Carl Edwards won the pole for Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix with a lap of 132.773 mph, just edging out Martin Truex, Jr.’s 132.758.

Jeff Gordon, who won the spring race, and could use a win this time around now that he trails Jimmie Johnson by 30 points, will start third.

In the spring race, Gordon started and won from the pole, while Johnson started fifth and finished fourth. That same result would make for a tie atop the standings going into next week’s final race at Homestead.

As for the new points leader, Johnson will start sixth in his bid to win his fourth race in a row.

The top five is rounded out by J.J. Yeley and Johnny Sauter, both looking for their second top-five finishes of the season.

Behind Johnson, Greg Biffle, Tony Raines, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne round out the top 10.

As for the Chasers outside of the top 10, Jeff Burton will start 12th, Denny Hamlin 15th, Matt Kenseth 18th, Clint Bowyer 20th, Tony Stewart 21st, and Kyle Busch will start 40th.

Only six drivers are still mathematically in the running for the championship, but we all know that it’s all but down to the two Hendrick cars, though Bowyer isn’t out of it just yet.

Sam Hornish, Jr., one day after his full-time move to NASCAR was announced, finally qualified for his first NEXTEL Cup race on his seventh try, and will start 26th. He’ll start one place ahead of Jacques Villenueve, and two places behind Patrick Carpentier, two of the other open-wheelers making the jump to stock-car racing.

They’re one of the stories to follow this weekend, but everyone’s eyes will be on the race for the championship, where Gordon will look to at least cut into the deficit that he now faces, while Johnson will look to extend his lead and move one step closer to his second straight championship.

Apparently tired of being the best in the IRL, Sam Hornish, Jr. is becoming the latest open-wheel star to take on the new challenge of stock-car racing, as the three-time IRL champ is becoming the newest member of the Penske NEXTEL (or Sprint, rather) Cup team, joining up with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

Hornish will be the new driver of the #77 car, with Mobil 1 as the sponsor. With him making the full-time switch to NASCAR’s top flight, that means the last two Indy 500 champs are going to be racing together in stock cars next season, with 2007 champ Dario Franchitti driving for Ganassi Racing.

Hornish’s move for NASCAR was more of a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’ He raced in two Busch races last season, and has driven in seven Busch races this season. He’s also tried to qualify for six NEXTEL Cup races, but hasn’t qualified for any of them, which is why the move might seem a little too soon for some.

But, if there’s a team where he could succeed, it’s Penske, where he’s raced for the last four seasons in the IRL, during which he won eight races and the 2005 points title. He’ll not only be with a familiar team, but an established team, where he’ll have ample chance to succeed. And, there’s a chance he won’t have to worry about qualifying for the first five races of next season, if Penske decides to move the owner points Kurt Busch has over to Hornish, since Busch doesn’t have to worry about qualifying.

That would eliminate the potential issues that Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villenueve will face, and what A.J. Allmendinger has faced this season, after coming over from Champ Car. Dario Franchitti is joining a team in the top 35 in owner points, and thusly locked into the first five races of next year, which is the situation Juan Montoya was fortunate to be in.

Montoya is currently 21st in points, and has been locked into every race, while Allmendinger has qualifed for only 17 of 34 races this season. So, if there’s an advantage to be had with getting in those first five races (and there is), then you would think that Penske would go that route and let Hornish have the free pass to the first five races, and let him take care of business from there.

With all of these open-wheelers moving to NASCAR, one has to wonder how the Champ Car/IRL head honchos are feeling right now, with several of their headliners leaving, and more to make the move soon enough more than likely (Danica Patrick has been mentioned with a move to NASCAR, and possibly Dan Wheldon as well).

We’ve got a new name at the top of the new Chase driver rankings, and it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who it is.

How do the rest of the rankings shake out? Keep reading.

1. Jimmie Johnson (2): Jeff Gordon had been in this spot for the last several weeks, but with Johnson winning the last three races and taking over the points lead, we’ve got a new #1.

It’s like 2006 all over again, where Johnson overcame a deficit in the final half of the Chase to win the championship. He’s certainly got a fight on his hands, but now that he and his crew know what it takes to close it out, catching him’s going to require a rare slip or piece of bad luck.

2. Jeff Gordon (1): If it were someone else, you might count them out as hot as Johnson is right now. But Gordon has been here before, so he’s not going to get fazed by what he faces now. I’m sure he doesn’t feel too hot about running as consistently as he has and losing the points lead, but even he won’t argue with how well his teammate has been.

After winning at Talladega and Charlotte, he’s finished 3rd, 7th, and 7th, while Johnson’s won, and that’s translated into a 68-point lead becoming a 30-point deficit.

It’s not over yet, in the least, because 30 points can be made up in a flash. And, if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s the #24.

3. Clint Bowyer (3): Bowyer’s slight championship hopes all but faded when he finished 19th at Texas. He’s still in third by a good margin, but he’s now 181 points back of Johnson with two races to go.

4. Kyle Busch (4): A slow pit stop late in the race cost Busch a chance at a win for the second straight race, but as opposed to Atlanta, where he got taken out when Denny Hamlin ran out of gas, he rebounded to finish fourth. The finish helped move Busch into fourth in the standings, 339 points back. He’s pretty much out of it, but he can feel pretty good about the way that he’s going out in the #5.

5. Carl Edwards (4): Edwards finished 26th at Texas, which dropped him from 261 points back to 357 back of the leader, and knocked him down a notch into fifth, just behind Busch.

6. Tony Stewart (6): After finishing 30th at Atlanta, Stewart finished 11th at Texas. He hasn’t had a top-10 since Charlotte, when he finished 7th, and as a result, he’s fallen 373 points back, and has to be disappointed about how things have transpired in the Chase, where he was expected to be a serious contender.

7. Jeff Burton (8): Burton has had four solid races after an up and down start to the Chase, finishing 4th, 12th, 5th, and then 6th in Sunday’s Dickies 500. Burton was mathematically eliminated from the Chase on Sunday, but he is finishing the year strong, and has had a resurgence in the last two seasons after falling off of the map for a few seasons.

8. Matt Kenseth (9): If Kenseth hadn’t that four-race bad streak, he would be much higher in the rankings and in the Chase standings. He was a hard-luck loser at Texas for the second time this year, losing the lead to the hard-charging Johnson with two laps to go. But, he recorded his third straight top-five, as he finished second behind the race winner.

He’s gotten himself out of the basement in the last two weeks, and is now 10th in the standings, a point behind Kurt Busch, and only 23 behind Burton.

9. Kevin Harvick (8): I said in last week’s rankings that Harvick didn’t have any top-10s in the Chase, when, in fact, he finished 10th at Martinsville. He recorded his second top-10 on Sunday, finishing 10th. Harvick’s 439 poins back of Johnson, just behind 7th-placed Burton.

10. Kurt Busch (11): Busch finished 8th for the second straight race on Sunday, his third top-10 of the Chase. We’ve come to expect more from him, but you can rest assured that he’ll be back with a vengeance next year.

11. Martin Truex, Jr. (12): Truex won the pole at Texas and finished 3rd. It had to be a lift for him, after he hadn’t finished in the top ten since finishing fifth in the Sylvania 300 at Loudon, the first Chase race, and after a late-race accident knocked him out of contention at Atlanta, where he led the most laps but finished 31st.

12. Denny Hamlin (10): Hamlin finished 29th at Texas, dropping into a tie with Martin Truex, Jr. for last in the Chase standings, 524 points behind Johnson, and officially out of the hunt, along with the rest of the bottom six.

Gene Haas, the owner of Haas CNC Racing, was sentenced to two years in federal prison yesterday for tax fraud, after he thought he could somehow not get caught not paying more than $34 million in taxes.

Haas plead guilty to a conspiracy charge this summer, after he came up with a plan to write off fake expenses as business expenses, by which his company, Haas Automation, would save millions.

But, because Haas didn’t take into consideration that you can’t slip that kind of thing by the government for long, he’s had to pay twice the amount in back taxes, interest, and fines.

I suppose it’s a little too late to say ‘Oops, I shouldn’t have done that…’ now, isn’t it?

Three races. Three late passes. Three straight wins for Jimmie Johnson. Quite the pattern developing at just the right time.

Johnson passed Matt Kenseth with two laps to go to win Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was his first career win at TMS and series-leading ninth win of the season, and more importantly, with teammate Jeff Gordon finishing 7th, the #48 is now in the driver’s seat (literally) for his second straight NEXTEL Cup championship.

Martin Truex, Jr. started from the pole and led the first six laps, but surrended the lead to Juan Montoya, who led the next ten, before giving up the lead to Gordon.

Gordon would lead from laps 17-26 and 37-46, but past that point, the points leader coming in wasn’t a big factor, as he suffered with a stubborn car yet again.

As he has most of the times this season where his car hasn’t been at his best, Gordon rebounded and would finish in the top ten for the 28th time this season, which ties a career high set in his 1998 championship season.

While Gordon struggled to stay in contention, another of his Hendrick teammates shined. Kyle Busch, whose luck has covered up several good runs, led a race-high 153 laps.

But, just like last week in Atlanta, a slow stop late in the race cost him. He came into the pits with the lead on lap 300, and came out seventh. He wound up finishing fourth, and moved up to fourth in the Chase standings.

But, the race would come down to Johnson and Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth, who lost the spring race when Jeff Burton passed him on the last lap, took the lead from Ryan Newman on lap 306. However, Johnson was coming fast, and it wasn’t long before he was in second and bearing down on the #17.

And, unfortunately for Kenseth, he would be caught and passed late once again, as Johnson, after multiple attempts, went by Kenseth on lap 332, and pulled away for the victory.

Just like last season, Johnson takes over the points lead at Texas, and leads his teammate by 30 points with two races to go.

It’s not over by any means, since neither track is one of Johnson’s best. But, the same can be said for Gordon, although he has a little momentum from winning the spring race at Phoenix, which is the track up next.

But, the way the #48 is going right now, it’s going to be tough for Gordon to overtake him, and if he wants to, his car will have to be much better than it has in the last couple of races, when he had to battle just to get a top-ten, while Johnson rode to a win.

And, in case we didn’t know already, it will be coming down to those two, barring something crazy.

Clint Bowyer, who entered the race 111 points back, had some issues and wound up finishing 19th. He’s still in the third by a mile, but is 181 points back, and all but out of it.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards (26th), and Tony Stewart (11th) aren’t mathematically eliminated yet, but are all but done, since unless the #24 and #48 get lost on the way to Phoenix, they’ll be out of it once the race starts.

Truex, Jr. wasn’t technically mathematically eliminated (but it was a formality) after Atlanta, but was officially done when Gordon, who started on the front row with him, got off without a hitch.

Along with him, five other drivers were eliminated by the end of the race - Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Denny Hamlin.

The two Hendrick cars have been dominant all season and especially in the Chase, winning the last five races and combining for 13 top-tens (seven for Gordon, six for Johnson). But, while Gordon has clearly been the series’ most consistent driver, Johnson has found Victory Lane more, and that’s the difference right now.

While it’s hard to say which one should get it, there’s no doubt that they’ve been the best of the best this year by a great distance over the rest of the field. And, when the checkered flag waves for the final time this season at Homestead, one of them will celebrate a thoroughly deserved championship.

Who will it be? We’ll find out in two short weeks.

I likely won’t be able to be here to provide in-race updates (and if I do, it will either be early on or towards the end), but I will be here with post-race analysis, following today’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Who do you think will win the eighth race of the Chase?

Will it be Gordon, who wins his first Texas race and extends his lead atop the standings?

Will it be Johnson, who would very likely take the points lead with a victory?

Will it be pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr., who could use a victory after a poor streak recently?

Or will it be someone else?

comment and make your picks!

Martin Truex, Jr. is out of the championship hunt, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to throw in the towel. Truex, who is the only driver mathematically eliminated from the title race, won the pole for Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a lap of 27.964 seconds.

Jeff Gordon, who’s seen his points lead dwindle in the last two weeks, will have a great chance to win for the first time at Texas, as he will start second in tomorrow’s race. Texas is one of the two current venues that Gordon hasn’t won at, but a win on Sunday would not only be a milestone win for him, but would also go a long way towards in helping him claim the championship.

The top five was rounded out by Juan Montoya, who could have some valuable momentum going into next year if he can finish his rookie season strong, and Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger in fifth. Allmendinger had the best qualifying run of his short career, and will be chasing his first top-ten finish

Kurt Busch qualified sixth, and Chevrolets represented the rest of the top ten, as Denny Hamlin qualified seventh, with Jimmie Johnson starting eighth tomorrow and looking to take over the points lead from teammate Gordon. Their Hendrick teammate, Casey Mears will start ninth, with Mark Martin alongside him in the fifth row.

As for the rest of the Chasers, Tony Stewart will start 15th, Kyle Busch 17th, Matt Kenseth 18th, Carl Edwards 21st, Jeff Burton 27th, and Clint Bowyer 29th. It was another subpar qualifying effort for Bowyer, who has qualified 23rd or worse in five straight races and six of the last seven. However, he has rebounded to run well in each race, and will need to do so again on Sunday in order to keep his championship hopes alive.

Will Gordon finally be able to break his Texas goose egg and move one step closer to a deserved title? Or will Johnson win his first race at Texas and take control of the championship race? More importantly, will either take control of the title race Sunday, or will they falter and give any of the drivers who are well behind a chance to climb back into it? I’ll be here with race updates and analysis tomorrow, and the race will be on ABC (3 ET/2 CT), in case you want to catch the race live as well.

Jimmie Johnson, who trails teammate Jeff Gordon by nine points coming into this weekend, ran a lap of 192.068 mph (28.11 seconds) to move into fifth on the grid. Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger are still the top two, with Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin ahead of Johnson.

A little over 30 drivers have gone thus far, and there are six more Chasers to go, with the points leader being the last of the 12 Chase drivers to hit the track.

Busch ran a lap of 191.272 mph (28.23 seconds) to move into 9th, just behind Paul Menard. Kevin Harvick and A.J. Allmendinger still occupy the top two spots, as we’re now through 21 drivers.

A.J. Allmendinger ran a lap of 192.239 mph (28.09 seconds) to put himself atop the grid, but Kevin Harvick just equaled him, both with speed and time.

We’re through seven drivers thus far, and four Chasers have already gone. Kurt Busch (28.10), Denny Hamlin (28.11), and Jeff Burton (28.34) are currently third, fourth, and fifth.