NASCAR: Johnson Wins in California

Southern California native treats fans to fifth victory of 2007.

Photo courtesy: NASCAR.com

FONTANA, Calif. - Fighting off searing heat and surging challengers in Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson piloted his No. 48 Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet to his second victory at California Speedway, capturing the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Sharp AQUOS 500 Sunday night at the two-mile superspeedway.

Johnson's 28th career NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Series victory doubled as his series-best fifth victory of 2007. It also ended a four-month victory lane drought for the No. 48 car and the defending NEXTEL CUP Series champion as Johnson held off Edwards' and the relentless Busch.

"We've been close. We've been running good. I think of Dover and somewhere else in there — Chicago - where we were running good but had problems. Traditionally we get off to a good start, run slow in the summer and have problems, then come back," said Johnson, who last won at California Speedway in 2002.

"The competition's really, really tight out there. I knew it was going to come and I was concerned we had peaked too quick and we wouldn't be too good in the chase, but the guys are running well," said Johnson's boss, Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick.

The opposite was in effect Sunday. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus bided their time early, watching Busch seize control of the race with a fast car that he and his crew had dialed into the demanding track conditions from the outset.

Busch led for 97 of the 250 laps, owning the lead seven times as the race set track marks for most leaders (16) and tied the track record for most lead changes (30).

"We had a really strong car there at the beginning of the race. We kept up with our adjustments all day and the guys had awesome pit stops," Busch said. "It was just a tough day for us there at the end, not being able to run Jimmie down, but all in all, it was a good day."

It was a tough day on the caution front.

The 11 cautions - one of which featured a five-car accident that sent NASCAR veteran Ricky Rudd to a nearby hospital -- tied the track record set in 2004 and 2005.

But through it all, Johnson and Knaus made the necessary adjustments to the No. 48, moving from a high groove to a lower one as the track cooled off.

That allowed him to not only reel in Busch, but hold off a surging Edwards, who made up time over the last 15 laps and appeared as if he'd reel in Johnson.

"It looked to me like he was searching; he was a little slow. I thought he was going to be a sitting duck," Edwards said. "I wish we could have caught Jimmie. He was fading for a while. I thought we were going to catch him, and then we just kind of all evened out."

Jeff Burton came off Saturday night's Busch Series victory in the Camping World 300 Presented by RVs.com with a strong fourth-place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was on the wrong end of the bubble for the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Cup, ran strong throughout, but finished fifth.

Sharp AQUOS 500 Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS WINNINGS

1. 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Jimmie Johnson Foundation 190/5 250 Running 289,411

2. 19 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot Worklife Rewards 170/0 250 Running 185,450

3. 5 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Cheez-It / CARQUEST 175/10 250 Running 163,225

4. 15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 165/5 250 Running 163,491

5. 7 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 160/5 250 Running 180,433

6. 8 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 155/5 250 Running 135,345

7. 36 17 Matt Kenseth Ford R+L Carriers 146/0 250 Running 158,941

8. 17 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 147/5 250 Running 102,975

9. 1 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 143/5 250 Running 146,308

10. 3 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 134/0 250 Running 148,216

11. 11 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Totino's Pizza Rolls 135/5 250 Running 138,361

12. 33 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA Insurance 127/0 250 Running 137,475

13. 22 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 129/5 250 Running 143,286

14. 12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 121/0 250 Running 141,836

15. 13 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 123/5 250 Running 111,525

16. 38 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Sharp AQUOS / 3M Vikuiti 115/0 250 Running 104,275

17. 10 16 Greg Biffle Ford Aflac 112/0 250 Running 109,325

18. 18 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 109/0 249 Running 90,275

19. 9 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 106/0 249 Running 108,600

20. 24 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 103/0 249 Running 103,900

21. 31 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target / Memorex 100/0 249 Running 119,083

22. 16 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont Cromax Pro 97/0 249 Running 135,011

23. 32 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 94/0 249 Running 115,533

24. 20 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 91/0 249 Running 91,850

25. 14 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's 88/0 249 Running 118,189

26. 26 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft 90/5 248 Running 109,589

27. 34 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 82/0 248 Running 97,825

28. 39 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 84/5 248 Running 103,758

29. 23 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 76/0 248 Running 117,308

30. 41 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas Automation 78/5 248 Running 89,750

31. 40 01 Aric Almirola Chevrolet U.S. Army 70/0 248 Running 97,200

32. 28 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Burger King 72/5 247 Running 100,308

33. 42 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Wrigley's Big Red 64/0 247 Running 121,625

34. 21 40 David Stremme Dodge Target 61/0 245 Running 86,050

35. 6 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 58/0 245 Running 104,345

36. 27 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 55/0 229 Accident 85,950

37. 43 49 John Andretti Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 57/5 203 Accident 95,447

38. 30 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 49/0 201 Engine 93,850

39. 4 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Kodak think: 51/5 194 Engine 117,875

40. 37 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers Generation Max 43/0 179 Accident 116,783

41. 35 7 Robby Gordon Ford Original Roadhouse Grill / Jim Beam 40/0 159 Running 85,705

42. 25 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 37/0 38 Accident 85,640

43. 29 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 34/0 9 Engine 85,008

* Denotes Rookie

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