From the February, 2006 issue of Stock Car Insider
Last Week's Headlines
Last Week's Who's Hot:No doubt, this week the Who's Hot section has to be dedicated to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson grabbed the lead with 14 laps to go and never gave it up. In the end, Johnson held off Ryan Newman and a charging Casey Mears.
At the end of the race, Johnson proclaimed that this victory was for all the 48-team haters. I have a feeling Johnson won over a few more fans today.
Year in and year out, Johnson is a contender for the championship. Starting his year off by winning the Daytona 500 and leading the points only means he'll be in the hunt for the 2006 championship.
Expect Johnson to finish well again next week as he journeys back home to California. In 6 starts at California, Johnson has 1 win, 3 top 5's, and 3 top 10's.
Last Week's Who's Not:
After a controversial performance in the Daytona 500, Tony Stewart has earned his place in this week's Who's Not section. During the course of the 500, Smoke, as he is affectionately known, smoked his chances along with Jeff Gordon's and Matt Kenseth's by accidentally clipping Gordon's right rear and intentionally knocking Kenseth's nose off.
After spending much of the early part of the week proclaiming the NASCAR holocaust was about to occur in the form of bump-drafting, Tony had no problems with ram-rodding cars out of the way as he moved his way to the front of the pack.
Is Tony back to his temper driven antics that almost cost him his ride and sponsor at Joe Gibbs Racing? Or will Tony regain his composure, and give his fans another stellar championship season? Only Smoke knows!
