SEASON OF CHANGE; Jack Roush wins his second straight Cup.(News)(Column)

Byline: AL PEARCE

It took Jack Roush 16 years to win his first major NASCAR championship and 53 weeks to win his second. If you think stock car racing's cat in the hat was surprised at the first, imagine his reaction to the second. "For me, it's been feast or famine,'' Roush said in New York City in early December. "There was a long famine before the first feast, now here we are, doing it again. There were times I didn't think we'd ever win one, when I thought NASCAR wouldn't let me win one. I certainly didn't go into this season thinking we'd win another one. I always expect the worst and hope for the best.''

Roush Racing's first Cup title came in 2003 with Matt Kenseth, whose win was early in that 36-race season. This year's Cup, based on the new Chase for the Championship playoff format, went to Kurt Busch. He won at Bristol in April and New Hampshire in July, then took round one of the 10-race Chase at New Hampshire in September. He was fourth, fifth and sixth in the next five races before an engine-related 42nd at Atlanta trimmed his 96-point lead to 59. But Busch's Jimmy Fennig-led Ford team rallied to finish 10th, sixth and fifth down the stretch. They won the Cup by eight points, the closest margin in NASCAR history.

Of course, it wasn't that cut and dried. Perhaps stung by Kenseth's one-win title last year, NASCAR thought its controversial Chase format would create harder racing and make winning more important. You be the judge. Jimmie Johnson won four of the 10 Chase races and was top-10 in three of the other six playoff races, but still finished second in points. In fact, three drivers behind Busch in points had more top-10s and won more races.

Johnson, almost everyone's Driver of the Year, won eight races, third-ranked Jeff Gordon won five and fifth-ranked Dale Earnhardt Jr. won six. Top-10 finishers Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Kenseth and Elliott Sadler won two races, and Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield each took ...