CHAMPIONS CROWNED
The seasons are over for NASCAR and NHRA, and champions have been crowned in all major national racing series except the SCORE Desert Series, which concludes its season this weekend with the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.
Johnny Benson finished one spot ahead of Ron Hornaday Jr. on Friday to win the last Craftsman Truck Series title — the most dramatic of the points races.
Clint Bowyer held off Carl Edwards to win the Nationwide Series the following day.
In the least dramatic championship chase, Jimmie Johnson was not kidnapped or hit by a meteor on his way to an impressive third straight Sprint Cup title over Carl Edwards. Edwards capped the year by winning his series-best ninth title to edge Kyle Busch for that honor.
WORTHY CHAMP
Benson gave Bill Davis Racing the perfect parting gift.
Benson, who will not return to the team next year, presented veteran NASCAR team owners Bill and Gail Davis with their first NASCAR championship. It’s Benson’s second NASCAR championship; he won what was then the Busch series title in 1995.
Benson joined the team in the middle of 2004 and became its full-time driver the following year.
UNWORTHY CHAMP
Cruz Pedregon was the hottest Funny Car driver during the last month of the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series season by winning the last three titles during the Countdown play-off.
But he didn’t deserve to be crowned the 2008 Funny Car champion. Before closing the year with three straight, he hadn’t won a title in the first 21 events. And he didn’t qualify once.
The best of in Funny Cars was Tim Wilkerson, who qualified for each event and won a series-best six times.
Wilkerson was the champion of the first 21 events, and Pedregon was the best over the last three.
So who deserves the $500,000 bonus?
Certainly not Pedregon.
FORCE DIDN’T GET BURNED
John Force knew one of his drivers, Robert Hight, had a chance at winning the Funny Car championship. Hight fell short but the weekend could have been much worse for Force and his teams.
John Force Racing headquarters and museum are located in Yorba Linda, Calif., about 20 miles south of Pomona. Each time Force came to the starting line on Saturday he could see the ominous smoke cloud from the raging wildfire beyond the finish line that threatened his business, Hight’s home and that of Force assistant, Chad Light.
"The yard burned, but they saved the house," Hight told the Inland Valley Bulletin.
Light’s condo complex was damaged, but his building only sustained minor water damage.
MORE 1,000-FOOTERS
NHRA announced over the weekend that it will start the 2009 season with 1,000-foot races for Top Fuel and Funny Car.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Jerry Toliver will leave Don Schumacher Racing to replace Tony Bartone as the Funny Car driver for Jim Dunn.
Still no word on who will drive the Top Fueler for the new Alan Johnson team.
