Is TV in love with Jimmie Johnson?

   Jimmie Johnson didn't just win a fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship this season, he also dominated his competition in another way - in TV exposure.

   According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Assoc. Inc. - a sports and entertainment industry leader in measurement and evaluation of sponsorships and promotional programs - Johnson was interviewed an entire half-hour longer and mentioned 1,800 more times by the announcers than series runner-up Denny Hamlin throughout the course of the season.

   The research by Joyce Julius, which has monitored every NASCAR race telecast for the last 25 years, Johnson's name was mentioned 7,875 times during the 36 live event telecasts (and replays) of the 2010 season.  Johnson also appeared in a season-high 88 interview segments, which added up to over 1 1/2 hours of television time.

   Hamlin, by contrast, drew 6,072 announcer mentions and 56 interviews that totaled just over an hour of TV time. Hamlin won the most races this season and lead the Chase for the Cup going into the season's final race.

   According to the research, Kyle Busch was the third-most mentioned driver, Kevin Harvick was fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth.

   Year-End Top-20 Interview Results:

:

	Driver	Pnts	Intervws	Intervwew	Announcer
				Time	Mentions
1)	Johnson, J.	1	88	1:31:35	7,875
2)	Hamlin, D.	2	56	1:01:50	6,072
3)	Busch, Ky.	8	47	1:07:13	5,500
3)	Harvick, K.	3	47	0:55:00	5,346
5)	Gordon, J.	9	46	0:59:03	5,039
6)	Stewart, T.	7	40	0:39:29	3,957
7)	Busch, Ku.	11	38	0:35:32	3,114
8)	Bowyer, C.	10	36	0:36:08	3,482
8)	Edwards, C.	4	36	0:51:20	3,133
10)	Burton, J.	12	33	0:32:51	3,483
10)	McMurray, J.	14	33	0:49:44	2,899
12)	Kahne, K.	20	31	0:28:37	2,269
13)	Biffle, G.	6	30	0:30:06	3,357
14)	Logano, J.	16	27	0:26:59	1,982
15)	Earnhardt, Jr., D.	21	21	0:18:45	2,155
16)	Ambrose, M.	26	16	0:15:22	1,641
16)	Montoya, J.	17	16	0:08:57	3,343
18)	Newman, R.	15	15	0:14:24	1,966
19)	Kenseth, M.	5	14	0:10:43	2,601
19)	Keselowski, B.	25	14	0:12:44	1,143

　　

Ragan heads to Snowball fight in Fla.

  
   David Ragan, driver of Roush Fenway Racing's No. 6 Ford, begins his off-season from NASCAR racing by competing in the Snowball Derby, a 300-lap Super Late Model stock car race held annually at the 1/2-mile Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida the first weekend of December.

   Fellow Cup driver Kyle Busch won the event last season and many NASCAR veterans from Rusty Wallace to Darrell Waltrip have won the race in the past.

   "I have never been down there, and I have built a late model car over the last off-season just to go race around the Southeast and I thought, ‘Heck, let’s go down here and run it,’ ” Ragan said.

   Ragan said he has no illusions of going down to the Derby and winning just because he's a Cup driver, but he does enjoy another opportunity for competition.

   "The first Cup off weekend in December there is usually no racing going on, so this is the perfect time of year to go race. It is the best of the best of short track racers down there. It is going to be a challenge," he said.

   "If it was going to be a cake walk I don’t think anybody would want to go down there. It is a tough race. For me, it is all about learning something else, being competitive and seeing what I’ve got."

   Besides more racing, is there anything else Ragan likes to do in the brief NASCAR offseason?

   “The biggest thing is to spend time with my family. So much over the racing season they are always second or third," he said. "Anytime I can spend some time with my girlfriend or go back home to Georgia and spend a few weeks seeing my grandparents really means a lot.

   "Once Daytona rolls around we are testing and I just don’t get a chance to see them."

Keselowski gets new Cup crew chief

   Fresh off helping driver Brad Keselowski win a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, crew chief Paul Wolfe has received a promotion and tougher assignment. Wolfe was named Tuesday as Keselowski's crew chief for the No. 2 Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series for the 2011 season.

   In their first season working together, Keselowski and Wolfe produced six wins and five poles on their way to winning the Nationwide title. The No. 22 Dodge team also established a new series single-season record with 26 top-five finishes.

   "It’s been a fantastic 2010 season with Brad and the team and I’m excited about the challenge of moving up to the Cup Series next season and the opportunity to continue build on the legacy of the No. 2 car team with Brad behind the wheel," Wolfe said.

   A former driver who accumulated six top-20 finishes in 16 career Nationwide starts, Wolfe first became a crew chief in 2006 with Fitz Racing. He moved on to CJM Racing in 2009 before he joined Penske Racing as Keselowski's crew chief in November 2009.

    “We just seemed to click right from the beginning and we look to bring that same magic to the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team in 2011," Keselowski said.

Kurt Busch comes up short at the Rock

   The NASCAR season may over, but not Kurt Busch's racing.

   Busch was edged by Will Kimmel in Saturday's Polar Bear 150 Street Stock Nationals race at Rockingham Speedway. Kimmel led 148 of 150 laps en route to his first victory at the track.

   "It was a little intimidating to look back and see the No. 22 (Busch) in the mirror,” Kimmel said. “I was pretty confident in my car but at the same time it was pretty hard to keep it on the bottom where it ran the best."

   Busch had to battle back after contact with Kimmel forced him to make a pit stop to pull the fender off the left-front tire. After restarting 12th, Busch capitalized on a caution to get on Kimmel’s rear bumper over the last 40 laps.

   “It was just as much fun as I thought it would be. It was old school racing – toss it in sideways and drive the hell out of it," Busch said. "We got every ounce out it. There at the end I think we lost a cylinder. I could definitely feel the power loss.”

   J.D. Frey finished third, Chad Hall fourth and Cliff Gaumond fifth.

   The race was slowed by nine cautions for 42 laps. Ten of the 50 cars that started finished on the lead lap.

   “It was as much fun as it always was,” said Busch. “There were all the lanes to choose from. We worked the low groove and the high groove. This place is so fun with the bumps and quirks.

   "This racetrack, for sure, gets a gold star. Guys in our series (Sprint Cup) that are car guys – that are racers – should definitely be down here racing.”

No more excuses for Dale Jr.

   Let's be honest here.

   Ever since Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved to Hendrick Motorsports and it became clear the change was not going to live up to expectations the legions of Earnhardt fans have been looking for someone to blame.

   First it was crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Now, it's crew chief Lance McGrew. And along the way have been the ridiculous accusations that Earnhardt's team didn't get the "best" stuff at HMS, that somehow there was some behind-the-scenes effort to jeopardize Earnhardt's performance.

   While I found the timing of team owner Rick Hendrick's decision to reorganize three of his Sprint Cup programs odd, I'm glad he did it the way he did. Earnhardt isn't just getting a new crew chief, he is getting a whole new team.

   Everything and everyone that have been working on Jeff Gordon's team in recent seasons will now become Earnhardt's. The cars, the personnel, even apparently the pit crew that was used by teammate Jimmie Johnson in the final weeks of the season, will become Earnhardt's next year.

   Yes, Gordon did not win a race in 2010, but there is no question he was a serious contender for many wins and a legitimate title contender. The uniqueness of Hendrick's move has provided something that could likely prove to be a top story in 2011 - no excuses for Earnhardt or his fans.

   I don't believe that Earnhardt suddenly lost all the talent he had when he racked up 18 career Cup wins, but neither do I believe that everyone and everything Hendrick has put to work with Earnhardt since he arrived at HMS has somehow been "sub par."

   There is another answer. And I think in 2011 we might finally find out what that is.

Reserve Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR Hall of Fame spot now

   Go ahead and carve out a spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame right now for Jimmie Johnson.

   I know he isn’t eligible yet, but if he weren’t already ensured a spot after four consecutive championships, adding a fifth on Sunday should make him a no-brainer.

   He's now won five titles, four by amassing big points leads in the preceding nine races and now a fifth by coming from behind. If drivers had to write an essay to win the championship, he'd likely get bonus points for penmanship he is so smooth.

   For all of those fans who think Johnson winning five in a row is bad for racing, that's easy to say but not as easy in practice. Someone still has to beat Johnson to become champion. And in the face of likely his toughest competition to date, he still came out on top.

   It’s easy to say someone else should win. What's not east is apparently getting someone else to do it. You don't want to see Johnson or his team celebrating No. 6 next season? Then you better hope another finds a way to beat them.

   Unless NASCAR puts a cap on Cup championships for individual drivers - which some fans may actually think a good idea - I suspect Johnson and his team will be in title hunts for many years to come.

Did Jimmie Johnson get a free ride to a fifth consecutive championship?

   The last thing I would think either Denny Hamlin or Kevin Harvick would want to do would to give Jimmie Johnson any advantage going into the final race of the Sprint Cup season.

   Qualifying over the last few weeks hasn't really meant much on race day for any of the three drivers still in contention for the title. All three have qualified poorly of late but all three have ended up running in the top-10 during the race.

   But still, with everything on the line, with every point for Johnson another step toward a NASCAR-record fifth consecutive title, why wouldn't Hamlin or Harvick's teams try to at least keep pace with Johnson in qualifying?

   Everyone mentions how Hamlin won the Ford 400 a year ago from starting 38th. Two things come to mind. First, Hamlin was out of the title hunt last year and had nothing to lose. We have no idea if his team would or will make the same choices with more at stake.

   Second, in the past four title runs by Johnson, he has entered the Homestead finale with a big points lead and no reason to race hard or push it. Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, admitted as much this week on a teleconference.

   The bottom line? We don't know how good Johnson can be here because we really have no idea how good he could have been in the past four races.

   So, now Johnson starts way up front (sixth). His competitors will start from the back (Harvick 28th and Hamlin 37th).

   Is it possible any of the three can still win the championship on Sunday? Of course.

   But there is no way I would want to start that process without at least being able to see the rear bumper of Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet.