Johnson viewed as favorite among NASCAR’S Chasers

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)—Several drivers think Jimmie Johnson is the favorite in the Chase, even though no driver in NASCAR’s Cup-level history has won four championships in a row.

“I think until somebody dethrones the 48, it’s the 48,” Matt Kenseth said of Johnson, who has won the past three series titles and was one of four drivers, along with Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin, to lock up his spot in the Chase before Saturday night’s race.

“I’d pick them every race of every year until somebody knocks them down,” Kenseth said.

Stewart is a two-time series champion and has been the points leader for much of the season, but he agrees with Kenseth, although he qualified that stance.

“I guess Jimmie Johnson after three years of winning in a row would be considered the favorite,” Stewart said, “but with the field the way it is this year, I don’t know how you can just pick one guy. In this series, things can change so fast in the course of one race.

“The whole complexion of the season can be changed after one week next week.”

No one knows that better than Kyle Busch, who dominated the first 26 races last season, winning eight times, and headed into the playoffs with momentum and an 80-point cushion.

It all fell apart at New Hampshire, where Busch had a mechanical failure minutes into the playoff opener, struggled all day and finished 34th, 12 laps behind. The race dropped him quickly to eighth in points and he never recovered, winding up 10th in the final standings.

For his part, Johnson said the favorite label is unwarranted in a wide-open field.

The drivers in the Chase have won a total of 10 series titles, and Johnson finished 11th at Richmond, several times climbing into the top five and then gradually falling back.

Right now I’m just not happy with how we ran tonight, and you know, we’ll go on and see what happens,” he said.

At least one driver, Denny Hamlin, said he doesn’t see Johnson as the favorite.

Asked who the team to beat was, besides his own, he responded quickly:

“Us,” he said. “We’re the ones to beat right now.”

But who besides you, he was asked again?

“We’re the only ones that can beat ourselves,” he said.

KENSETH’S OUT: Matt Kenseth opened the season with victories in the Daytona 500 and at Fontana in the second race, but said the beginning of the end started the next week.

Kenseth, who along with Johnson were the only drivers to make the Chase in every season, dropped from 12th to 14th in points Saturday night, and out of the 10-race playoffs.

“Since California, it’s been a downhill slide for us,” he said. “We’ve slowly fell back in the points every week, so I can’t say I’m very surprised we didn’t make it.”

Kenseth finished 25th in the race, and 38 points behind 12th-place Brian Vickers.

PETTY PLANS: Richard Petty has few concrete details about the planned merger with Yates Racing beyond the very basic facts: It will be a four-car team that uses Fords.

Beyond that, the co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports said it will be several weeks before key components are hashed out. Among the issues are who will build the cars, out of which race shop and who will be in charge of a team that will have no fewer than four owners.

“What we do know is that we’ve agreed to agree,” Petty said before Saturday night’s race in Richmond. “That’s about all we know. We sit down now and (start) working out what the particulars are, who is going to do what, who is going to take care of what, how much involvement Yates have, how much we have, how much Ford has, anybody else.”

Although a letter-of-intent was signed Thursday to merge the two teams, a deal is not actually completed. But Petty said he was “80 percent” sure it will happen.

The deal would end Petty’s longtime association with Dodge. He said before Saturday night’s race RPM had been shopping for a new manufacturer most of this season because support from Dodge had waned since parent company Chrysler’s stint in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“The deal with Dodge was not there,” Petty said. “And for us to continue and try to have more factory support, Ford was our best alternative.”

Yates has an existing Ford relationship, as well as an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing. It’s not clear what role, if any, Roush will play in the new team.

“Do we get the engines? Do we get the chassis? Are the bodies from Ford Motor Company or Roush or whoever? I don’t know,” Petty said. “Those are the things we have to figure out.”

Meanwhile, the merger apparently created tension between RPM co-owner George Gillett and team vice president Mark McArdle, who had a heated argument in the open garage at Richmond on Friday. McArdle was later seen leaving the track, and Petty declined to discuss particulars of the disagreement.

“From what I could pick up, I guess it was (McArdle’s) last day,” Petty said. “That was between him and George.”

PIT STOPS: The scheduled 7:45 p.m. start of the race was pushed back 15 minutes after a brief but intense rain shower moved through a few hours before the race. … Actor Tom Cruise was seen strolling around in the pits before the start of the race.

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.