September 8, 2008
By Ron Felix
CIA Stock Photo
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Johnson With Rock & Roll Guitar Trophy
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Jimmie Johnson held off Tony Stewart in a spirited battle for the lead with 30 laps to go in Sunday's Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Johnson recorded his fourth victory of 2008 and it was his 37th career win in 245 tries. It also was the second consecutive victory for Johnson.
"I have confidence in what my abilities are and in what my team is capable," Johnson said after winning the duel with Stewart. "I just want to show up next week worried about all 11 of them and just do my job.
"I loved it," Johnson continued. "I was driving my butt off. That's how you want to win a race, going against one of the best in the business. I am glad I cleared him there because if I hadn't I am pretty sure I would have ended up -- torn up."
Stewart was visibly upset following the race, apparently over a botched stop that allowed Johnson to beat him out of the pits.
“We just couldn’t get by him (Jimmie Johnson)," Stewart said. "We did everything we could -- we raced him clean, we raced him the way he would have raced us. I wanted to race him with respect -- the way he would me -- and we just came up short.”
Johnson will be seeded third as the Chase for the Championship begins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He will be 40 points behind Kyle Busch (5080) and 10 behind Carl Edwards (5050). Johnson is one of only two drivers who have qualified for every Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup since its inception in 2004. Matt Kenseth is the other driver.
Stewart's teammate Denny Hamlin finished third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth and Mark Martin fifth.
Jeff Burton brought his RCR Chevrolet home in sixth spot followed by Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann and Kurt Busch to round out the top ten.
Reutimann led the most laps (104) and recorded his best ever finish in the series.
“It definitely bums me out a little that we didn’t do a little better there at the end," said Reutimann after a ninth place finish. "We just ended up being too tight there towards the end. Anytime you can come out of here with a top-10 and be upset about it I guess it’s not a bad day. It was awesome to lead -- I need to do that more often.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch tangled on lap 212. Just a reverse of what happened in the spring race when Busch wrecked Earnhardt, this time Busch was leading -- when Earnhardt and Busch touched fenders, this time sending Busch into the wall. The crowd roared approval but Earnhardt said after the race that it was just an accident, not payback.
"Naw," said Earnhardt, "If I wreck somebody, I am not going to leave him in good enough shape to come back and get me in the same race. He was leading, he had a pretty good car. I running real good on that restart, driving in on him real hard. Got in too hard into one and locked the left front up and pushed into him and wrecked him. I could say something real smart-aleck but I won't. It was an accident. Those things seem to happen. Not on purpose, as much as I would like to take credit for it.
"When I locked the left front up, at that point I got it slowed down as much as I could. I was going to go in there on top because I couldn't run the bottom, he was running real hard out on the top and trying to keep the lead. I was going to try and move up and get next to him and free my car up a little bit. We kinda came down in there and he turned in there a little sharper and I locked the left front up. That was that."
By finishing 12th, Clint Bowyer held on to his spot in the "Chase" -- eliminating Kasey Kahne and David Ragan. Tony Stewart held onto his second place but was fuming after the race. It's been more than a year (37 races) since Stewart has won in the Sprint Cup Series.
Michael McDowell scored a 20th-place finish, his best in 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races to win Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors. This is his first Sprint Cup start since Watkins Glen (race No. 22). McDowell grabbed the award for the fifth time this season.
"We ran top-15 and gave up some spots there at the end," said McDowell. "The 77 (Hornish) was a couple of laps down and he ran us pretty hard, which we’re racing for the top-35 so I get it. Couldn’t afford to really get into him, move him, ‘cause that’d have just given him the right to move us back and we knew we had enough points to get in. So that’s a pretty tough day but the pit stops were awesome."
There were 23 lead changes among 12 different drivers -- and there were 14 caution periods for a total of 70 laps.
The Sprint Cup Series moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Sunday September 14, 2008, for the Sylvania 300. The race is scheduled to start at 1:00 PM / Eastern Time on ABC. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
For full final race results...
(Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Sprint Cup drivers points...
(Insider Racing News)
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