A Win for Carl Edwards Still Didn't Change Chase Outlook

As the green flag waved for Sundays race at Atlanta, I couldn't help but admit that this championship has already been decided.

But not in Carl Edwards mind, in the end Jimmie Johnson walked away atop the standings with three to go.

For Kyle Busch he eliminated himself early in the chase. He has been painfully inconsistent at times this chase. At Atlanta though he fought a tight condition for most of the day but stayed on the lead lap and within the top 10 for most of the day.

He finished in the top five on Sunday but was never a factor once again for the win. It's hard to believe that this is the same team that dominated in the first 26 races and won eight times.

Kyle Busch: Once the class of the field, now just trying to stay relevant.

Denny Hamlin is probably wondering what could have been? After taking the lead form Matt Kenseth on pit road, he cruised, but a myriad of cautions and a car unable to  take off on the restart, allowed Edwards to pass him on the final restart.

It wasn't more than four laps before Jimmie Johnson flew by him on new tires. Oh what could have been? In the chase, this season and this past Sunday.A top five finish is still their second in as many races.

Denny Hamlin: First, he played second fiddle to Kyle Busch, now he is playing second fiddle to the Jimmie and Carl show.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently has been able to finish the race as well as he has started. Until Sunday. He started off pretty good, but as a run continued  and the race wore on they fell behind on a adjustment and quickly fell back in the pack. After some pit road adjustments he quickly rebounded until he came back to pit road late in the race.

Jr. relegated to a 11th place finish after some minor damage. Had it not been for that incident a higher finish would have been a reward for a team that is trying to stay as consistent throughout a race as they were early on in the season.

Dale Jr.: Thought he was coming to the start finish line three wide..er..on pit road...

It was a rare occurrence this year, Matt Kenseth on the lead lap and leading the race. But recently this has been a normal occurrence. It seems that Kenseth and crew have found something in this new car that was missing throughout the year.

Kenseth pit crew was on the ball all day long, pulling off quick stops and  picking up positions even the lead on pit road.  But Matt was no match for his teammate Edwards who forced Kenseth to settle for a fourth place finish which is a victory for a team  that only had eight top fives coming into Atlanta this year.

Kenseth: Still playing catch up to Edwards and Greg Biffle, but Sunday was a glimpse of what's to come.

After Talladega I thought for sure Stewart was going to get hot, win his way back into this thing. Boy, was I wrong. After struggling with handling the last two weeks Talladega feels like a distant memory. He fell a lap down  and battled to the end to get his lap back and finish in the top 20.

Not typical Stewart like race, and this time at Atlanta he had no one to blame but his crew and car for such a disappointing race. With the year winding down you have to believe that his focus is else where and that is translating on the track. Tough for his fans and even tougher for his team who is still giving 100% while Stewart is distracted.

Tony Stewart: Couldn't wait for the checkered flag just to leave Atlanta for 2008.

Clint Bowyer's glass slipper er..glass wheel finally has broken. He wasn't even a factor on Sunday. Quickly dropping back after the green flag, and never recovering. Finishing off the lead lap, knocked out this contender for good this year. I said  many times, Bowyer never made a statement this year in the Chase.

Lackluster finishes and ill handling race cars never gave this driver a shot. Now he looks to 2009 in a new ride and new crew chief. You have to wonder did all this car swapping become a distraction, during the time of a year when these top 12 need to be completely focused on the chase?

Clint Bowyer: It's midnight and this drivers happy ending will not happen at least not this year.

Jeff Gordon is running out of time to win... a race. The championship hopes have ended after Talladega but  he till had a couple tracks a win would  be possible. Now he has two tracks where he has never won and one track he has won once.

As the green flag dropped, Gordon quickly moved through the field. But as the race track changed the 24 crew fell behind on a adjustment and watched themselves fall back in the field. A much needed  caution  allowed them to correct there adjustment and  charge they way to the front. Never  got higher than third and took four fresh new tires on a restart  late and settled for a ninth place finish.

The positive in this chase we have seen is that Gordon has been very consistent, and has actually ran the best  recently then he has ran all year. But that doesn't quiet the critics who question Gordon's focus, a win would be nice for this team, but continuing to improve with this car as they have is probably a bigger victory.

Jeff Gordon:Still winless this year, but he is probably his own biggest cheerleader..Go Jeff Go!!!

Kevin Harvick is probably glad to be leaving Atlanta, he struggled for most of the day with handling on the car and then was penalized with less than 100 to go for speeding on pit road. Harvick was barely a top ten car that's why he finished 13th. Harvick is among the trio who has yet to win, but his streak could end in the final three races.

With championship hopes over, Harvick is set on winning races and finishing races.The one good things is his streak of consecutive races to still be running at the checkered flag is still intact.

Kevin Harvick: I think I just jinxed him..sorry 'Happy Harvick'

After Lowe's Jeff Burton served noticed, then came Martinsville and Atlanta and Burton watched his best chance of winning a championship all but disappear in two races. Burton struggled all day with handling on this car. He was never a factor and falling a lap down doesn't help. To really  end his chances  a late race wreck, he finished  but barely.

I was really rooting for Burton after Lowe's, but poor setups and poor pit stops hurt this team, now they can only wonder what could have been.

Jeff Burton: He knew after Lowe's, he would have to be darn near perfect, but perfection is hard to get...if your not Jimmie Johnson....

Greg Biffle, started this chase red hot, had a few tough races and  now has found consistency; consistently losing points to Jimmie Johnson. Biffle was never a factor on Sunday, he battled a ill-handling car. 

He did gain a positions in the end, by taking four tires, but that is no solace to a team that was oh so close a few weeks ago and our now fighting for second.

Greg Biffle: He had a taste of the championship but it quickly went sour.

Carl Edwards is in two championship hunts and won in both races this weekend but still sits in second. Carl Edwards needed  a miracle on Sunday he needed Jimmie Johnson not to lead a lap and he needed to lead the most laps. And neither of those two scenarios  happened.

Edwards was the class of the field, but he still lost points to Johnson who fell of the lead lap but battled back for a second place finish. Edwards needs to be darn near perfect from here on out and he needs a miracle, he needs Jimmie to make a mistake and he needs to capitalize otherwise come Homestead he will be just watching the celebration from his hauler.

Carl Edwards: Was more surprised that Johnson finished second then that he lost points to the leader.

Jimmie Johnson, there is not much to say, I mean you go a lap down, you battle back all day and end up finishing second and  extending your points lead. Just another day at the office for the 48 team.

All this team needs to do is just start each race. They haven't made many mistakes so don't expect that to suddenly change. This team third championship is well within reach.

Jimmie Johnson: Carl Edwards won, but Jimmie Johnson dominated the headlines

Well now that we are heading down the stretch a few things are clear, it's really a two man race and in actuality it's Johnson's to lose. A few drivers who struggled throughout the year have been making good strides recently and may be preparing less for this year and more for next year.

A big heads up to Kurt Busch who struggled mightily last week at Martinsville and came back with a top 10 finish. Jamie McMurray and David Ragan finished strong in the top 10.

There is a lot of things going on in the garage from sponsorship hunts, and streak ending wins and alot of looking to 2009. For many drivers they have looked up  sponsors and seats but for some there are still a lot of questions., questions that will be answered in the coming weeks.