Qualifying run could be key for Johnson

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL WIRE REPORT
Published: November 19, 2009

Points leader Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus will put a lot of effort into qualifying Friday for Sunday's Ford 400 Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final race in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

A starting position near the front of the field will help protect Johnson's No. 48 car from the sort of calamity that temporarily derailed Johnson's effort at Texas, where he took a conservative approach to qualifying and started 12th, in harm's way.

Michael Waltrip, for one, thinks that staying out of trouble will be Johnson's top priority Sunday at the 1½–mile oval track.

"It's a fun track to drive, with variable banking. It's a great place to wrap up our season," Waltrip said. "You also have to throw in the dynamic that guys are going to be racing for a championship.

"If you only have to finish seventh to win a championship, you're not going to make a mistake to try to win the race."

Actually, Johnson needs only to finish 25th or better at Homestead to wrap up the title, which will likely leave his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Mark Martin, as a bridesmaid again in his search for NASCAR's top title. Martin will likely finish second in the season-ending standings for the fifth time in his career.

Notes: Jamie McMurray has been hired to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The hiring has long been in the works, and gives one of the last remaining open seats for 2010 to McMurray. It also reunites McMurray with car owner Chip Ganassi, who gave McMurray his first Cup ride in 2002. McMurray drove 114 races for Ganassi, but left after the 2005 season to join Roush Fenway Racing. He is losing that ride because Roush must drop one team to meet NASCAR's four-car limit that begins next season….

Greg Biffle will have an important streak on the line this weekend. In six full seasons of Cup racing, he has won at least one race each year. To extend the string to seven years, Biffle must win Sunday at Homestead. The good news is that it's one of the Biffle's best tracks. He won the season finale there three years in a row (2004-2006).