With Jimmie Johnson holding a commanding 184-point lead — one point short of a full race (without bonus points) — the Chase is over.
Yes, that's been the media mantra since J.J.'s consecutive victories in California and Charlotte. Mark Martin could win the final three races and Johnson could still clinch his fourth straight Cup title with 402 points — or a finish of 10th or better in each event.
While it's not necessary to embrace Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's crew, it's hard not to admire and respect what this team has been able to accomplish over the last four years. No one has come close to Johnson's 28 wins. However, under the old points system Jeff Gordon would have won two of Johnson's three titles and the No. 48 team would currently hold a seven-point lead over Tony Stewart. There would still be a race to the championship — but that's not reality.
So let's move on to the top storylines for the next three weeks.
Fallout from 'Dega
 Neverending story: Anyone who has watched a 'Dega race knew what would happen Sunday. It's time for change.  Survival mode: Oh by the way, Jamie McMurray endured the madness Sunday to snap an 86-race losing streak.  Flippin' out: Tune out from Talladega after a boring start? You missed a wild finish. Check out the best images. Read more from Lee Spencer |
1. Jamie McMurray — Read between the lines
McMurray winning on Sunday was not a fluke. He led five times for the most laps (31) to score his second restrictor-plate victory. His last win was 86 races ago at Daytona. This was Mac's moment to shine — and he did. He humbly thanked his fans for standing by him. Despite being a lame duck driver at Roush Fenway Racing, he thanks Jack Roush for the opportunity.
But here's what you might not have picked up on from McMurray: "There's not a lot of rides available right now. I think that everybody knows that what rides there are out there. You know, certainly if a sponsor were to call me that would make it a lot easier with the amount of teams that are shutting down. For me, I just hope that we can get it signed and announce it whenever they want to so that it will make it a little bit easier to sleep at night."
It's no secret that Bass Pro Shops has a contract to sponsor the No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing car that McMurray is slotted to drive next year. And it's no secret that Bass Pro Shops wants to move to the No. 39 car with Ryan Newman.
Now, this is not a knock on BPS, which has offered tremendous support to many racing programs in and beyond NASCAR. But McMurray's contract with EGR has been prepared but lacking signatures for some time. No, McMurray is not going to apply for his NRA membership any time soon, but he will go above and beyond for his sponsors whether it's Bass Pro or anyone else.
Can we get just get this deal done so the other driver dominos will fall?
2. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing II — Chevy or Toyota?
So, what's the holdup in EGR's decision to remain with Chevrolet or move to Toyota? Perhaps it's the "E" in EGR. Can anyone really imagine the Earnhardt name associated with Toyota? Since Teresa Earnhardt is not at the racetrack on a weekly basis, that might be a tough answer to get.
And with the current General Motors situation, Chevrolet is in no position to offer EGR a new and improved deal.
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Maybe Chip Ganassi believes delaying the decision will prevent the current engine builders from sabotaging the cars?
But since Ganassi didn't want to answer the question of manufacturers on Sunday, what do we know? Richard Childress Racing's engine department — which supplies motors for EGR — was expecting a call on Friday from the Ganassi camp regarding their status for next season. It never came.
Principals at EGR are expected to meet with Toyota again on Tuesday. EGR has had discussions with Joe Gibbs Racing about supplying engines for next season. Apparently Toyota Racing Development, which provides Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing with engines, does not have the capacity at this time to be a supplier for EGR.
3. Help wanted — Desperately Seeking Crew Chiefs
No formal decision has been made on the crew chief positions on the Nos. 2 and 12 teams for next season at Penske Racing, according to President Tim Cindric on Friday.
"Time helps answers some of the questions," Cindric said. He added that "chemistry will have a lot to do with success" and debunked the rumor that Dave Winston, the current engineer on the No. 2 car had withdrawn from consideration to replace Pat Tryson with that team.
Cindric also commented that despite the availability of Steve Addington, who served in his role as Kyle Busch's crew chief for the last time on Sunday, it was premature to add him to the list of potential applicants.
4. More Town Hall Meetings?
When ninth-place finisher Elliott Sadler was asked about fixing the current restrictor plate package, he replied, "NASCAR and all the drivers should sit in a private room, lock the doors and have a discussion and try to fix it together."
Although Sadler was not invited to last week's meeting, Greg Biffle (who finished fourth on Sunday) was. Several points stuck in the Biff's head — primarily testing and tire testing.
"We talked about testing a lot," Biffle said. "Then tire testing. How it's a huge advantage for the guys that get the tire tests. How well the Indy tire test worked for Goodyear and the teams. There were a lot of cars there. They got rubber on the racetrack — that's the problem with tire testing. You don't have a lot of cars on the racetrack. We learned a lot about how it's done — we talked about ideas."
Similar to other competitors that attended the last week's meeting at the R&D Center, Biffle said there was an open dialog offered by the sanctioning body.
"There was nothing like this is what we're doing, this is what we're changing," Biffle said. "It was just information. There was information going back and forth. We were talking about how many people we bring to the racetrack, two-day shows, uniform start times.
"It was enlightening about everything that's taking place more than anything. It was good for everybody, good for them and good for us."
Now remember, Biffle makes regular appearances as a commentator on This Week in NASCAR on Speed TV and Performance Racing Network's Fast Talk. He's been on both sides of the media fence — as interviewer and interviewee. And when it came to talk of putting a positive spin on the message sent to the fans, Biffle said when the topic arose in the competition meeting last Tuesday, it was the drivers and owners that "brought that up." The teams are concerned that constant harping about the new car and racing leaves a negative connotation with fans and sponsors alike.
"The (fans) pick up on it," Biffle said. "You're influenced by what people say and if those people have star power and are delivering the message than you value what the person says.
"We're all trying to sell sponsors here. If this guy says — in his opinion — that this car sucks or the racing sucks, keep that opinion to yourself."
5. The Mass Exodus
Teams have predicted that the unemployment lines following the season finale at Homestead will exceed the numbers we witnessed following 2008. Under NASCAR's four-car rule, Roush Fenway Racing loses one team under its roof and another across the street at Yates Racing.
While employees have been told there will be movement in the ranks with the potential of a Richard Petty Motorsports/Yates merger, in either case a minimum of two teams will dissolve — the No. 26 and the No. 44. The No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing team will no longer use the services of Yates Racing in 2010.
However, the No. 98 team could remain under the Yates banner — and not RPM — in order to keep Paul Menard in the fold. Regardless, the four teams (98, 9, 19 and 43) are expected to operate under one roof.
In the rearview
Say what?
After points leader Jimmie Johnson rode around in the back of the pack all day and finished sixth:
"This isn't Halloween. This is a Christmas present."
