You can't stop Jimmie and Jeff, you can only hope to contain them

6th and 8th, respectively on the Atlanta starting grid.

So, does anyone have an answer for these two? Anyone? (taps mike) Is this thing on?

It must be disparaging to cup challengers to think that Jimmie Johnson was in third place, 41 points adrift of Matt Kenseth (who?) at this time last year, and the only thing standing in the way of a repeat is his seemingly invincible teammate.

And really, while there were flashes of potential in the run-up to the playoffs, no one's been able to carry any moment through the Chase. T. Stew, Hamilin, Cousin Carl...heck I thought Kurt Busch turned the corner and was ready to have a go through Michigan and Pocono, but not much else came of that.

There's still the spoilers, though. Greg Biffle typically pulls out a win or two down the stretch and he's got to be using the conflict between Kenseth and Carl Edward's evil twin as an opportunity to raise his professional profile within the team. Dale Jr, should his engine not expire, will be looking to make a statement before moving into the Hendrick shops. Then there's Ryan Newman, the same guy and same team that bagged 8 victories on a variety of tracks only four seasons ago, on whom this losing streak has to be wearing hard.

I think Tony Stewart can make things interesting - starting with a win this weekend. But it's going to be too little, too late for this season.