In racing there are many moments where the outcome of a race or even a season could have gone any direction.
This season’s championship battle had many turning points that affected the outcome, especially in the Chase. There were three big Turning points for Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson.
The biggest turning point came at Texas Motor Speedway. When Jeff Gordon crashed under caution and the pit crew switch was made.
Gordon’s crew who has been one of the best all season replaced Johnson’screw which had been struggling on pit road.
The effect was immediate the 24 pit crew knocked off sub 14 second stops but questions were raised would the move be for final races of season?
The next day, Hendrick Motorsports announced that the crews would swap for final two races of the year.
Hamlin who won the race at TMS, his crew chief Mike Ford immediately called it an act of desperation.
Chad Knaus, crew chief of the 48 team quickly dismissed Ford and his comments. “I don't think it's an act of desperation by any stretch of the imagination. It's an act of what we've got to do to try to win the race," Knaus said.
The very next weekend at Phoenix while Johnson did not win the race the pit crew swap began to payoff.
Hamlin and his team were forced to pit road after being 12 laps short on fuel. Everybody else did not needing to pit including Johnson. Hamlin finish 12th and
Johnson finished fifth and cutting Hamlin’s lead to 15 heading into Homestead.
Hamlin following Phoenix was in control of the title but was still very vulnerable.
“If you look at history, it looks good for us," Hamlin said. "But you never know what can happen. This stuff that happened [Sunday] can happen next week and you can't control it. We just hope to have a clean race next week and the best car win. That's all that we can ask for to crown the champ.”
As they headed to Homestead the trash talking and mind games were in full effect but as the green flag waved, both Hamlin and Johnson knew it was their title to lose.
Hamlin didn’t exactly get off on the right foot on Friday. A dismal qualifying effort saw Hamlin starting deep in the pack and Johnson starting sixth.
Hamlin found trouble with Greg Biffle that saw him spinning early in the race. They could never recover and a late caution caught Hamlin a lap down. They took the wave around but missed an opportunity for fresh tires.
Johnson meanwhile ran top 10 most of the day and while the pit crew struggled at times, on the final stop of the day the team got it done.
Johnson finished second and went on to win his fifth title in a row and Hamlin finished 14th.
Hamlin in post race acknowledged that losing the title in final race was tough but he is ready for 2011.
"It's going to be fuel for me," Hamlin said. "I'm just going to try to get better. There are things that I can improve on as a driver. I've got to work on qualifying. I'll study that in the offseason. I've got to work on my outright speed on the restarts. Those are things I've got to get better at.”
Johnson knows that this Chase was probably among his best titles won not only because the competition was at its toughest but because he had to come from behind.
"This one, I think, this takes the lead," said Johnson, who won by 39 points over Hamlin and 41 over Harvick. "Just the circumstances, it’s not that the other Chases weren't competitive. We were stronger I think in the previous two Chases, at least. Maybe all four. But this one, I'm just so proud, because there were times on Saturday nights when we would get together and discuss our race car after practice, and we would have some tough conversations, and just struggled to get what we needed."
While Johnson will spend the next couple weeks celebrating the title he can look back at the final weeks of the season and the turning points that led him to his historic win.
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