I point that out because I just think it gives you so many more options when you are the guy chasing down the point leader. When you are the guy that has nothing to lose, you can just gamble on everything. You can take chances. Why? Well it's because you have more to gain than you have to lose.

NASCAR roundup

News:

• Sources: Sadler set to return to No. 19
• Petty, Gillett Evernham to merge
• Chevy to remain Daytona sponsor
• Owner reaches deal on fraud charges
• Logano to defend All-Star title
• Baldwin to debut Cup team at Daytona

Analysis:

• DW: Teams spend too much
• Owens: Where were the fireworks?
• DW: Petty cash, not enough
• McReynolds: It all starts here
• Mondaca: Nine stories for '09

Looking back at 2008:

• Sprint Cup
• Nationwide
• Trucks

Blog:

• Check out the NASCAR community

You saw just that play out Sunday at Texas. Carl Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne made a calculated gamble on fuel late in the Dickies 500, but it was a darn good one. If he doesn't run out of gas, then he wins the race and cuts into Jimmie Johnson's point lead. If he does run out of gas, so what? He had nothing to lose.

As a driver, you never want to look back say in December having lost a championship and reflect on maybe having left something on the table. You just wouldn't forgive yourself if you had when the stakes are this high.

I always perk up my ears when folks say there isn't any way a driver can make it on fuel. Trust me, I have won many a race because I was able to stretch my fuel mileage. I won the Daytona 500 in 1989 because I was able to go farther than anyone thought possible because I conserved my fuel. The crew chiefs calculate fuel mileage based on the driver going all out, hammer down every lap. I don't think they factor in how much a driver can really save if you tell him early enough. When a driver comes off that throttle it saves so much fuel. You know they always say that a caution lap is 2 to 1 versus a race lap. What they mean is you use the same amount of fuel in 2 caution laps as you do in 1 race lap. I would wager is almost that same kind of ratio when the driver is told to go in the fuel conservative mode.

I hear pundits all the time say there's no way a driver can make it, but let me tell you, having driven for many a year, there is definitely a way a driver can milk three or four extra laps out of a race car in most instances.

Carl and Bob's gamble sure made the race exciting Sunday. I thought the Texas race was one of the best I have seen all year. You had Carl dominate for a while. Championship leader Jimmie Johnson had his adventures battling his car all day. Then late in the race you have Jamie McMurray leading the race and pulling away from everyone. In between, you had Clint Bowyer who needed a good run and got one. You had David Reutimann with yet another top-10 finish this year. You had Kyle Busch coming out of nowhere and had you wondering if he had been holding something back. All of those factors, along with others, makes me say Sunday was a great race.

Sure, the middle part was a little boring but there sure was a lot of excitement there at the end. That's why I love this time of year. This is the time when tensions are high and stakes are high. The drama is high.

Johnson goes into Phoenix this weekend knowing he will run well. So the points he lost at Texas, he feels he can easily hold his own or gain back some of them in Arizona. If he rolls into Homestead in two weeks with a 100 or 100+ point lead, then he can have a bad day like Texas and still win the championship. But you have to give Carl and Bob create because they are putting the pressure on the No. 48 bunch. If Carl hadn't screwed up at Talladega and if he hadn't had the ignition problem at Lowe's Motor Speedway last month, then he would be the one out front right now.

It sure is fun and exciting to watch right now. Jimmie is out front and has that ol' bullseye on his back with folks shooting at him every weekend. So now with two races to go, can Carl and maybe even Greg Biffle make a run at Jimmie and take the championship away from him?

I love the championship. I don't care whether it is the Chase format or the old style format. I just love it when time grow short and you have two or three guys battling for the head table at New York. These cats are sitting on hot stoves and sweating ice water.

Folks, that's what championships are supposed to be like.

Great week to be a race fan

Last weekend was an incredible one for racing. Friday night at Texas in the truck race you had Ron Hornaday getting a lap down, fight back and win the race. He and Johnny Benson are locked in a tight point battle.

On Saturday, you had Kyle Busch winning the Nationwide race and making a very classy move after the race. The young man stepped up and donated $100,000 to a former Nationwide champion Sam Ard who is going through a very rough time right now. If anyone ever wondered about the maturity, the heart and the soul of Kyle Busch, well he showed what he is made out of. It brought tears to my eyes for him to do that to help one of our former champions who is struggling right now. People give me a hard time for being a Kyle Busch fan, but trust me, after what he did to help Sam, I am a bigger fan of Kyle's than ever.

The Formula One race from Brazil was loaded with excitement. The championship was decided on the very last corner of the very last race, when Lewis Hamilton moved past Timo Glock on the final turn and jumped to fifth and earned his very first title by one point over Brazilian Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa. Lewis also became the youngest F1 champion ever.

Over in drag racing the Army car continues to roll over the competition and breaking records every time it goes down the drag strip. Drag racing has a lot going on here at the end of the year too.

The All-American 400 was in Nashville this weekend. Back in the day it was the Daytona 500 of short tracks between All Pro and ASA when the North met the South ...

Speed Mail DW
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Again, this is my favorite time of year. This is when all the championships are decided and it all comes to a head. This is when everything you have worked for all year long comes right down to the wire. Some guys are going to be the champions and some guys are going to be the chumps. That's just the way it works out.

I also have to give a big "Atta Boy" to my Tennessee Titans. Man they just continue to roll over everyone who comes to town. Speaking of rolling, how about the Tide? No, not the Tide car, the Crimson Tide. They moved into the number one spot after Texas lost to Texas Tech in a whale of an exciting game.

It's just a fun time to be a sports fan. It's a fun time to cheer on your favorite driver or favorite team.

Oh, by the way

Listen to me: When it comes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup format, I don't have a dog in this fight about whether it should be changed. A lot of other people do though. All I am saying about the Chase is that conceptually it's a good idea but I think it needs to be tweaked from an entertainment standpoint. I am speaking as fan, not a critic or not as a former driver and broadcaster. My motive is to make it entertaining and exciting.

The truck series, the Nationwide series and Formula One have no Chase and they have exciting point's battles. Again, the Formula One champion was determined Sunday by one point.

Oh, by the way too

I am not quite sure what got into David Gilliland Sunday at Texas when he tagged Juan Pablo Montoya. I like David a lot, but that was totally blatant. Apparently Juan did something to David that really upset him and he took it out on Juan in exactly the wrong fashion. He took it out on Juan with his race car and that was a serious accident on a very, very fast racetrack. It was just very poor judgment on David's part. NASCAR parked him after that even though his car was fine. He finished 42nd while Juan and a busted up race car finished 43rd.