Jimmie Johnson = Ryan Newman

Johnson won because he and his crew made the right decision.  How is that luck?

Martin, by his own admission, COULD have stayed out but made the decision to come in ... that's not luck.  That's calculation, communication, and trust in your crew-- or a lack thereof.

And if you watched the race--difficult enough, I admit, given the late East Coast start time and the less-than-compelling nature of the race--it looked like there was a good chance Johnson could have overtaken Martin in any case.

Finally ... which of these races doesn't come down to "luck" by your definition?  Is it "lucky" that a caution comes out at the right time, or is it a NASCAR conspiracy?  Is it "luck" that some drivers avoid getting swept up in crashes while others slide by, or is it totally dependent on driver skill?  Is it "luck" that a tire bounces out of the pit box instead of the other way? 

C'mon man ... luck is a factor, but you have to be positioned to take advantage of it.  Johnson earned his win as much as any other driver.  If he was just "lucky" he wouldn't be the two-time defending champion.  And Newman wouldn't have all those poles.  Lighten up, Francis. 

You missed the point of my post, Hulka.

I said, I hate fuel mileage wins.  That is my opinion which I own and will not back away from.  I don't care who it is that wins.  In my opinion, o-p-i-n-i-o-n, those wins are B.S.

Ryan Newman has lots of polls because he qualifies well.  What does that have to do with his wins.  "Front Row" Joe Nemechek qualifies well too, but that doesn't translate to wins for him either.  Google all of Ryan Newman's wins and see what percentage were a " he had a 1/2 lap more fuel than everyone else" win.  He has 43 career poles and 13 career wins, 8 of those coming in 2005 when he was the fuel mileage king.(also 7 dnf's that year)  I would say certainly more than half of his wins were of the mpg variety.

That's all I've got to say about that!