Superman is back! Mark Martin, trying to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, called his teammate Jimmie Johnson Superman for good reasons after the race in Phoenix: No one in the past four years has been good enough in NASCAR’s playoffs to beat Johnson in the so called Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Johnson screamed into his radio when the checkered flag waved as he returned to winning ways, “it was exactly what we needed,” he told his crew. It was his third straight victory in the fall race in Phoenix. He did reverse track burnouts before an adoring crowd.
Johnson, in Victory Lane said, “what a great car, what a great race team certainly there were dark moments in the last week.Obviously one race to go, as we saw in Texas, anything can happen,” he added. “Everything that could go wrong did.”
“We wanted to come into Phoenix with a solid run, they knocked some of the wind out of our sails last week,” said Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus.
Jeff Burton had one of his best finishes this year in second, “we had one hiccup early. I lost this race for us on Friday. We have to qualify better than 36th," he concluded.
Denny Hamlin finished third and Martin fourth. Johnson has a 108 point advantage goind in the final round. To clinch his record fourth consecutive title, Johnson only needs to finish 25th or better.
Martin is the only one who could beat Johnson for the title. He said,“it was a good car and a good effort for the race team. We were a little vulnerable on the restarts. I thought we could get to Jimmie with 35 laps to go then it got tight. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished this season,” said the 50-year-old with a tinge of sadness in his face.
Hamlin, whose team made major setup changes before the race, said, “we changed everything but the kitchen sink but finished third again, I think it was our fourth-straight third place finish here! I guess we’re the King of mediocrity here... We finished strong, but, not strong enough.”
In the race Johnson shrugged off a disaster in last week Texas with a conquering run on Sunday afternoon. Although he didn’t win the pole he led 238 of the 312 laps around the one-mile flat Phoenix oval
Jeff Gordon, who finished ninth, is in third place in the championship standing but virtually eliminated from the championship. “I thought we were going to be great, but it got away from us. We weren’t good on the restarts. Even if we had been a third or fourth place car that 48 (Johnson) was too good.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Johnson screamed into his radio when the checkered flag waved as he returned to winning ways, “it was exactly what we needed,” he told his crew. It was his third straight victory in the fall race in Phoenix. He did reverse track burnouts before an adoring crowd.
Johnson, in Victory Lane said, “what a great car, what a great race team certainly there were dark moments in the last week.Obviously one race to go, as we saw in Texas, anything can happen,” he added. “Everything that could go wrong did.”
“We wanted to come into Phoenix with a solid run, they knocked some of the wind out of our sails last week,” said Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus.
Jeff Burton had one of his best finishes this year in second, “we had one hiccup early. I lost this race for us on Friday. We have to qualify better than 36th," he concluded.
Denny Hamlin finished third and Martin fourth. Johnson has a 108 point advantage goind in the final round. To clinch his record fourth consecutive title, Johnson only needs to finish 25th or better.
Martin is the only one who could beat Johnson for the title. He said,“it was a good car and a good effort for the race team. We were a little vulnerable on the restarts. I thought we could get to Jimmie with 35 laps to go then it got tight. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished this season,” said the 50-year-old with a tinge of sadness in his face.
Hamlin, whose team made major setup changes before the race, said, “we changed everything but the kitchen sink but finished third again, I think it was our fourth-straight third place finish here! I guess we’re the King of mediocrity here... We finished strong, but, not strong enough.”
In the race Johnson shrugged off a disaster in last week Texas with a conquering run on Sunday afternoon. Although he didn’t win the pole he led 238 of the 312 laps around the one-mile flat Phoenix oval
Jeff Gordon, who finished ninth, is in third place in the championship standing but virtually eliminated from the championship. “I thought we were going to be great, but it got away from us. We weren’t good on the restarts. Even if we had been a third or fourth place car that 48 (Johnson) was too good.”