 10 races) but no other finishes inside the top 10 here. The best news is that Edwards has never had a DNF in Loudon. He's never won in New Hampshire, but his worst finish is 20th. That's a pretty good record.

8. Brian Vickers, #83 Red Bull Toyota, Red Bull Racing Team - Another newcomer. Vickers comes into the Chase as the hottest guy on the circuit. In his last nine races, his worst finish is 12th at Bristol. New Hampshire has not been friendly to Vickers. In his 10 career races, he has a best finish of 5th with an average finish of 20.5. Vickers last two visits to Loudon have resulted in a pair of 35th place finishes. This team cannot afford to duplicate these results this week. The Red Bull team is a major wild card and could either steal the Cup or have a big letdown now that they're in the Chase. Vickers does sport a victory this season at the Carfax 400 in Michigan.

7. Kurt Busch, #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Penske Racing - Kurt took the title back in 2004 as a member of what was then Roush Racing. That was the first season of the playoff format so no need to worry about the experience factor. Busch would like nothing more than to get a second title for himself and at the same time, get a first for team owner Roger Penske. Loudon has been good place for the older Busch. He's posted three victories and 8 top 10s with an average finish of 14.8 in his carrer at New Hampshire. Busch won the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta this year for his only victory. He's a bit under the radar and that makes him doubly dangerous.

6. Jeff Gordon, #24 National Guard Yellow Ribbon/DuPont Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports - Gordon is a four time champ ('95, '97, '98, '01), but he's not won since the current "playoff" system came into play. Gordon rightfully commands respect as a previous champ and everyone should be aware of his track position at all times. Of Gordon's 29 starts at New Hampshire, he holds 16 top 10 finishes. What's really scary is that of the last 5 trips to Loudon, Gordon has 3 runner-up finishes. A legit threat at any time. Gordon's only win this year came at the Samsung 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

5. Kasey Kahne, #9 Budweiser Dodge, Richard Petty Motorsports - Kahne's been here before, but it's a new feeling for the King, Richard Petty, and long overdue. Kasey finished 8th in the 2006 Chase. In 11 races at New Hampshire, Kahne has 5 top 10s with an average finish of 16.0. Nobody has ever doubted Kahne's talent and now that he's back in the Chase, he's a solid contender to take it all with two wins this year (Sonoma and Atlanta). Knowing that RPM now is catching up to the "big boys", Kahne's confidence is as high as it's ever been. And with that confidence comes a fact that Kahne is a realistic threat.

4. Denny Hamlin, #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing - Hamlin has never received his due as a driver even though his career average finish is 13.8. His stats in seven races in New Hampshire are even better with a win and 5 top 10 finishes for a 8.3 average finish. Hamlin won last week at Richmond for his second victory of the '09 season (the other at Pocono). What's even more surprising is that Hamlin is the only Joe Gibbs Racing entry in the Chase. Teammate Kyle Busch missed by 8 points. Hamlin has all the ability to take it all. And the other teams had better take notice.

3. Jimmie Johnson, #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports - We all know that Johnson is a viable threat. After all, he's won the last three and is looking to make it a record breaking fourth in a row. With Chad Knauss as the crew chief, JJ is even more dangerous because they work as well as any driver/crew chief combo. Even though he enters the Chase as the #3 seed, there's not a lot of talk involving Johnson. That's dangerous. Johnson has 15 races under his belt at Loudon with average finish of 9.9 (10 top 10s) with 2 wins. Jimmie had three wins this year (Martinsville, Dover, and Indy) and he could very well win at least one more before it's all over. Both Matinsville and Dover are stopping points in the Chase.

2. Tony Stewart, #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing - Stewart is a two-time champ (2002, 2005) but this is his first as an owner (Stewart also owns the #39 ride). Stewart's two championships came when he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart is the #2 seed but lead in points during the "regular season". New Hampshire has been kind to Stewart 2 wins and 13 top 10s in 21 races. Smoke's average finish in Loudon is 12.2. His average finish for the season is 9.1. He can win it all again for his third overall and first as an owner. His three wins this year came at Pocono, Daytona, and Watkins Glen.

1. Mark Martin, #5 Carquest/Kellogg's Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports - I highly doubt any NASCAR fan would be upset if Martin took the Cup. He's finshed 2nd in the final standings four times ('90, '94, '98, '02). If there's ever such a thing as an sentimental favorite, it's Martin. Rick Hendrick convinced Martin to come out of "semi-retirement" to drive for him. It could prove to be the best move that either Hendrick or Martin has ever made. Martin won four times in 2009 (Phoenix, Darlington, Michigan, and Chicago). The Chase will pass back through Phoenix so look for Martin to possibly score another victory during the Chase. His history at Loudon has been good as far as average finish (11.1), but Martin has yet to record a victory there.

Could Danica, Stewart & NASCAR be a good thing?

Rumors have been swirling all weekend about the prospects of Danica Patrick taking a dip into NASCAR in 2010. Patrick to a trip to the Stewart-Haas garage for a chat with Tony Stewart. It's also being speculated that a deal is in the works for Patrick to give it a go in both the Nationwide series and Camping World truck series.

Think about it. If Patrick were to race in these two series (full time in Indy and part-time in NASCAR in 2010), it would be a win-win situation for eveyone, including Danica's current boss, Andretti Green Racing in Indy car. Here's how:

The Indy car circuit has 17 or 18 races on its schedule. There is enough "room" for Patrick to get her feet wet rather it be in a Nationwide or a Camping World ride for about another 15-20 races. While travel might be considered a concern, it shouldn't. Patrick most likely uses her current off weeks to do promotional gigs so the extra time on the road should be a non-issue.

Another non-issue is sponsorship. That's the real no-brainer. Whichever team Patrick lends her services to should receive a monster sponsorship deal. I have a feeling that if the dollars are there, you could even see a cross-sponsorship type of deal between the sponsors of Patrick's Indy car ride and her potential NASCAR suitor. Even if the dollars aren't available for that, finding a primary sponsor for her NASCAR ride(s) will be simple. Just set a folding table out along the street and I guarantee a line will form.

NASCAR would win for bringing in such a commodity and Indy Car wins for retaining it's most marketable asset. With Patrick coming aboard the NASCAR brand, I think you would see a jump in interest among females in both NASCAR and Indy Car racing. And I think there would even be a crossover in interest between NASCAR and Indy Car. That's where the biggest benefit of Patrick making this move comes into play.

Her "mentor", Tony Stewart, voiced that it's basically a done deal. Here's what Stewart had to say in Atlanta on Saturday.

"I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point she's going to be over here. I know that's what she wants to do. She looked me straight in the eye and said, 'This is what I want to do, it looks like fun. It looks like a lot of work, but it looks like fun.' I don't think she has some misguided idea that it's going to be easy doing it. She wants to do it the right way. She has he intentions of doing everything right. She's kind of come to us to see how she should go about it."

And think about this factor, too. Who better to give advice to Danica than Smoke. Stewart made the jump from Indy Car to NASCAR a decade ago and he's never looked back. Plus, he's won on every level.

One point that Stewart addressed in part of his statement is that Patrick did see that a lot of work was involved. Over her Indy Car career, Patrick has indirectly shown that she's willing to work. I say indirectly because we don't see videos of her at the shop and giving input to the techs working on her ride. We see it in her results. In 2005, Patrick finished 12th in the points, 2006-9th, 2007-7th, 2008-6th and she's currently 5th in 2009. She's willing to put in the work. You can't improve without the will to work.

Stewart is also willing to welcome Patrick to NASCAR. That means everything. You have a former champ and current points leader in your corner.

"I'd love to see her come [to NASCAR]," he said. "I think it would be awesome for our sport if she were to come out here and be successful."

A deal between Patrick and Stewart is inevitable. But who would receive the benefit of Patrick's status? If you check out Ed Hinton's article on ESPN.com, the beneficiary would be either JR Motorsports (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) or KHI (Kevin Harvick). Either one would be a good choice. JR Motorsports due to Junior's popularity and KHI because there are Nationwide and Camping World programs that are already well established. And the manufacturer that stands to gain the most is Chevrolet as they are on board with both KHI and JR Motorsports.

This is the perfect mix for the racing world as a whole. Talk about your stimulus package.