Johnson Wins California Race

Johnson's Trophy * CIA Stock Photo

Jimmie Johnson didn't have to do anything spectacular in the Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway, he was already locked into the Chase for the Championship but he wanted a victory so when the Chase started, he would be sitting atop the leader board. Only a victory next week by Jeff Gordon could prevent that. Johnson is peaking at the right time, he now has a total of five wins this season and a career 28 victories in 208 attempts. Johnson led 84 of the 250 laps but it was teammate Kyle Busch who led the most (97) laps.

Carl Edwards looked for a while near the end of the race, that he may have something for Johnson but wore his tires out trying to catch him. Edwards finished second, Kyle Busch was third and Jeff Burton fourth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. desperately wanted to win at California, especially after such a poor showing in the spring race when the Dale Earnhardt Inc. engine blew up in only the second race of the season. But it wasn't to be on this Sunday, he finished fifth with teammate Martin Truex Jr. in tow to bring his Chevrolet home in the sixth spot. Earnhardt is now 128 points out of the cutoff 12th place and it would take a miracle to pull off a Chase run this year. The top eight drivers in points have clinched a spot in the Chase so far. Brian Vickers finished eighth followed by Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne to round out the top ten.

Points leader Jeff Gordon, involved in a minor crash with 71 laps to go, could never get his car to handle properly, he finished 22nd on the day and still leads the point standings by 317 over Tony Stewart. The Nextel Cup Series moves to Richmond International Raceway next Saturday night for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, the final race to determine who will and who won't be in the Chase for the Championship.
To read the full article...     (Insider Racing News)
For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Insider Racing News)

Childress Could Lose Sponsorship For No. 31 Team
Richard Childress said on Sunday at California Speedway, that he could be in danger of losing sponsorship for the No. 31 car if the lawsuit between AT&T and NASCAR/Sprint goes the wrong way. "If they would go away, we definitely could, they couldn't afford to stay in (the sport) to run a blank car. It's all up to Sprint to make the decision. It's in Sprint's hands. NASCAR is being controlled by what Sprint is going to let them do. The sad part of it is, the money AT&T spends with Richard Childress Racing, they will spend three times as much in media, FOX, ESPN, newspapers, magazines, and everything else they do -- they'll spend millions of dollars promoting their products and in that product, they are helping to promote our sport. It's just sad to see it where it is. If they (AT&T) get beat and end up having to leave, naturally we're going to lose them. Not only will RCR have a loss -- but the sport will lose. Again, it's in Sprint's hands.

Did Anyone Talk To Kyle Busch Before He Met With Press?
Kyle Busch let the cat out of the bag on Friday when he announced to the racing world that Joe Gibbs Racing would be running Toyota Camrys next year. Did anyone from JGR sit down and have a talk with Busch about not saying too much since JGR has a press conference, set for next Wednesday -- supposedly to announce what manufacturer the company would use.

"Yeah I think with Kyle, he just figured, everyone's telling him something, it's a done deal and stuff he didn't know about -- he wanted to be supportive. So I told him..'Mission accomplished, but you know we haven't made a decision yet'," said J.D. Gibbs on Sunday at California Speedway. "He just didn't want to come off as unsupportive. We have not had any real detailed conversation with him, when we're ready to make that decision, we'll all be on the same page."

J.D Gibbs Says Stewart Comfortable With Any Manufacturer
J.D. Gibbs said on Sunday at California Speedway that Tony Stewart is comfortable going with another manufacture (Toyota) or staying with the current one (Chevrolet). "I'm sure which ever direction we decide to go, we're going to make sure those guys are on board, we took care of that a long time ago, otherwise, it would not work."

Update On Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 88 Navy Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series, was examined and released from Loma Linda University Medical Center Saturday night after a crash in the Camping World 300 at California Speedway. Keselowski was airlifted to the hospital, where he underwent CT Scanning and x-rays on his left ankle and chest. As standard procedure, he will have further evaluation by Dr. Jerry Petty upon his return to North Carolina.

Jeff Burton Wins Busch Race
The last Time Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton were running one-two in a Busch Series race, a late caution allowed Busch to pit while Burton faked the young driver out and stayed on the track, The advantage went to Jeff Burton. In Saturday's Camping World 300 at California Speedway the situation was similar, except this time Busch stayed on the track while Burton pitted for fresh tires. Advantage Burton again. On the final restart, with ten laps to go, Busch was leading and Burton was running second. Busch jumped out to a fairly big lead but Burton ran him down, just as he had done earlier in the year at Las Vegas, and passed Busch with six laps to go. Busch tried to make a comeback run on Burton but it didn't work and on the final lap, Busch did all he could to fend off Denny Hamlin and hold onto second place.

The victory was the third for Burton in 2007 and the 25th of his Busch Series career. Burton had never won in a Busch Series car at California in eight tries but had finished second twice. "You're never sure you can get around Kyle Busch," Burton said. "He's an incredible racecar driver. We had much better tires than he did at that point, and that made my job easier. But by no means did I think it was a gimme." -- Kyle Busch said: "It was fun, I guess. We had a car that was really, really fast at the beginning of the race, but it was so tight I told my guys to make some big changes on it and we got really, really loose. I figured the tires were going to be a bigger deal than track position was. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold him off, but I was kind of surprised I was able to hold him off as long as I did."

Denny Hamlin's third place finish wasn't bad considering he had spun out just a few laps earlier. Jimmie Johnson finished in the fourth spot followed by Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Robby Gordon and David Ragan to round out the top ten. Brad Keselowski was involved in a very violent crash on lap 67 when A.J. Allmendinger clipped the rear of Keselowski's car, sending him hard into the outside wall. Allmendinger's car then got underneath Keselowski's car sending it careening wildy on it's side -- and on fire. Keselowski was airlifter to a local hospital for further evaluation. He was awake and alert but was complaining of a leg injury. Points leader Carl Edwards deserves the hard luck of the year award. He was involved in yet another wreck when Allmendinger-Keselowski crashed. Edwards still hold a healthy lead in the driver's standings, he's atop the Busch Series standings by 654 points over Kevin Harvick and 657 over David Reutimann.

Benson Wins Truck Race
Johnny Benson caught leader Ron Hornaday on lap 147 of Saturday's Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway, then held on to the top spot despite problems in the pits. A loose lug nut on the left-front tire forced him to pit twice and dropped him to 21st -- but he quickly drove back to the front. It was Benson's second consecutive victory in the series, he also won the mid-week race at Bristol, Tennessee last week. It was Benson's eighth career win in 92 attempts.

Ron Hornaday finished second on the day and also took over the points lead (4 points) from Mike Skinner. Skinner had started on yet another pole, his eighth this season, and led the first thirty laps, but he finished 28th after blowing a tire -- that sent him hard into the outside wall. Skinner's team got the truck back on the track but 65 laps down and he was never in contention to win after the accident.