Gamesmanship not what it used to be

"Hell, if I was there, I know I would be playing head games," Childress
said. "That's what it's all about. When the opportunity is there, you've just got to use it."

Just like he and Earnhardt did so successfully back in '90.

"The best one ever was when we went to Atlanta and Jack was running Mark
and he was using Yates cars and engines and everything," Childress said.
"We pulled in there and ran that morning and put four left-side tires on
and went out there and put a number up we knew they wasn't about to
touch."

Left-side tires normally are built with a softer rubber compound than
right-side tires, meaning they have more grip and are faster. A car with
four left-side tires will easily dust a car running with the correct
tires mounted on both sides of the car.

"We were really, really fast. Then we loaded the car up at lunchtime and
went on over to Alabama hunting," Childress said. "We just stopped [in
Atlanta] to do a thing. We was just on our way to go hunting. We made us
a few fast laps, loaded it up and left."

That was one of Childress' most successful gambits. Things didn't work
quite as well a year ago as Kevin Harvick was trying to track down Matt
Kenseth, yet another Roush driver. Kenseth, though, had a comfortable
lead throughout so even when the likes of Harvick cut into it a year ago,
the dent was only so big.

But when it was learned that Roush Racing was already gearing up to sell
merchandise commemorating Kenseth's title, Harvick tried to use that as
motivation, but Kenseth was unbeatable.

So what's next for Childress?

"You can't tell all your secrets," he said. "You might want to use them
again someday."

In a way, it's almost a shame that Childress doesn't have a driver in the
fray heading into Homestead. After all, even the likes of Kurt Busch,
Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin are trying to
mess with each other; but they're doing such a quiet job that no one's really
noticing.

To be sure, there have been subtle comments, with Johnson saying he's
content to let someone else lead the standings until after the final
event, but there's been nothing regarded as a stroke of genius.

In Phoenix, as he was hoping for a fourth straight win, Johnson was asked
if he thought he'd gotten into Busch's head. This, though, was a
racing-related question and not the result of any off-track shenanigans.

"I hope so. Kurt is a great driver. He's strong mentally," Johnson said.
"I hope I've been able to get in everyone's head. You never know how that
works out. But this sport is humbling. As soon as you get cocky, the
sport will saw you off at the knees. So I'm just worrying about my game
and doing all that I can do. We're just going to go race to race and see
what happens."

But now there's just one race left. So the better question might be
whether or not Busch can get inside Johnson's head.

If successful, it'll take some doing. Johnson says he doesn't even go
down some of the avenues where successful mind games have been played in
the past. Years ago, a brash Darrell Waltrip used to take advantage of
the media as he attempted to annoy veteran Cale Yarborough. When
Yarborough responded, a rivalry was born and Waltrip ended up known as
"Jaws" -- a nickname that some would say is still accurate as Waltrip's
turned his personality into a broadcasting career.

Johnson, though, says he pays little attention to what's written or
talked about these days.

"Jeff [Gordon] and I were talking about that [recently and] neither of
us really worry about it or read the papers and follow what's being
written or said about any of us or about ourselves," Johnson said. "When
you turn on the TV one day, everyone says nice things about you and you
want to believe that. And then on another day, somebody says something
you don't like. And then you're mad. To avoid all of that emotion, I just
don't read anything or pay attention to what's going on. So somebody
could be heckling me pretty good right now and I wouldn't even know it."

Alas, Johnson doesn't appear to be missing out on much as things are
relatively quiet. Maybe that will change at Homestead when the five
contenders hold a joint press conference on Friday.

On a conference call featuring the five drivers, Earnhardt Jr. was asked
if he's feeling much pressure heading into Homestead 72 points behind
Busch. His response was honest considering the situation, though there's
at least a sense of hope he might have learned a bit about turning things
up a notch from his father.

"I don't really feel a lot of pressure because, I mean, I think if I'm
Kurt, I would be really nervous," Junior said. "Because he's in the situation where it's really basically up to him and his team to win or lose it. We just have to go out there and race as hard as we can and throw everything we got at it and see what
happens. You know, that's really not hard at all.

"Kurt has to look ahead and look behind at the same time. That's got to
be really tough. I'm sure he's going to be glad when it's all over with.
So will the rest of us. But it's been a lot of fun. It's been
an honor to race with all these guys, and to be in the mix. I
never even anticipated getting this far in my career. "

So not exactly vintage, but a start for Earnhardt Jr. Told at Phoenix
that Johnson said he'd rather be chasing down the leader than holding the
lead, Busch didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"It's much easier to be the points leader," Busch said. "And if they
were in this position, I'm sure that they would say that it's tougher to
be in second. So, there's that game that they think that they've got to
challenge us with, and we know that on the racetrack is where the points
are added up."

Come Sunday, they'll be added up for the final time.

Gentlemen, start your head games.

Mark Ashenfelter is an associate editor at NASCAR Scene magazine and a
contributor to ESPN.com.