In Chad we trust

[front row, l to r: Jimmie Johnson, his wife Chandra, Chad Knaus, Mr. & Mrs. Hendrick]

Chimmie won their FOURTH IN A ROW at Lowe's last night. W'HOO!!!!! I TiVo'd the race and came home to watch it after a lackluster performance by DCU v. Columbus. I know they tied and are heading into the playoffs, but they're not going to go far if they don't get their passing and finishing together.

I decided to FFWD through the race when I got home. I knew Jimmie had qualified 3rd but had to start 41st due b/c of an engine change. He did what he does best, marching through the field thru a combination of driving talent and Chad's pit calls. Overall the race was a mess - people blew tires like clockwork every 25-30 laps. Smoke cut a tire on debris, Sadler blew out a tire, and Junior, Stremme, Shrub, and Kasey all blew out tires. Anyway, so I'm ffwding my way thru the race and it's getting closer and closer to the end, and I hit the wrong button the remote and somehow I think I've hit the end of my recorded programming so I flip over to live tv & login to the chat room (I know, dork) in time to catch the very end of the race.

Somehow between the last thing on saw on TiVo and where I picked up live, Jimmie had gained the lead!!! There were two laps to go and my heart was instantly in my throat. The race went green and it was an immediate nailbiter, Jimmie driving hard into the corner revealed he had a tire rub from an earlier run in with Rudd (?) and there was fear the tire could blow any minute. Busch was coming hard, so was Biffle, but he managed to hold 'em off for the win at HIS HOUSE! He's now tied with Stewart for first in the Chase (Tony finished 26th, I think). W'HOO!!!!! I need to remember to tape Beyond the Wheel this week. There should be lots of Chimmie time.

For the first time in a long time, I actually got to do a little knit'n'NASCAR. I worked on the baby blanket in between heart attacks. I'm almost 80 percent done with the knitting part of things. The backing and the piping are going to take some creative arts & crafts work but I should hopefully be done in time.

Now to see what Martinsville holds. This is going to be a rough week for the whole HMS crew. I hope they hang in there and one of the guys can get a win for the organization.