Daily NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson isn’t going to win the remaining 33 races. At the moment, it just seems that way.

If this is an average year, Johnson’s going to win six. He’s going to finish second in the Sprint Cup point standings. (That’s actually his average, though the past four years have obscured that a bit.)

Where numbers are concerned, there’s always the statistical quandary. Since Johnson has won the past four titles, does that mean he’s bound to win another? Or does it mean he’s overdue for a fall? Is the law of averages set? Or does it still have some catching up to do?

What we do know, three races into the season, is that whoever’s going to beat Johnson is going to have to obey all the announcers’ clichés. He’s going to have to strap himself in tight, get up on the wheel, turn up the wick and set sail for the front.

That makes it seem so easy.

It’s not. We know that, three races into the season or not. Johnson and the state-of-the-art crew chief, Chad Knaus, are not going to get complacent.

"I don’t know if it’s just our makeup or mindset, what it is," said Johnson after career victory No. 49. "If you get off to a quick start, I think we’re both sitting here, even though we haven’t talked about it, we can’t sit still, complacency is going to kill you.

"We’re looking forward to going to Atlanta with new ideas and new things. … We don’t feel invincible, though. … I feel very good about things. But invincible? Far from that."

Johnson’s just fifth in the points. Guess what? From now through the race scheduled for Sept. 11 in Richmond, Va., he only has to be 12th. Then it starts all over. If Johnson is 12th then - and, by the way, he won’t be that far down the list - he’ll still be the favorite, and that’s the way it’s going to be until someone else comes along to prove Johnson can be beaten.

Three races into the season, it’s encouraging for point leader Kevin Harvick, but it’s no more or no less than business as usual for reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

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Racin’ at Fontana wasn’t so much exciting as … interesting. Not enough to draw many fans to the track, though. (photo: Getty Images)

- This should have been crystal clear from the outset. Moving from Indy cars to stock cars is very, very difficult, just as the reverse would be. It’s not going to be easy for Danica Patrick, who has a lot to learn and not enough opportunities to do so.

- Attendance for the Stater Brothers 300 was "officially" estimated at 36,000, and many at the track thought 20,000-30,000 was closer to the truth. Patrick is a boon to the Nationwide Series, but Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., remains a tough sell, apparently, to the fans of Southern California.

- One of those routine Darrell Waltrip remarks: "This is the second time Jamie (McMurray) has been a first-time winner for Chip (Ganassi)." First of all, that’s impossible. Secondly, McMurray’s first victory was in his second race in Ganassi’s Dodge.

- Racing would be much better if cars were equivalent, not equal.

- TV didn’t have much to say about the crowd in Fontana. It was way too sparse for even Mike Joy to declare a sellout.

- Crowd estimates from Fontana - estimates more trustworthy than NASCAR’s assessment of 72,000 — ran from 40,000 to 55,000. Expect a management shakeup … at least.

- Someone in NASCAR apparently decided make pit-road speeding a priority item at Auto Club Speedway.

- Races in Fontana aren’t often exciting, but they are often interesting.

- The last Daytona 500 winner who made the Chase (and won it) was, yes, Jimmie Johnson in 2006.

- The California kid who drives No. 48 got career victory No. 48 at the track closest to his El Cajon, Calif., home.

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Jamie McMurray made a dramatic new start for his new team, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, after getting a little drafting support from former Roush teammate Greg Biffle. (photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Jamie McMurray’s Daytona 500 victory shouldn’t have been considered an upset. It was the Joplin, Mo.’s second consecutive victory on a track where carburetor restrictor plates are used, and it was also his second career victory at Daytona International Speedway.

It was, however, dramatic, and it marked his first start in a new ride at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

"It’s unbelievable," said McMurray, 33. "I can’t really put it into words the way it feels. I talked to my wife this morning. She was like, you know, ‘What would it mean to you if you won this race today?’ I told her it would be like a dream come true.

"I’m trying to be genuine and as sincere as I can and not sound cliché. As a kid growing up, this is what you dream of, of being able to win the Daytona 500."

Perhaps McMurray had a sense of déjà vu. In a previous stint (2002-05) driving for owner Chip Ganassi, he finished 13th, 11th and 12th in the (now) Sprint Cup standings and won at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his second race, substituting for injured Sterling Marlin.

McMurray received crucial drafting help from Greg Biffle, formerly his teammate at Roush Fenway Racing.

"I’m so happy for him," said Biffle. "I went straight to Victory Lane when I got done with my interviews. I felt like I was a big part of getting him up there because he spun his tires like crazy (on a restart), and I got against his bumper and was against his bumper all the way through second gear, third gear and fourth gear, and I pushed him across (turns) one and two, which I hadn’t done all night.

"I was able to stay against him down the backstretch and we just took off."

"Plate racing is a lot about people helping you," said McMurray. "When you get out there, you have a decision to make when you get behind somebody of which one you want to help. I’ve been really fortunate that I’m pretty good friends with a lot of guys out there. You know, guys typically will help me when I get to plate races.

"You cannot win one of these races without help.

"It’s not just from one guy. It takes a lot of people. You’ve got to have a fast car, and everything’s got to work out for you. I’ve been obviously really fortunate the last two plate tracks."

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Jimmie Johnson celebrates winning the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, his seventh victory of 2009. Overall, he’s won 18 Chase races. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

- Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin have competed in 265 races together. Martin has scored 108 more points (the current margin separating the two) than Johnson in nine of them. The most recent, of course, was at Texas on Nov. 8.

- Career victory No. 47 puts Jimmie Johnson one ahead of Buck Baker and one behind Herb Thomas. He’s in 13th place all-time.

- All Kyle Busch has to do to wrap up the title is start the Nationwide Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ron Hornaday Jr. has already wrapped up his record fourth championship in the Camping World Truck Series.

- Johnson won for the fourth time at Phoenix International Raceway. No one else has won at the Desert Mile more than twice.

- While Jeff Burton was closing in a bit on Johnson late in the Checker O’Reilly 500, he was realistic afterwards. "We were catching him, but Johnson has a way of finding a little extra when he needs it. I’m sure the final three or four laps that he knew the margin he had," he said.

- This is the third time Johnson has won four or more races in the Chase. His career total of Chase victories is 18.

- Ford drivers have won the past five Homestead races. Greg Biffle won three in a row (2004-06), followed by Matt Kenseth in 2007 and Carl Edwards last year. Coincidentally, it’s billed as Ford Championship Weekend.

- Homestead-Miami Speedway is the only Sprint Cup track where Jeff Gordon has never won.

- Kurt Busch led the first 52 laps at Phoenix. Johnson then led 238 of the remaining 260.

- The Cup season finale is one of three races held in the State of Florida. NASCAR history is dotted with the names of Sunshine State natives like Fireball Roberts, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Marshall Teague, Joe Nemechek and David Reutimann.

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Martinsville was a high point for Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray. Sixth place marked his best finish of the season, only his fourth in the top 10 and his first top 10 since May.

McMurray, twice a winner at NASCAR’s highest level, looks to the future with uncertainty. With NASCAR insisting on a limit of four full-time cars per team, owner Jack Roush has to cut back his operation, making McMurray the most likely driver in the Roush stable to either move to another team or be shuffled elsewhere within the Ford contingent.

The 33-year-old driver from Joplin, Mo., won his second Sprint Cup race, but that was way back in October 2002, when he won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway substituting for injured Sterling Marlin. In 2007, McMurray picked up career victory No. 2 in Daytona’s July race.

"It was a really good day," said McMurray of Martinsville Speedway’s Tums Fast Relief 500. "We made really good pit calls and had good pit strategy. Our car was better than average, so we just had a solid day."

McMurray is a proponent of the "double-file restarts rule" implemented earlier this year. At the end of each caution period, cars restart in running order, similar to the beginning of a race. Lapped cars, formerly placed in one of the two lines, are now buried deep in the pack, leaving the leaders to race for position.

"If you have a fast car, you don’t have to do all the strategy stuff," said McMurray. "If you’re struggling to stay on the lead lap, then maybe there’s something you can do there to work to your benefit."

"It’s very, very exciting, I think, for the fans. Our sport is based on putting a good show on, and this is putting a better show on for the fans."

McMurray ranks 22nd in Sprint Cup points, 184 behind Kevin Harvick, 27 ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and 29 in front of 24th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. McMurray’s three best career finishes in the point standings all occurred while he drove Dodges for Chip Ganassi. He finished 13th in 2003, 11th in 2004 and 12th in 2005.

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