September 9, 2007
By Ron Felix

Jimmie Johnson * CIA Stock Photo

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.

"We just had a solid effort all night," said Johnson. "Parts of the race, especially the first two-thirds of it, we had a good car, maybe not the fastest car. We kept working on it and got our Impala SS right. I'm really proud we clinched this Manufacturers' Cup for Chevrolet. I can't believe we've clinched this early in the season. That's phenomenal."

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. The victory gives Johnson back-to-back wins at Richmond. He also won the spring race. Saturday's race win was worth a cool $249,836 for Johnson.

“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. It as the career best finish for Ragan, he finish fifth in the Daytona 500.

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. Busch sustained some damage to the rear of his Dodge 70 laps into the event.

"I saw my teammate get loose or spun by the No. 17. Smoke everywhere," explained Busch. "The best thing I could of done was just stop and hunker down and wait for the impact. So I held the wheel pretty tight and when you do that you get hit from behind. When you stop like that.

"Our heart was beating at thousand miles per hour after that 'cause I figured the rear bumper cover was flapping in the wind or there might be material dragging on the tires. Luckily there was a red flag at that point. We checked the car out and everything was OK. Our car was a little loose after that. After the crush panels got tore out of the back and the downforce just didn’t see to be there. To come home ninth, it’s just a testament to what this team is doing.

"While we stopped on that accident we were running sixth behind (Matt) Kenseth and (Ryan) Newman," Busch went on. "Since we stopped for the wreck they decided that we were part of the wreck, I guess. So we lost five spots when we went back green because they pushed other guys in front of us. So we just didn’t gain the track position back but overall it was a good day”

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.

"I'm really sad for my fans, but especially for my team," Earnhardt said. "If you knew how hard they have all worked this year, and to run as well as we have, it breaks my heart. We've been a top-five car and a top-five team almost every week and yet we struggled with engines that wouldn't get us to the finish line. Tonight is just another example of the roller coaster season it's been. (Crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. really worked hard tonight and did a great job making adjustments to the car.

"We were no better than a 10th-place car for the first half of the race, but he kept hard at it and made adjustment after adjustment and suddenly we were a car that could have won the race. I really felt like if I could have gotten around Tony I think we could have made a run at the lead there in the last laps. But that was great racing. I had so much fun racing those guys so hard and so clean at the end. I hope the fans enjoyed it as much as I did in those last 50 laps because that's as hard and clean as anyone can race.

"I have a lotta pride - and I think the whole team has a lotta pride - in how well we ran and how hard we competed and that's gonna be the same in the final 10 races," Earnhardt continued. "We're not gonna give up - we're gonna go out there and have fun and laugh and try to win races. Maybe we'll be a spoiler in the final races. When that last lap is completed at Homestead (the final race of the year), I want everyone to know we all worked hard and we did all we could to race hard and never gave up. I want to go out (at Dale Earnhardt Inc.) with integrity and that means never letting up."

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.”

Best Rookie: David Ragan finished third, his best finish in 28 NEXTEL Cup Series races. He scored his second top-five of 2007 season and claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time this year.

“We can just show everybody that we are capable of running in the top-five or top-10," said Ragan. "We knew that we had some great racecars but here in Nextel Cup racing it takes a lot more than just a good car. You’ve got to have good pit stops. You can’t have mistakes on restarts. You just have to have a solid night and that’s what it takes. I feel like the last three or four weeks we’ve had some awesome racecars, racecars that could win races. It’s all about qualifying well, just putting yourself in position so hopefully we’re another step toward that first win.”

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.

There were twelve cautions for a total of 71 laps. -- The race featured 17 lead changes among 11 different drivers.



For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Insider Racing News)