by Jeff Hammond

Comment

We started the week off talking about how Talladega was a track of opportunity. With Jamie McMurray being able to pull off the win there, it shows -- even though the drivers hate it -- they eagerly anticipate going there.

You hear us call the track the great equalizer; even if you aren't a part of one of the mega-teams and maybe don't have the best pit crew, if you are pretty good as a driver working the draft and get the right dance partner, well anything can happen.

Look no further than the 2009 races there to prove my point. I would lay you odds that at the start of the season, there weren't too many folks inside the garage or at home on the couch that would have picked Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray to win this year's events. I would even go as far to say they those two wouldn't be picked to be anywhere in the top 20. I think it shows that despite what Talladega offers as a negative, it offers equally as much as a positive.

There has been a lot of criticism after Sunday's race that Talladega doesn't offer good racing until the end, it's unsafe and it needs to be changed. If you are going to change Talladega and do anything to make racing there better, well you might as well dig the place up and start over. You simply aren't going to fix the problem in its current form. I sure would love to hear from the person that has the answer to that. I don't see it and won't believe it until you prove to me it can be done.

There's also been a lot of talk about NASCAR's call about the bump drafting issue before the race. Folks, they had to make that call. After what happened there this spring plus what they have seen in the past, they simply had to tell these guys not to do that. Did NASCAR really want to tell them to do that? Well maybe not. Maybe they really would prefer just to turn them loose, but it's not always about the competitors.

NASCAR has a serious responsibility to take care of the fans, just as much as they do in taking care of the competitors. That obviously had to be taken into consideration.

If anybody wants to know why the No. 48 team is consistently winning championships, look at the game plan they put together and how the results turned out. They could not have scripted that race any better with the exception of going to Victory Lane. They were able to run that entire race and come through unscathed, score a lot of points again and take advantage of some of the misfortune their competitors endured.

I mean really, for that team it was as good a day as you could have asked for. I am sure before the race started they would have easily told you if they could have stayed status quo by the end of the race, they would have been happy. But when the checkers fell, they had to be extremely happy because not only did they stay status quo, but they actually added to the quo.

Once again after the race I was left scratching my head asking how they can do what they do. Jimmie was extremely fortunate. Right there at the end, if he would have been just one car further back, his day would have been completely different. The other thing was the great calls by crew chief Chad Knaus. He knew he had to keep that thing full all day long.

Part of his game plan was not to let fuel mileage become a factor. So there near the end he came down pit road, got the fuel that he needed, then in the end it paid dividends because many others weren't ready for it and literally ran dry.

Now more than ever, it's clear to everyone that it's up to the Racing Gods, because there isn't a competitor on the track that can keep Jimmie Johnson from winning his fourth consecutive championship. With three races left it will have to be a blown engine or something freaky early at Texas this weekend.

Folks know that if he can get through this race, then it would be next to impossible for him to have back-to-back bad races at Phoenix and Homestead. My point is, it has to happen this weekend. If it doesn't, well in my opinion then it is over. Folks, even that is being conservative because the way Jimmie runs at these last three tracks, in my way of thinking it is already over.

You hate to go ahead and say that because folks will say you are raining on NASCAR's parade. But golly, just look at the facts. What the numbers show you and what my gut tells me, I just believe there isn't a lot that's going to happen to change things. To me, the die was cast Sunday afternoon on that final lap at Talladega.

---

FOX race analyst Jeff Hammond led Darrell Waltrip to two of DW's three Winston Cup championships as his crew chief. They also teamed to win the 1989 Daytona 500.

For autographed copies of Jeff Hammond's book "Real Men Work in the Pits" plus magnets, hats and more, check out www.dwstore.com.

For photos and appearances, visit Jeff's web site www.jeffhammond.com.