Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team for winning their third consecutive Sprint Cup Championship.

I know in the weeks leading up to this past Sunday I was hoping for someone else to come along and take the Championship from Jimmie, but that was all for the sake of drama. I just wanted it to be more interesting and less boring. You have to admit that while it is a truly amazing, huge task to win any Championship three times in a row it is sort of boring to watch.

But never mind all that, Jimmie has proved that he is a phenomenal driver and Chad Knaus has proved that he’s a crazy smart crew chief. I just wonder how long they can keep themselves together.

For me the star of the post-race coverage was Jimmie’s dad, Gary. I think his reaction and the emotion on his face was priceless. I loved how he talked about having to learn how to text on his cell phone so that he could stay in contact with his super busy son. It was just a really sweet moment. I like seeing things like that — genuine emotions — instead of people trying to capture a moment in time that can’t possibly described. It was easier to understand what winning this Championship meant to Jimmie and his family from listening to his dad talk about remembering the time they used to watch the Ford 400 back home in Southern California.

In other news…

– Congratulations to Carl Edwards for making a valiant effort in challenging Jimmie for the Sprint Cup. Throughout this whole thing what I loved about Carl was his positive attitude and all of the energy he put towards extinguishing every option available to him during the Chase. His final post-race interview in victory lane at Homestead was, to be completely honest, very inspiring. I mean, let’s be real here, there are worse things than coming in second.

– I’ve never been the biggest Tony Stewart supporter but I was sad that he wasn’t able to come home with one more win for the No. 20 Home Depot team before they parted ways this year. It would have been a super emotional victory lane and it sucks that it wasn’t meant to be.

– Congratulations to Clint Bowyer for holding onto the Nationwide Series Championship this weekend! I’m happy for that guy, even if I couldn’t really tell if he was that happy about it. hehe. I know logically that he was but I haven’t quite gotten that guy figured out just yet.

– Congratulations to Johnny Benson for winning the Craftsman Truck Series Championship! The Nationwide and Craftsman Series should have received top billing this year because of how close the points standings were going into their final races.

– I can’t believe Jeff Gordon finished the year winless. That team has some serious splainin’ to do my friend.

Tony Stewart poses with crew chief Greg Zipadelli, team owners J.D. Gibbs and Joe Gibbs and crew members of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota before his 356th and final start for Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart finished ninth, his 207th top-10 finish. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Tony Stewart greets fans during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16, 2008 in Homestead, Florida. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship after the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16, 2008 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, started 37th and finished fourth during Sundays season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports)

Johnny Benson, driver of the #23 Exide Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after racing during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 14, 2008 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Clint Bowyer, driver of the #2 BB&T Chevrolet, poses after winning the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship after the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2008 in Homestead, Florida. (Getty Images for NASCAR)

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I guess I am.

It’s time to take a break. It’s time to take a breath and get ready for next year, for fans, teams and drivers alike. We have three months to familiarize ourselves with all of the new teams and driver changes that happened this year. Someone should make a cheat sheet ’cause I can’t seem to wrap my head around all the changes that’ll be in place next year.

The DEI / Ganassi merger that was announced this week is not helping things. When I read about it all my first thought was what happens to Regan Smith? And why does Aric Almirola have a ride for sure and Regan doesn’t? That’s not a knock against Aric but I’m really curious about how that determination was made. Regan is still in the running for that fourth team along with Scott Riggs and AJ Allmendinger. It’s gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out. I don’t expect the new Earnhardt Ganassi Racing organization to start kicking butt and take names next year, all of this is just an attempt to stop the bleeding.

In other news…

– Have you seen Sporting News’ special collectors issue “60 Most Beautiful People in NASCAR”? I just flipped through it today, haven’t read it completely yet but it’s got some in depth interviews with drivers like Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer, plus drivers wives like Krissie Newman, Chandra Johnson and Katie Kenseth. I find it odd that Kyle Busch didn’t make the list, I really do.

– One thing I must state, yet again, Ingrid Vandebosch was not/is not a supermodel. She’s referred to as one in the Sporting News special NASCAR issue. To be a supermodel I have to be able to know who you are by just hearing your first name. Think about it, if we’re sitting around talking about models and I say Tyra or Cindy or Gisele to you, you already know whom I’m talking about. If I said Ingrid you’d be like “Who??” I’m not knocking the woman; I’m just knocking the people who throw the supermodel moniker around like it’s nothing. It’s my personal pet peeve. To be called a supermodel you have to have done many things in your career to take you above and beyond the average working model. OK, I’m officially off the soapbox and I’m never talking about this again.

– Tony Stewart was named the Grand Marshall of this year’s Fiesta Bowl. The announcement took place last Friday in Phoenix and I had to share this photo of Tony at the press conference. I just think it’s funny/cute. He looks awkward in that coat. It’s not a good look; actually I don’t think that jacket is a good look for anybody.

Tony Stewart (center) is introduced as the Grand Marshall of the upcoming Fiesta Bowl by Chairman of the Board Dave Tilson (left) and Executive Director John Junker (right). (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

I love living in Northern California. I’m very proud of my home state, but last night I had to shake my head in disgust. One of our local sports broadcasters referred to David Gilliland as Jason Leffler.

The guy runs through the highlights of the race at Phoenix and hits on the crazy wreck that put David and his car on top of Scott Speed, and then proceeds to say it was Jason — not David — with his tires on Scott’s windshield. It’s sort of an easy mistake to make because Gilliland and Leffler have the same car number (the No. 38), but in different race series. So really it’s a stupid mistake and someone wasn’t paying attention. I wanted to call the TV station and tell them they’re nerds but I figured it wasn’t worth it.

Anyway, even though the outcome wasn’t what I had hoped for I did find the race enjoyable. Who doesn’t love a good red flag every now and again? Was Carl Edwards eating an Arby’s sandwich during the first one?

With the season rolling to an end I really don’t have much to say about Phoenix. What can I say that you don’t already know? It’s highly unlikely that something crazy is going to happen next weekend to take the Championship away from Jimmie Johnson. I guess that’s OK.

I have to give props to the No. 26 and the No. 2 teams and their drivers Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch for putting together great runs on Sunday. I really hoped one of them would be able to give Jimmie a run for his money at the end. It was great to see some different faces up front for a change.

It’s Phil, Captain of the Cornelia Marie! I love Deadliest Catch!

David Reutimann shares a laugh with Phil Harris of Deadliest Catch. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Kurt Busch poses with Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Webb before taking him on a pace car ride around Phoenix International Raceway. (Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

I’m diggin’ the scruffy look on him.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, started fifth and finished sixth during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday. (Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports)

AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #10 McDonald’s Dodge, during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 7, 2008 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Do you hear that noise? It’s the sound of a big creaking door shutting out my heart. Okay, I’m being a little bit dramatic but sometimes you have to be in order to drive a point home. I think I can honestly say without a doubt I would rather be in Phoenix at this moment, more than anywhere else in the world. If I think about everything that I’m missing… Well it just sucks.

Anyway, I caught the Nationwide Series coverage on TV today and I’m against Carl Edwards winning the Nationwide Series Championship, but I’m totally for him winning the Sprint Cup Championship. Why? Because he won the Nationwide Series Championship last year and I really want it to be Clint Bowyer’s year this time around. We already know how I feel about Jimmie Johnson winning the Sprint Cup for the third straight year, so there ya go.

It’s great that the points have been tightened up between Clint and Carl going into Homestead next weekend, but I’m really pulling for Clint to stay on top.

Oh! One thing about the ESPN coverage today, why is it that it always seems like Ray Evernham is seated just a little bit too far away from Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty? It just seems like there’s this big gap, he’s too far to the right. I’m always wishing he’d just scootch over a little bit.

In other news…

– This is really what you’re reading this post for isn’t it? You want to see what Carl Edwards’ wedding invitations are going to look like. Well you don’t get to see the finished product but you can see that paper they’ll be printed on at least. In a gracious gesture to stay true to his current sponsor Carl and his fiancée Dr. Kate Downey have chosen their wedding invitation stationery from their local Office Depot store. The couple is planning to wed in January.

Yesterday I finally finished watching ESPN Ultimate NASCAR (Vol. 1): The Explosion - NASCAR’s Rise. This documentary takes you through the basic history of NASCAR and evolution over the years. I loved it for it’s cinematography, the imagery was absolutely beautiful, and ability to seamlessly merge the past with present.

The Explosion gives you the story up ’til now and covers the bigger stories like Jeff Gordon’s entrance into the sport and Dale Earnhardt’s death. I dare you to not choke up or get emotional when Darrell Waltrip talks about the days after that horrible accident. I couldn’t get through it without crying.

The interviews are all first rate, not to mention the variety of interview subjects. Amongst the usual lineup of drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin there were interesting conversations with Virginia Senator Jim Webb and bestselling author Tom Wolfe.

I highly recommend this DVD, and in the coming days I’ll be posting more reviews of the 4 other volumes in the ESPN Ultimate NASCAR series.

In other news…

– Did you know that Casey Mears has a second home in Scottsdale, Arizona? He bought it during the last off-season. Apparently the guy enjoys the dessert, Casey had this to say: “I’m a West Coast guy for sure. I was raised in Bakersfield, Calif., and spent a lot of down time with my family out on sand dunes. So, I naturally spend a lot of time in the Phoenix area taking my new sand car out on the dunes and just relaxing. The climate is perfect. I’m a flip-flops kind of guy, and this atmosphere just fits with me. I look forward to coming out here throughout the year. We’ve been out here all week since the Texas race. It’s like a second or third home for all of us.”

– Jamie McMurray became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Christy Futrell, this week.

– Scott Speed is using his passion for fashion to help raise awareness and money for a good cause that is close to his heart. Speed was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2003:

“This is a really cool opportunity for me to work on a project that ties one of my biggest passions — fashion — into motorsports, while also raising money for a great cause,” Speed said. “We’re hoping that through this project we can help create awareness and raise money for conditions such as ulcerative colitis, a disease that affects me personally.”

Muffin Man T-shirts went on sale Monday at muzeclothing.com. Half of the $40 will go to the Chron’s and Colitis Foundation of America. They’ll also be on sale this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, where the Muffin Man’s creator will autograph shirts at an TBD location Sunday from 12:15-12:30 p.m. MT.

Why the Muffin Man?

“Just random, mate,” Speed said.

When I was watching the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday, I couldn’t help but think of a Seinfeld episode called “The Jimmy.” Pretty much everything in life can be related back to a Seinfeld episode as far as I’m concerned. Anyway I had a fun time imagining what Jimmie Johnson would be like if he referred to himself in the third person like “The Jimmy” does in this episode, it cracks me up every time: