Kevin Harvick had a great night in the Camping World Truck Series on Friday in Phoenix.  As a driver Kevin Harvick survived a green-white-checkers finish to claim the win.    As a car owner Kevin Harvick's driver Ron Hornaday Jr's fourth place finish was good enough too clinch the 2009 Camping World Truck Series Championship.

Consistency wins Championships in NASCAR and Ron Hornaday Jr. has embodied that in 2009 with 19 top ten finishes in 24 races.   Hornaday also has six wins so far in 2009 including an amazing stretch of five in a row.

Congratulations to Ron Hornaday Jr. and car owner Kevin Harvick on clinching the 2009 Camping World Truck Series title.

A week ago all hope seemed hopeless for Mark Martin in the Championship battle but Jimmie Johnson's Texas trouble has opened the door.

Mark has to be excited to be headed to Phoenix for the 2009 O'Reilly Checker Auto Parts 300 within shouting distance of the point lead.  Mark Martin dominated at Phoenix International Raceway when the series visited in April.   Another strong run by Mark this week and we could have a real points battle on our hands in Homestead.

NASCAR announced this week that this year the Sprint Cup awards banquet will move from the ESPN family to SPEED. ESPN Classic was willing to cover the banquet but was not interested in a live broadcast.

SPEED will show the December 4th awards ceremony live from end-to-end.  The banquet is scheduled to be shown live on SPEED from 9pm - 1am Eastern time.  In case you miss it the banquet will be re-aired at 1pm on both the 5th and 6th.

Wow,  even the lowly ESPN Classic can't clear a spot for the  NASCAR awards ceremony?  Are there really so many fans of the World's Strongest Man competition from 1981 that they can't take a break to show a live sports banquet?

Clearly this is a great move for NASCAR. SPEED was created by race fans for race fans and I have no doubt that they will do a great job covering the festivities.

Only two races remain in all three of NASCAR's top touring series.  All three series will travel together to Phoenix and then to Homestead to wrap up their 2009 NASCAR seasons.  For all three series the most points a driver can earn in one race is 195 and the max differential between first and last is 161.  Some of the Championships could be clinched this weekend in Phoenix.

Ron Hornaday Jr. could lock up the 2009 Camping World Truck Series Championship in Phoenix.   He currently enjoys a 197 point lead over Matt Crafton.  If Hornaday can keep Crafton in sight the Truck Series title could be his a week early.

Kyle Busch has an even larger lead in the 2009 Nationwide Series point standings.   Kyle has a 272 point cushion over Carl Edwards.   Given how strong Kyle has been in the Nationwide Series this season his odds of clinching this weekend are very high.

After Jimmie Johnson's Texas crash the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Point Standings are the closest of the three.  Jimmie is just 73 points ahead of teammate Mark Martin.   Of the three, this is once again the best battle in NASCAR.

The one thing that is most predictable in NASCAR is that it is unpredictable.   Jimmie Johnson came to Texas Motor Speedway with a seemingly insurmountable lead in the points.  It took just three laps for over half of that lead to be erased as Johnson crashed and spent over an hour in the garage getting his car fixed.  When all the dust settled Mark Martin was just 73 points behind with two races to go.

Kyle Busch dominated much of the race but left the win for his brother when he fell 2 1/2 laps short on fuel and had to dive onto pit road.  Kurt remained mostly overlooked even after the race as The Chase was the big story of the weekend.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Mark Martin -73
3. Jeff Gordon -112
4. Kurt Busch -171
5. Tony Stewart -178
6. Juan Montoya -236
7. Greg Biffle -247
8. Denny Hamlin -322
9. Ryan Newman -324
10. Kasey Kahne -399
11. Carl Edwards -440
12. Brian Vickers -520

As the Sprint Cup Series rolls in to Texas Motor Speedway for the 2009 Dickies 500 I have to ask.  Has Jimmie essentially locked it up with three races remaining?

His lead is 184 points and the most Mark Martin could gain in one race is 161.  So Jimmie has one full race lead over Martin with just three to go.   Add to that the fact that Johnson has been stellar at Texas and Phoenix over the last few years and it is very difficult to imagine anyone but Johnson winning the 2009 Chase for the Cup.

I'm ready to call it.   Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for his unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship.

The manufacturers have been quietly shuffling around in preparation for the 2010 NASCAR season.  This week Dodge revealed that they will be using the Challenger in the Nationwide series next year as their "new" car.  The current Dodge Charger will be used for 31 of the 35 races next year but the four designated "new" car races will see the debut of the Dodge Challenger.

Since Richard Petty Motorsports is merging with Robert Yates Racing and switching to Fords, Dodge was left with a gap in their stable. Roger Penske will be gaining from that gap as the flagship NASCAR team for Dodge.  This includes full factory support for his three 2010 Sprint Cup teams and a two-car Nationwide series effort.

Lots to ponder here as the King moves to Ford and the Nationwide series will start rolling out a new car in 2010.   NASCAR continues to change.

Jamie McMurray did a nice job of staying out of trouble and drove a fast car to Victory Lane during the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.    However the mess that NASCAR created behind him was just ugly.  There is no other word for it that I can use on this site.

NASCAR has not been able to fix the restrictor place problem for the last 20 years.    This racing was terrible and clearly someone is going to get hurt.  There seems to be no fix for the problem.  Maybe it is time for drastic measures.  How about building a nice 3/4 mile high banked oval and declaring that Talladega Superspeedway?

This Sunday the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway could throw a wrench in Hendrick Motorsports' plans.  Hendrick drivers currently hold the top three spots in the Chase for the Cup standings but Talladega was not kind to them when the Sprint Cup series visited here in April.

Jimmie Johnson was tops among the three Chase leaders with a miserable 30th place effort after being caught up in a crash.  Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon fared even worse as they both also crashed at Talladega in April.  Mark Martin was credited with 43rd position while Jeff Gordon limped his damaged car home in 37th.

This is why Talladega is considered the "wild card" race in the Chase.  Finishes like these can have a huge impact on the points.  Will Halloween spirits haunt the Chase leaders in Talladega or did they use up all of their bad luck in April?

This weekend the Chase will find its way to Talladega Superspeedway.  Before we spend time looking ahead to what is sure to be another thrilling Talladega finish let's look back at some recent Talladega events.

• We only have to go back to April of this year to find a memorable Talladega event.  That race saw two "Big Ones" and Carl Edwards crashing into the fence from the lead as they came to the checkered flag.
• In 2008 tire problems dominated the headlines and caused a number of hard hits.
• Or 2006 when Brian Vickers turned Jimmie Johnson who collected Dale Jr. leaving Vickers free to claim the win.
• Don't forget the 2004 event where "fans" threw garbage on the track because Junior didn't win.

Those are just a few of the recent Talladega memories.   Some love this place while others hate it but everyone has to agree that Talladega finishes are rarely boring.