The NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship celebration left some New Yorkers with a sour taste and attitude after Manhattan traffic became gridlocked. Several streets had been blocked for the Wednesday morning parade of race cars and for a Christmas tree lighting and what was fun for some turned into early-morning nightmares for others.

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The annual migration of the 3,500-pound NASCAR racecars is underway as the top teams head from Charlotte to New York to collect the bounty for their accomplishments during the racing season. The championship awards, along with some giant checks, will be handed out Friday night to close a flurry of stockcar activity in the Big Apple this week.

Just how those NASCAR high-horse powered racing machines pass the New York emission test is unknown. The top-ten drivers in the point standings rev their engines on Times Square Wednesday morning when they make the last 1.5-mile lap of the 2007 season to celebrate.

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There were no surprises at Homestead. Jimmy Johnson came and left as champion of the Nextel Cup Series for the second time in-a-row. Johnson finished seventh in the Homestead/Miami race and capped off a season that featured better numbers on his report card than last year.

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The NASCAR playoffs are over. Jimmie Johnson is the Nextel Cup Champion again. All that is left are the details, obligations, appearances and other required items that public relations people were already scheduling last Sunday night as the haulers pulled out from Arizona headed back East.

Jeff Gordon, the owner of the No. 48 race car Johnson drives, is a winner and a loser. He wins the car owner championship, but loses what would have been a fifth driver title for him.

We all know Rick Hendrick owns both cars, but Gordon is listed as car owner on the NASCAR race and point reports. It is a little strange though that Gordon is missing from the group photo of the team on the cover of the NASCAR Media Guide. The shot was taken last year as Johnson, Hendrick and the rest of the No. 48 team celebrated their 2006 championship. It is Mr. Hendrick standing next to the trophy in that photo and Gordon nowhere to be found.

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Fans are down to the final two playoff games of the NASCAR season and the checkered flags can’t fly soon enough for some.

There were no surprises in Texas and the championship battle is still between a car owner and his driver.

The driver, Jimmie Johnson, took the lead in the points away from his car owner, Jeff Gordon, following Johnson’s win at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson now has a 30-point advantage over his boss heading to the Phoenix race Sunday.

My best guess is you can’t count Clint Bowyer out of the running for the championship completely, but making up the 181-point deficit he left Texas with would be considered a racing miracle. His only chances now are if both Johnson and Gordon have poor finishes this weekend.

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Less than ten points separates first and second place in the NASCAR championship playoffs. It seems the grandstands should be packed and folks should be glued to their televisions, but just the opposite seems to be happening.

Television ratings continue to be down from the past. Ticket sales seem to be declining too. Anybody at Atlanta Motor Speedway could tell there were more empty seats than we are accustomed to seeing.

Some of the attraction seems to fade for me as more of the 12 playoff drivers continue to be eliminated from having a chance at the top prize.

The question seems to be will Hendrick or Hendrick be the champion. I’m guessing Hendrick.

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The haulers are headed to the heart of Dixie for the continuation of the NASCAR championship battle. Four of the 12 playoff teams still have the crown in plain sight, but the chance for a championship this year might be over for the other eight drivers in the Chase for the Cup when their haulers leave Atlanta.

The top-two positions have belonged to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson since the beginning of the ten-race championship challenge and it continues to look like the 24 and 48 teams have the best odds of winning the big prize. Johnson trails his teammate and car-owner, Jeff Gordon, by 53 points.

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Get ready for the most exciting races left in the NASCAR championship playoffs. The battle ground is at Martinsville, Virginal Sunday and here in Atlanta next weekend. The three events following the Martinsville and Atlanta events normally seem like Sunday afternoon runs at Dullsville Raceway.

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The NASCAR championship playoffs will be on what most of the race teams consider as their “home” field this weekend in Charlotte. The 500-mile run will also mark the last Saturday night event for the Nextel Cup drivers this season.

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The ultimate test of NASCAR’s new Car of Tomorrow comes this weekend. Drivers pilot the mandatory racing machine for the first time at Talladega Superspeedway and it will be the first time the car has been used on any speedway longer than a mile.

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