Johnson Wins At Richmond

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson quietly worked his way back to the front of the field after starting on the pole and then slipping back to sixth on the first lap when the front splitter of the new car, was dragging on the surface of the track. It was lifting the front of the car off the ground and nearly caused Johnson to wreck. Johnson held on and he eventually led four times for 104 laps. The victory in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night was the sixth of the 2007 season for Johnson and the 29th win in 209 career races. “At the end of the night we made enough changes to get the car right and it was awesome at the end,” said Johnson. “We’re off to a good start.”

Tony Stewart fought his way to second place and David Ragan drove a great race, finishing third. Jeff Gordon, who led the most laps (190) brought his Chevrolet home in fourth place followed by Johnny Sauter, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and J.J. Yeley to round out the top ten. Kurt Busch and Harvick both did what they needed to do to get into the Chase, both avoided disaster, several times in the many wrecks of the night.

Heartbreak for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was running in the top five for most of the evening, and had some great on track battles with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, blew and engine with six laps to go. Earnhardt finished in the 30th spot and the result was that he will miss the Chase for the Championship for the second time. Last year it was Tony Stewart who was eliminated from the Chase in the 26th race. “After missing the Chase last year obviously we’re excited to be back in it," said Stewart. "We never in our wildest dreams thought we’d miss it last year, but it just shows you have to be on top of your game.”

The Nextel Cup Series moves to New Hampshire International Speedway next Sunday for the Sylvania 300 -- the first race in the Chase for the Championship. All top-twelve drivers will start next week with 5000 points plus 10 for each victory during the first 26 races. Johnson will have the advantage with his six wins, his point total will be a series leading 5060 points with Jeff Gordon in second (four wins) 5040 points.
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)

Dale Jr.'s New Number - No. 28?
The Hendrick team has filed a trademark application for the No. 28 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Aug. 31. The team had previously filed trademark applications for the 38, 51, 58, 81 and 82, but the No. 28 was added a week ago. Robert Yates Racing last used the No. 28 in Nextel Cup in 2002 with driver Ricky Rudd. Davey Allison, Dale Jarrett, Kenny Irwin, Ernie Irvan, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Fred Lorenzen and A.J. Foyt are among others who’ve used it. Asked Friday if the Yates organization still had any claim on the No. 28, team co-owner Doug Yates said it did not. “It’s his if NASCAR lets them have it,” Yates said.(thatsracin.com)

Stremme A Free Agent
David Stremme is free to look for a new deal while the Chip Ganassi Racing team looks for sponsorship for him as well. Coors Light will not return next year, leaving the No. 40 team in limbo.

"He's done a great job for us - we want to keep him - but he has a career to look after, too," said John Fernandez, who manages the NASCAR operation for Chip Ganassi Racing. "We don't want to hold his career back if we can't keep him. We're keeping our options open, he's keeping his options open."

Stremme has driven in Nextel Cup for the last two seasons. "Basically, he's a free agent right now," Fernandez said. "We're trying to work it out to see if we can find something to put him in for next year.

"The first thing is to get sponsorship. Sometimes the sponsors will bring somebody with them. Sometimes they won't. At a point, it will come down to a business decision."(scenedaily.com)

Gibbs Banned From GM Meetings
Joe Gibbs Racing, which will move from Chevrolet to Toyota next season, will not be allowed in any Chevrolet meetings the rest of this year that focus on 2008, according to a General Motors executive. But besides that, things should remain the same for the rest of the season, said GM Vice President Brent Dewar.

"They're absolutely partners and professional," Dewar said Friday. "We're going to do everything we can to help them win races here. We've got two of the Gibbs drivers in the Chase. We talked about setting up the firewalls. They're not going to be part of any of the '08 discussions."

Dewar was disappointed with the Gibbs decision but didn't necessarily believe he was outbid by Toyota. He said he had a call as recently as last Saturday from Joe Gibbs about the possibility of remaining Chevrolet. The Toyota-JGR announcement was Wednesday.

"We worked really hard to keep all four of our teams together," Dewar said. "There have been a couple of issues they've had with us, and one was, 'Are they the lead?' ... When we work on future development, we work as a team together, like the R07 [engine]. The fans expect the teams to compete. ... That's the approach we're going to take. We're not looking to adding more teams. We're looking to sign the remaining team, which is DEI. Each of the teams wanted to go up to the complement they could, based on what NASCAR would provide, which is a four-team complement."(scenedaily.com)