Jimmie Johnson finished ninth, but wasn't really a factor in those final laps. Johnson was ninth on a day when most of the other Chasers finished outside the Top Twenty. GOOD enough to widen the gap on the competition, but not GOOD enough to really put them away. Mind you, after falling a lap down early, losing a splitter brace to a flying tire carcass, and just managing to avoid getting caught up in the carnage, Johnson figured his luck might have been pretty much used up.

Heading to Lowe's on Saturday night, the defending champ is up by 72 on Edwards (29th on Sunday), with Biffle (24th) 77 in arrears. A couple of boys actually made up some ground, with Jeff Burton moving back to within 99 points by coming home fourth, and Clint Bowyer was fifth, but sits fifth in points, 152 back after Talladega. As for the rest, they need BAD things to happen to Johnson if they have any hope of getting back in this thing. I mean, Kyle Busch kind of BAD.

Tony Stewart proved to be the man who would outwit, outplay, outlast the rest in NASCAR's version of Survivor. He was the 28th and final leader as he won his first on the big track, though for a moment it appeared maybe Regan Smith had managed to snatch it away from him at the last second. As they headed home, Smith ducked down below the line and stayed down there to make the pass to cross the finish stripe first. However, his feel GOOD moment didn't last.

They might allow you to drop down below the line at the finish, but not midway through the tri-oval. Smith said he was forced down by Stewart. NASCAR disagreed. If that wasn't BAD enough, instead of winding up second he got put back to the end of the lead lap to officially claim 18th. Too BAD. It had been a GOOD day for DEI, with all four of their cars running up front at one time or another. Paul Menard was second, Aric Almirola wound up 13th, while an earlier wreck ended a promising day for Martin Truex Jr.

Truex was doing fine until Brian Vickers had a front right tire explode as they were running side by side. Nine cars got caught up in that one. By then, any hope for a GOOD day for Jeff Gordon had already gone out the window. He turned right to avoid David Reutimann, who had his own flying rubber issues, got touched by Jon Wood and nosed the wall. The rubber from Reutimann hit Johnson's front end, but they managed to make repairs and prevent his day from going to the UGLY side with the rest.

Dead last in the Chase is Denny Hamlin, who spent the night in hospital before being released Monday morning. He was leading just past the midpoint when he blew a right front and cut hard to the outside wall. Hamlin is now 335 points back, four behind Kyle Busch (15th on the weekend), and 86 back of Junior in next year country. Hey, the Daytona 500 is just four months away!

So, what is up with all those tires doing down, or blowing up, at Talladega? Well, the GOOD news is that the problem does not lie simply with GOODyear, as the Hoosier rubber seemed to have its own woes in Friday's ARCA race. I think accusing the tire in this case is akin to blaming the ground for causing your injuries when your parachute fails to open. We see the end result, but the actual cause has yet to be determined. Cut tires from debris is the likely culprit.

Making the Top 35 in owner's points not only gets you a free pass to the next race, but puts you in to the first six events of 2009. It was a GOOD news, BAD news sort of day for the 36th positioned Waltrip auto Kenny Wallace took around Talladega. He finished 12th, which is GOOD, and closed the margin by a whopping 62 points to move to within 56 of the Red Bull entry of Mike Skinner, that finished 31st. That is great news. Too BAD it is Robby Gordon they are chasing for 35th, and Robby's 8th place finish widened the gap by ten to make it a 39 point spread.

GOOD action all weekend from Talladega, including ARCA action Friday afternoon. Justin Allgaier won a race that saw their top two championship contenders behind the wall needing major repairs. Heading to Toledo (Sunday, 1pm Central on SPEED), Scott Speed has an 85 point lead over Ricky Stenhouse Jr and is 105 ahead of Allgaier in the season finale.