Closing the books on 2009

By DAVID GREEN

First thoughts on the historic achievement of Jimmie Johnson and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team:

• Can't even get to the aftermath without first mentioning: What an entertaining race the Ford 400 was. Homestead-Miami Speedway has become, in my opinion, the best track on the Cup Series circuit. I know there will be those who disagree, but this was racing the way I think it's supposed to be, with drivers' skills and mechanical attributes of the racecars predominant. Kudos, Curtis Gray and staff.
• What gracious comments from Johnson and Chad Knaus. The respect they showed for their own achievement, in context of the history of the sport in which they achieved it, was fantastic.
• What a worthy performance Johnson turned in, running up front and racing back up through the pack to finish fifth. No backing into this one -- not that Johnson or any other NASCAR champion could be accused of that. But this one lived up to my hopes.
• What an awesome guy that Mark Martin guy is, overall.
• What fun watching those guys dirt-track their way around a 1.5-mile paved oval. Special recognition to Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch.
• What an amazing narration in-race reporter Carl Edwards provided. It's probably safe to assume that if anybody can safely text-message while driving, it would be Cousin Carl. (Not that he would do such a thing.)

Mostly, I'm pretty pumped that my thoughts are so dominated by positive things. My lifelong favorite sport has gotten much too grim lately, particularly from the perspectives of so many who are still involved in it day-to-day and from those, like me, who have moved on to more distant perspectives.

Not that the negativity has no basis, but perhaps we all get it out of proportion too many times. Tonight, I was determined not to let it drag me down. I really enjoyed myself.

• Thanks to Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart for adding a dash of devilry to the night. For the record, I though Juan Pablo was the instigator. Stewart inserted his car into a tight, but open, space. Montoya is talented enough that he could have cut left and kept his momentum and passed Stewart instead of rear-ending him, but...
• Thanks to NASCAR for not making a federal case out of the 42-vs-14 clash -- at least not during the race. I expect there will be consequences to follow for both drivers, especially for JPM.
• Congratulations to Denny Hamlin for getting through the last day of the season without getting in Brad Keselowski's way, and to Keselowski for getting through a race without wrecking Hamlin.

Thanks to everyone who has shared his or her thoughts in this forum for the past several years. Thanks to Bob Henry and the folks at TR.com for providing the venue.

Despite my grumbling and my acknowledgement of the way the sport has changed over the past 25 years, mostly in ways that do not please me, and despite my frequent complaint that the season is too long and too crowded, I will be ready for another season come February Speedweeks. The good Lord willing, I hope to resume our discussions then.