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 Now Johnson will run for a second consecutive Nextel Cup title, while Earnhardt watches from the sidelines for the second time in three years
Johnson easily raced to his series-best sixth victory of the season, winning Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway to shore up the top seed in the Chase. But Earnhardt, the only driver mathematically eligible to race his way into contention, suffered his third blown motor in the past seven races to finish 30th.
"We broke another motor and they seem to fall apart when they plug 'em into my car," Earnhardt said. "We deserve to be in the Chase. We race hard. We don't quit. We love racing. That's what we do.
"It's just disappointing, man. These dang motors."
He's not likely to have those problems when he joins Hendrick Motorsports next season.
Johnson and Co. have been near flawless this season, and the defending series champion will start the 10-race title hunt on top of the standings.
"Everything is working right now," he said. "We're happy to be hitting our stride at this point in the season."
After a brief summer swoon, Johnson rallied to win last week in California and then complete a season sweep at Richmond. He believes this streak will send him into the Chase with the momentum to hold off the 11 other challengers.
But NASCAR's most popular driver won't be one of them. He was running as high as second very late in the race, but yet another blown motor had him in the garage as Johnson crossed the finish line.
He shared a brief hug with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who is also his cousin and is following him to Hendrick at the end of the season.
"Tony Jr. is really upset," he said. "Those crewman are the guys who put in all the time and effort and they work real hard. Just to be running so good to make the car better all night, and to get up to the top five ... to blow up at the end, you know, it's really hard on them guys, personally, because they put so much into it."
Earnhardt started the race as the only driver mathematically eligible to race into the Chase, but the odds were stacked against him. Kevin Harvick, the driver on the bubble, had to finish 33rd or worse, combined with a flawless Earnhardt run, for Junior to make it.
Harvick had two dicey moments -- including a side-trip through the grass to avoid nemesis Juan Pablo Montoya's spinning car
-- but he recovered to coast to a seventh-place finish to end any suspense.
"I saw a lot of cars and wrecks and a lot of things that happened and I knew it was pretty close," Harvick said. "I saw (Earnhardt) running third, and in my head I knew where we were and kind of turned it up a little bit."
This "regular-season" finale has been full of excitement since NASCAR implemented the Chase for the championship in 2004. It sent several bubble drivers into the race needing miracles to keep their title hopes intact.
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But NASCAR changed the format this year, widening the Chase field from 10 to 12 drivers and implementing a seeding system that awarded 10 bonus points for every regular-season victory. It diluted the drama of this particular race and made it almost impossible for Earnhardt to race his way in.
He knew it long before he arrived in Richmond, and he seemed almost resigned to his fate from the start. It means Earnhardt won't win a championship with DEI, his late father's company.
Although he won two Busch Series championships while his father was still alive, he's never been higher than third in the Cup standings.
Earnhardt was solid at times this season, but the motor failures derailed his efforts.
"We deserved to be in the Chase," he said. "We ran top-five almost every week."
Although the drama was gone, the new format put a premium on wins and drivers went hard for them every week. Although Jeff Gordon dominated the standings all season long, his points lead is gone because Johnson, his teammate, won two more races than he did.
Gordon, the four-time series champion, will be seeded second -- just 20 points behind Johnson.
Tony Stewart, the two-time series champion, will be 30 points back in third. He missed the Chase last season.
"After missing it last year, we are obviously excited to be back in," Stewart said. "We never in our wildest dreams thought we would miss it last year, so we're happy to be back in the Chase.
Carl Edwards is seeded fourth, followed by Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Harvick and Clint Bowyer.
"Jimmie Johnson's just on a tear right now and he's going to be tough to catch," said Busch, winner of the inaugural 2004 Chase. "Johnson is unbelievable right now, Gordon, you can just see that those two have a distinct advantage right now."
Truex and Bowyer are first-time Chase participants, and Bowyer is the only driver in the showcase without a win. He'll be 60 points behind Johnson when the series starts next Sunday in New Hampshire.
Edwards' hot streak came to an end midway through the race when a part in his motor broke. He wound up 42nd, ending his streak of four consecutive top-10 finishes, but said he's in good shape for the Chase.
"Hopefully, we can use this as a little collateral for some good luck for later in the Chase," he said. "Hopefully, this is the bad luck now that we don't have in the next 10 races. This team is going to be very strong."
[Associated Press;
by Jenna Fryer]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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