Jimmie Johnson

Defending SprintCup champion Tony Stewart made a bold move to take the lead on a late restart and held off Jimmie Johnson for a redemptive win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.     Frustrated by a pit mishap at Las Vegas a year ago, Stewart dipped below the two leaders from the second row to take the lead with about 30 laps left in the 400-mile race. He pulled away from Johnson on three more restarts over the final 17 laps for his first win on the 1.5-mile tri-oval in the desert.

You want to know why Jimmie Johnson has so many championships? Sure he's a great driver, on the best team, with one of the best crew chiefs in the garage. But you want to know why Johnson won 5 straight titles and is in line to win his 6th in 7 years this season? He's better at the mind games than anyone in the garage. Don't believe me? Just as Denny Hamlin or Carl Edwards. They are two of the many drivers who have tried to get into JJ's head and failed. Brad Keselowski it the latest to try, but will he succeed?

The day belonged to Kyle Busch, but the victory in the Auto Club 400 belongs to Kevin Harvick. Busch lead 151 of the 200 laps at the Auto Club speedway on Sunday, but Jimmie Johnson took the lead woth 3 laps to go, just to give up the lead on turn four of the final lap to Harvick. The 29 lead just one lap, the last one but it was all he needed. Busch finished third. "I can see them growing bigger in the mirror, I could see them coming," said Busch. Those guys were just better.

Here we are at the final race of the 2011 season. The thing about the NASCAR season is sometimes it seems like it will go on forever, but when we get to this point, it always seems like it was over too soon. None the lest here we are. And the final race of the season brings with it no shortage of drama. A new Sprint Cup champion will be crowned on Sunday. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, along with 9 other drivers that qualified for the chase, have been eliminated. So it comes down to Carl Edwards vs Tony Stewart.

Just when you thought Tony Stewart had become some docile owner type, like manna from heaven...he's back! And as a fan who loves it when people stir the pot, it feels good. Even it you don't get my vague 90's reference (Tony, Toni, Tone', Google them), you had to have loved the fact that the helmet throwing finger wagging Bristol appears to be back, even if it is for one night only. "I saw him lingering, kind of waiting with his gear," said Jimmie Johnson. "I figured something was going to happen.  I heard he had a good toss on it. " Nailed the 17 dead on did Stewart and then vowed to wreck Matt Kenseth ever chance he gets.

Jimmie Johnson has won the pole for Saturday night's race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The four-time defending NASCAR champion turned a lap at 123.475 mph in Friday's qualifying to put his Chevrolet on the front row. Johnson bettered Carl Edwards, who earned the second starting spot with a lap at 122.937 in a Ford. Joey Logano has qualified third in a Toyota. Tony Stewart qualified fourth and David Reutimann bounced back from a bout with food poisoning to qualify fifth.

He's baaaack!   Jimmie Johnson answered all questions about his readiness to contend for a sixth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup title with a dominating performance in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.   Johnson held off hard-charging Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered-flag finish set up by Jeff Gordon's blown engine on Lap 265. Johnson beat Kahne to the finish line by .548 seconds in a race that went five laps past its scheduled distance of 267 laps.   The victory was Johnson's second of the season, the 55th of his career and the 20th in 74 career Chase races.

Jimmie Johnson dominated again at Dover International Speedway, winning the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship for his sixth victory of the season. Emporia native Clint Bowyer finished 25th after a tumultuous week, where he was docked 150 points by NASCAR officials. Johnson won Sunday for the third time in four races on the 1-mile concrete track. He shook off a rare poor finish in last week's Chase opener at New Hampshire to take the pole, win the race and shoot up to second in the points standings.