Yes, I know. Denny Hamlin has won five races in a short amount of time and he is basically the newscasters' anointed one to dethrone Jimmie Johnson, our 4-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. Denny is very talented and that can not be denied by anyone (even a JJ fan like me!), but we are still in the middle of the season.
I don't buy the current theory that Jimmie has lost his edge since the wing was replaced by the spoiler. Jimmie has had some bad luck, has made more than his fair share of mistakes and sometimes does try to make more out of his car than he actually has. He's a racer...he loves to win and obviously, he's used to winning.
I believe, as some others such as Ray Evernham alluded to on ESPN's NASCAR Now, that Chad Knaus and Jimmie are simply sandbagging at this point in the season in order not to show everything they have before the Chase.
No one can take away Jimmie's four straight championship seasons and I doubt that anyone will ever be able to best that except perhaps...Jimmie Johnson. If JJ doesn't win the championship in 2010, perhaps the television ratings will continue to go up and attendance will continue to improve.
But Denny hasn't won the trophy yet...he still has to go through the 48 crew during Chase time.
