Feud: Smoke cooked? Martinsville sleeper? Big finish for F1?
CBSSports.com contributor Pete Pistone and staff writer Brian De Los Santos provide analysis on three racing topics.
| 1. Are Tony Stewart's title hopes shot, or will he climb back into the hunt? | |
| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
 Look, the fat lady hasn't belted out any notes yet, but let's just say she's pretty familiar with the sheet music. Stewart has lost ground every week since Dover, as has pretty much everyone else in the Chase field with the exception of Gordon, Johnson and Bowyer. The pit road mistakes at Charlotte last week were brutal, and to me, that was the last straw in breaking Smoke's run for a third title. This is a three-horse race for the last five races and Bowyer's going to have to be nearly perfect down the stretch to stay in the hunt because as many predicted this is a Hendrick Motorsports championship again this year to be decided in the Jeff and Jimmie Show. |  Consider them shot. I think after his Lowe's debacle Jimmie Johnson, at 68 points back, is going to have a hard enough time trying to catch points leader Jeff Gordon, let alone Stewart. Smoke finds himself fourth in the standings, 198 points behind, but is certainly capable of going on a tear and ending the season with a string of top fives. But it won't matter if Gordon and/or Johnson and/or Clint Bowyer, for that matter, are doing likewise. The way the standings sit right now Stewart needs not only some victories himself, but he needs the trio in front of him to run into trouble. Gordon doubly so. Consider that if Stewart won and led the most laps at Martinsville and if Gordon finished last without leading a lap, Stewart would still trail Gordon by 37 points in the standings. Based solely on the performances of the 20 vs. 24 during the Chase and the season as a whole, a 198-point deficit with five races remaining is all but insurmountable for Stewart. |
| 2. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are the easy picks this weekend at Martinsville, but who else do you like? Who's your sleeper? | |
| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| Hopefully Martinsville will bring a return to a complete event of racing and not be a place where guys just makes laps for the first half and then start to race for real at the end, like we've seen at Talladega and Charlotte the last two weeks. Yeah, Gordon and Johnson should battle down to the wire again like they did back in April at the half-mile track, but how about one of the forgotten men in the Chase -- Denny Hamlin? He has shot himself in the foot almost every week of the playoffs and is hopelessly out of contention for the title, but the Virginian runs strong at one of his home state tracks and has finished second and third in his last two starts at Martinsville. | You're not kidding that Gordon and Johnson are the easy picks at Martinsville. Aside from sitting 1-2 in points, they've combined to win seven of the past nine races at the track (Gordon 4, Johnson 3). Tony Stewart was one of the two drivers (Rusty Wallace was the other) who managed to sneak in a win during that span, and I think he'll have a good shot at visiting Victory Lane again Sunday. The 20 gang knows it needs to produce wins and top fives to keep its slim title hopes alive and they're going to pull out all the stops. I've tabbed Bobby Labonte as my sleeper this week. He's been up-and-down at the paper-clip-shaped oval of late, with five top fives and four finishes of 32nd or worse in his past 11 visits to the track. But two of the top fives came in the past two fall races at Martinsville. |
| 3. It's a three-horse race for the title in the Formula 1 finale in Brazil. Who takes the title? Do you foresee fireworks between Hamilton and Alonso or will they play nice? | |
| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| If the NASCAR title comes down to the last race with three guys separated by only seven points like the F1 title chase is this weekend, there will be a lot of smiling faces at the Daytona Beach headquarters. This year's World Driving Championship really has been one for the ages, and these three drivers (Hamilton, Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen) are all capable of going out and winning this week's race in Brazil and the title. I think there will be some fireworks, which is why I'll be glued to the tube Sunday to watch this finale. It will end with one of the best stories of the year -- the rookie Hamilton hoisting the 2007 F1 crown. | If you watch only one F1 race in your life, this might just be the one. There's no love lost between the two McLaren drivers and it wouldn't surprise me if the two clashed Sunday at Interlagos. It's so bad, the paranoid Alonso thinks his own team is out to get him, sabotaging his efforts so Hamilton will win the title. The F1 governing body has taken the unprecedented step of appointing an official to watch over his car to ensure there's no funny business. I think Alonso would almost rather see Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who trails Hamilton by seven, claim the title rather than his own teammate. Rest assured, while he's under contract to drive for them next season, it's highly likely Alonso will be elsewhere next season. That said I'm picking Alonso for no other reason than I picked him to win it all at the start of the season, but I wouldn't be shocked by anything that ultimately happens. The 2007 F1 season has unfolded with more drama than you'd find in the best soap opera, and I have an inkling the season finale won't disappoint. |
