And with the 141-point lead this guy has, I’ll be REALLY surprised if he doesn’t have the title at the end of the weekend.

A commanding 141-point lead, that’s what Jimmie Johnson is enjoying coming to the grand finale of the 2008 NASCAR Chase for the Cup this Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With that big of a lead, Jimmie Johnson only needs to finish 36th or better to win his third straight NASCAR title. Sure, it ain’t over ’til it’s over but the fact of the matter is, MATHEMATICALLY speaking, it already is.

The only driver probably still in contention for the title is Carl Edwards. However, even if Edwards were to win and lead the most laps on Sunday, Edwards will still need Johnson to take himself out of the race to engineer a shocker.

The ten-race ‘’Chase to the Championship'’ is all about consistency, and Jimmie Johnson, once again, showed that no one is better. In the nine races leading up to this weekend’s race, Johnson has three wins, six top 5’s, and eight top 10’s for an average finish of 4.7. That is how you seal the deal people. While Carl Edwards has been impressive as well, he would have had to be nearly perfect to take the hardware away from Johnson.

Johnson will now become only the second driver to win three straight NASCAR championship titles, tying Cale Yarborough. The only thing that can slow Johnson down might be a sagging economy and General Motors.

This week at Homestead, Johnson should be considered a heavy favorite to win the race aside from the fact that he already has the championship in hand. However, this race is a high banked fast 1.5 mile track, configured much differently than the traditional 1.5 mile tracks like Charlotte and Atlanta. The teams that have done well there in the past do have distinction of doing well on the more familiar D-shaped or tri-oval tracks. Carl Edwards would fit the bill as the leading candidate to win because he meets all the requirements.

How Johnson treats this race is a tough question. He’s shown in the past that he doesn’t like to sit back and collect points. But since he already has an insurmountable lead coming into this one, that’s the right thing for him to do.

Who will win the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.

Kyle Busch 2.00

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6.50

Jimmie Johnson 7.00

Jeff Gordon 11.00

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NASCAR Jimmie Johnson