Greg Biffle pulled off the three-peat and Jimmie Johnson was crowned the Nextel Cup Champion for 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway today in the Ford 402. Biffle held off Martin Truex Jr (enduring a green/white/checker in the process) for his second win of the season (he won at Darlington in May) and 11th of his Cup career. He’s now solo in 50th on the all-time win list. Win #95 for Roush Racing was worth $323,800 from the over $5.2M in posted awards. In the Championship department, this was #6 for Hendrick Motorsports and the first for Jimmie Johnson. A $6M+ payday is pretty smooth, too.
Martin Truex Jr (2nd) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 5th at Talladega in October.
Scott Riggs (7th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Bristol in August.
David Stremme (11th) tied his career-best finish today. He was also 11th at Loudon in July.
Scott Wimmer (12th) had his best finish since he was 11th here last year.
Paul Menard (17th) had his best finish since he was 14th at Lowe’s in May (only 5 races).
STREAKIN….Jimmie Johnson has 6 Top-10’s in a row. Denny Hamlin has 5 Top-10’s in a row.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Denny Hamlin (+30), followed by Carl Edwards (+23), Greg Biffle (+21), and Tony Raines (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Kyle Busch (-35), followed by Elliott Sadler (-32), David Gilliland (-24), J. J. Yeley (-22), and Mike Bliss (-22).
How much excitement do you think we’d have had at the end of the race today if we didn’t have this contrived “Chase” format? In Classic Points, Johnson would have held on to claim the Championship by only 4 points!!! And they thought 2004 was exciting…..
In that all-important race for 35th (and the final exempt spot) in Owners Points, Kyle Petty held off Sterling Marlin…..and the 45 bunch’ll sleep a lot better all winter knowing they’re in the 500 next February.Stock Car Fans.(11-19-2006)
