It’s the final week of the college basketball regular season for the power conferences, and the last call for the championship push in three significant leagues. Nowhere is it more dramatic than the Mountain West, where a winner-take-all battle highlights the weekend sports docket.
Jimmie Johnson is closing in on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship after his clutch win in Texas last Sunday moved him to a seven-point lead over Matt Kenseth. But there’s still two races left and no one knows better than Johnson how a steady lead can fall apart on Phoenix International Raceway, where the circuit heads for Sunday’s Advocare 500 (3 PM ET, ESPN).
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for the championship is a dead heat, as Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are tied at the top with three races to go, as the circuit prepares for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (3 PM ET, ESPN).
There are four races to go in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and four drivers who have a realistic championship. Jimmie Johnson has moved into the lead after last week in Talladega, with Matt Kenseth four points back. And in a spirit of generosity, TheSportsNotebook is including Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick among those with a shot. Both drivers are 26 points out, and I’m willing to give them one more week to see if they can make a significant dent in that number.
Everyone else has a lot of ground to make up, and Talladega Superspeedway is the place where dramatic things can happen. “Restrictor-plate racing–or pack racing means a big crackup, more often than not,” said TheSportsNotebook’s resident NASCAR advisor, my brother Bill. “Someone who drives a nice safe race can win.” He further added that if someone–for example Greg Biffle at (-58) off the pace, where to win in such fashion, while the leaders got caught in a wreck they couldn’t recover from, it would change the dynamic of the race.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes it second trip of the year to Dover International Speedway, with Matt Kenseth having won the first two races of the postseason, and the overall push for the championship starting to take some shape as the AAA 400 runs on Sunday (2 PM ET, ESPN).
A driver who’s under the radar in the playoff race right now is Jamie McMurray. Indeed, McMurray is under the radar in general. He was termed “just an average driver” by my NASCAR consultant, my brother Bill, who can normally gin up a venomous opinion on anything as banal as whether the sun will rise in the east. Apparently McMurray is even blander than that.
One marquee driver having a rough 2013 got off the mat last week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as Tony Stewart got his first win of the season and rejuvenated his postseason hopes. Now Greg Biffle has to do the same, as the circuit heads to northeast Pennsylvania and Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s action.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is in Delaware this weekend, as Dover International Speedway hosts the FedEx 400 on Sunday (1 PM ET, Fox). As the drivers jostle for position in the standings, one that often gets overlooked is the man who’s quietly nestled in fourth place, and that’s Clint Bowyer.
Its All-Star Saturday on the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, with a non-points race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (7:30 PM ET, Fox). This brief break in the chase for the Cup comes as Kevin Harvick is sneaking up the standings, Matt Kenseth has become the de facto leader and Kyle Busch sees danger coming from Kasey Kahne.
Aric Almirola has running a steady eighth in the overall points standings. The 29-year-old driver spent most of his early career on the Nationwide Series, something that’s akin to a Triple A team in baseball. Almirola did a few races here and there at the Sprint Cup level, but never really made an impact. 2012 saw him do his first full year at the highest level and he placed a respectable 20th.
This year has been even stronger, as the driver for Richard Petty’s team has been steady and consistent from the outset. The one thing Almirola does not have on his resume yet is a win, and he’ll take his next shot at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took last weekend off to celebrate Easter, but honoring the Resurrection and having two weeks to chill out, hasn’t cooled the heels of some of the tempers that are flaring. Joey Logano is rising in the points standing and making his share of enemies along the way. First it was Tony Stewart. Then it was Denny Hamlin, who suffered a serious back injury after a collision with Logano, will miss at least three weeks and from Hamlin’s public statements, there’s no peace accord anywhere in the immediate future.