Stop the presses! Jimmie Johnson missed the top ten!

Mark your calendars everyone! With his 14th place finish this weekend at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson failed to finish within the top 10 for the first time in 10 years. Lowes is quickly becoming the House that Jimmie Johnson Lost to the IRS - - or maybe just Jeff Gordon.

Before the first lap could even officially be clocked in, the first caution flag of the night was dropped, due to David Reutimann, who got into the gravel, spun his car, and hit the wall. Ryan Newman officially lead the first lap while Jimmie Johnson head steady at second.

20 laps later, caution number two was drawn on the heels of the second lead change of the night. Jamie McMurray took the lead from Newman on lap nine while Johnson managed to pass McMurray on lap 17. Opting not to come in for the first round of pits, Kyle Petty and Robby Gordon took over the top two positions. By lap 27, McMurray had the lead once again while Kevin Harvick pulled back onto pit road with a supposed flat right-side tire.

Harvick’s problems only seemed to get worse as the laps continued to be picked off. Complaining that his car did not “feel right,” Harvick lost three laps while his crew gave him yet another set of tires, while Jimmie Johnson took the lead from McMurray. Harvick’s team later discovered that the flat tire wasn’t from the right side, as originally thought. Instead, his problem lay with the left side tires.

Reed Sorenson was another victim of a flat tire, as he blew his right front and drew the second caution of the night. Kurt Busch won the battle off pit road and took the lead until Matt Kenseth slipped past him on lap 74. Kenseth continued to hold the lead through a short round of caution lap pit stops after Tony Raines sustained rear damage after a meeting with Turn 4. As Jeff Gordon bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the way, Jimmie Johnson was able to slide past Kenseth to take the lead once again until debris and another run through the pits handed the lead back over to Kenseth.

By lap 132, 10 of the top 12 positions were held by Chase contenders, lead by Jimmie Johnson. With yet another opportunity granted by Robby Gordon to pit, Clint Bowyer tested out a new strategy: taking only fuel, he won the race off of pit road and held the top spot for 10 laps until Johnson snatched it back.

Despite his success earlier in the night, Matt Kenseth became loose, made contact with the wall, and drove away with heavy damage to the back of his car. Still taking an alternate pit strategy, Bowyer re-claimed the top seed after taking two tires.

Bowyer went on to lead the pack through 2 caution periods and 30 laps until Johnson lead the field through the first multi-car crash of the night. Spinning off turn 2, Michael Waltrip collected Matt Kenseth and John Andretti in his wake. Kenseth’s night only got worse: less than 20 laps later, he was forced to head to the garage after meeting with the wall and crashing for the third time that night.

From laps 225 to 324, the lead was shared six times between four drivers. As the race unfolded later into the night, a red flag was called to halt the action while track officials cleaned up an oil spill from the 14th caution of the night.

On lap 329, the remaining cars hit pit road for the final time. Jeff Gordon led the field through the restart, but was quickly passed by Ryan Newman. Six laps away from victory, Newman spun in Turn 2 and made contact with the wall, abolishing any chances of a win at Charlotte. Taking the lead from Newman was Gordon, who raced with on eye on his fuel meter. But Gordon didn’t have to worry too much; running under caution allowed him the chance to run across the apron and move his fuel about in its tank. With a green-white-checkered finish, Gordon won at Charlotte and maintained his points lead.

However slim his points lead may be, Gordon is staying in high spirits. "With the wins we've had so far and the kind of year on and off the racetrack it has been for me personally, it's just been the most incredible year already.”

With such strong words and emotion like that, it is hard to doubt that Gordon may finally be able to complete his “Drive for Five”. But, the points race still seems to be contested by only three drivers: Gordon, Johnson, and Bowyer.

"We have five races to go. We have to keep this momentum strong and keep everybody with a pep in their step,” Bowyer said after bringing home a solid second place finish.

But is second place good enough to win a championship? “It's going to take quite a bit of luck,” Bowyer admitted, “But you know, we've seen stranger things happen.”

Who knows what strange things will happen next week. How will the points be affected after the Subway 500 at Martinsville? Who will walk away with a victory at the “paper-clip” track? Find out next week, here at the Checkered Flag.

Questions and comments may be sent to larissasmith@sportsgrumblings.com.