The Other Important Race

Now that the presidential race is over, there's still another important race yet to be decided - the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion. I had promised weekly sports updates, but the tide of political news kept me from following up.

There are two races left in the Nextel Cup season - this weekend at Darlington, SC, and the following and final weekend at Homestead, FL. Right now there are 4 drivers within 48 points, and these last two races promise to be barnburners. As of today, Kurt Busch leads with 4 time champ Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson in close pursuit. If these guys have problems, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman are still within striking distance, though it would take a pretty spectacular multi-car wreck to bring them back into close contention. Such a wreck is definately possible at Darlington, known as the "Track Too Tough to Tame" and "The Lady in Black".

There are two other divisions of NASCAR that will also be crowning champions in Homestead - the Busch Series and the Craftsmen Truck Series. Martin Truex (in a Dale Jr. owned car) leads Kyle Busch (Kurt's little brother) by 161 points in the Busch Series and could conceivably clinch the championship this weekend. If he ends the race with a lead of 155 points or more it's over. If the lead is 190 points or more, Martin doesn't even have to show up for the last race.

The truck series is going to have another close finish. Last year the championship wasn't decided until the final laps in Homestead, and it could happen again that way this year. Bobby Hamilton leads Dennis Setzer by only 7 points going into Darlington, and there are a couple of other guys who could get into the mix if these two have problems.

Oh, and I should mention that the Mission Viejo High School football team is 9-0, beating their closest league rival 48-0 last weekend. Their final league game is this Thursday night and the CIF playoffs will begin the following weekend.