The beginning of one era means the end of another.

For the first time in 2011, profit and picks aligned. Whopper Man’s second win has me up 115 fake dollars with eight races to go.

Mind you, all of this happened at a track Jimmie Johnson loved. Or used to love.

For five straight years, it wasn’t a matter of if Johnson was going to make a run, rather how soon. Year after year, track after track, Johnson found a way to avoid multiple scrums and focus on what mattered most.

2011 hasn’t been so kind. Johnson is feuding with Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and his own crew. Not to mention a knack for finding the fracas that moves a top five car to a top ten finish. It’s like Bizarro World from Seinfeld.
 

20 fake dollars on Kyle Busch at 6/1
Short tracks. Kyle Busch. Yep…

20 fake dollars on Carl Edwards on Carl Edward at 7/1
Concrete Carl and the highest average finish at the Monster Mile. OK.

10 fake dollars on Matt Kenseth at 10/1
You win at a track earlier in the year; you get my fake money.

There’s a name missing from this list. It was quite a run. One fans will talk about with their kids 30 years from now. But like Seinfeld and my winning streak, good runs end, and not even a Lowe’s home improvement specialist can fix it. Here’s what the Spread thinks, and insert random catchphrase here.

Jimmie Johnson 6/1
Kyle Busch 6/1
Carl Edwards 7/1
Jeff Gordon 8/1
Tony Stewart 8/1
Matt Kenseth 10/1
Kurt Busch 12/1
Kevin Harvick 15/1
Brad Keselowski 15/1
Greg Biffle 15/1
Denny Hamlin 20/1
Kasey Kahne 30/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 30/1
AJ Allmendinger 30/1
Jeff Burton 30/1
Mark Martin 30/1
Martin Truex Jr 30/1
Ryan Newman 30/1
Clint Bowyer 30/1
Joey Logano 40/1
Brian Vickers 50/1
Jamie McMurray 50/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 50/1
David Ragan 50/1
Paul Menard 60/1
David Reutimann 60/1
Marcos Ambrose 100/1
Regan Smith 200/1
Field (Any Other Driver) 300/1
Bobby Labonte 1000/1