First of all, let's have a nice round of applause for the DVR. It allowed me to watch the race this week.
I spent my weekend in Milwaukee for a wedding (Nick and Allison are given the week off from reading my blog, they can catch up when they get back from Hawaii), and managed to catch a quarter of the National League in action Sunday after attending Trevor Hoffman bobblehead day in Milwaukee, then heading down to Chicago for "Sunday Night Baseball" with the Cubs and Mets.
And if you didn't know, tailgating is awesome. But how could you not know that? If you're reading this column, then I consider you one of my kindred spirits, channeled through bratwursts eaten under sunny skies with good friends.
Monday's traveling, well, that didn't go as smoothly. Meaning that the Dover race sat on my DVR for a little while longer as I ended up having an unscheduled trip to Charlotte, marking the first time these words have ever been spoken. And by spoken, I mean written.
"I haven't been able to watch the race yet because I'm in Charlotte."
As for the race, I have some notes about that, as well, but rest assured, I'll really just be thinking about bratwursts.
Johnson and Johnson
Let's start with the winner. Jimmie Johnson led 298 laps; that's the fourth-most by a race winner over the last five seasons at any track. The only tracks at which a driver led more on his way to victory over those five seasons were Bristol and Martinsville, the two shortest tracks on the circuit. Therefore, more laps.
The story of the race was the No. 48 making up the ground after changing four tires late. How much ground did Johnson make up? Check out these stats, just spanning the final 14 laps, or 14 miles of the 400-mile race.
Jimmie Johnson vs. second and third, last 14 laps at Dover
Driver -- Avg. Lap Time -- Total Time Lost
Jimmie Johnson -- 24.98 -- N/A
Tony Stewart -- 25.13 -- -2.45 sec
Greg Biffle -- 25.27 -- -4.40 sec
Trivia break: This is the fifth time that Johnson and Stewart have traded the lead with each other in the last 10 laps of a race. Who has the edge in wins?
Tony award-winning performance
The silver lining in Smoke's runner-up performance? He leads the Sprint Cup Series standings over Jeff Gordon (more on that guy later), becoming the first owner-driver to lead the points since Alan Kulwicki won the championship in 1992.
Believe it or not, this is the first time Stewart has been atop the standings since the end of the 2005 season, the last time Stewart won the championship.
Just for kicks, let's throw out a statement and stop just short of making a bold prediction. Stewart has led the points only in 2002 and 2005, both seasons in which he went on to win the championship.
Maybe it's still the lingering effects of the Brewers game talking, but Stewart could be NASCAR's version of Trevor Hoffman, MLB's all-time saves leader. But no need to cue up "Hell's Bells" quite yet.
Trivia break: Who finished runner-up to Stewart in his championship seasons?
Back to the future
Stewart knocked Jeff Gordon out of the lead, as Gordon continues to struggle with back issues and has seen his hot start cool off dramatically.
Sure, you can have an off race here and there, and it's tough for anybody, even a four-time champ, to maintain the start that Gordon had this year. But his results have been consistently off over the last six races.
Jeff Gordon
2009 season -- First 7 races -- Last 6 races
Wins -- 1 -- 0
Top-5s -- 5 -- 1
Top-10s -- 6 -- 2
Avg. finish -- 4.6 -- 19.2
Pts. rank -- 1st -- 19th
Yes, Gordon ranks behind drivers such as Sam Hornish Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose in points over the last half-dozen races. Other drivers struggling in that time period: Kasey Kahne (20th), Jamie McMurray (22nd) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (24th).
Trivia break: Gordon is in second now, and no driver has ever missed the Chase after being that high at the halfway point to the Chase. What's the highest a driver has been at this point that missed the Chase?
Trivia break answers
(1) Johnson has won four of the five races in which he and Stewart swapped the lead within the final 10 laps.
(2) Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards tied for second in 2005; Mark Martin was runner-up in 2002.
(3) Elliott Sadler was third after 13 races in 2005, but ended the season in 13th.
Matt Willis
