Johnson Wins; Takes Points Lead into Chase for the NEXTEL Cup

Dale Earnhardt Jr's race ended on lap 394 when his motor gave up yet again this season.

Photo courtesy: rir.com

RICHMOND, Va. - Jimmie Johnson swept the 2007 NASCAR races at Richmond International raceway. With a commanding 3.132 second victory, Johnson takes a 20 point lead into the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.

Johnson beat out Tony Stewart, rookie David Ragan, Jeff Gordon and Johnny Sauter to claim one of the finest trophies offered at any race track.

Johnson joins Rusty Wallace (1989), Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (1987), Bobby Allison (1983), Richard Petty (1967, 1971, 1972, 1973) and David Pearson (1966) as drivers who swept both of Richmond's NASCAR races in one season.

Though he started from the pole, Johnson had to work hard all evening for his victory.

Said Johnson after the race: "Man, we just had a solid effort all night. In 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 the car right. We had great stops at the end that got me the track position I needed and we were really able to set sail there at the end. I can't thank these guys enough; never giving up, fighting all night long. We were probably a third or fourth placed car until the end when we made the adjustments and got this victory. First of all, those three (Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart) behind me had me nervous on that last restart. They are all real tough. This is a great race track for all three of them. I could hear that they were racing side-by-side and I knew that that was good for me. I was trying to take care of my tires in case we caught a late caution. Luckily it stayed green and we could stretch it out and get this Lowe’s Impala to victory lane. The momentum means a lot. It really does. We’ve seen that time and time again with different race teams and we’re happy to be hitting our stride right now. We had a great 26 races. Now it’s about the last 10 and we’ll see what we can do."

Second placed Tony Stewart commented, "Tonight, we really didn't set the world on fire at any point in the race but we did keep making the car better and better and better. We got to the lead there and had a couple of stops that were off a little bit and got us back to fourth by the end of the sequence. You know, at the end of the race, it was pretty fun. I had probably the best seat in the house of watching the race between Gordon and Dale Junior there. It was a lot of fun. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of fun stuff and got myself in the mix ourselves. Junior was probably the better of the three of us car-wise, and he had his problem. But it was fun racing guys like that. It's fun when you can race guys like Dale, Gordon and Earnhardt Junior and you can run that close with them. We were all trying to get by each other but when you can run that close with each other, it shows the confidence we have in each other."

David Ragan scored his second top 5 result of the season and remarked, "It was a nice solid run for the AAA Ford Fusion. We had a great night on pit road. The AAA Ford was handling well. When you have a good car, it just makes everybody’s job a lot easier. I got back in the back after getting squeezed into the wall by the #25 car about half way through it. We rebounded pretty nicely. Probably one of our best races of the year. It’s good to get another top 5. After getting that first top 5 in Daytona, I thought these things were easy to get. But here in NEXTEL Cup racing, they’re pretty hard to come by. We’re excited. It’s pretty cool to be racing with (the likes of Gordon, Stewart, Johnson, Earnhardt, Jr.) them. They’re racing for The Chase and a championship. One day, hopefully we’ll be up there. We’ve got to give them some extra courtesy on a night like tonight. When you have a good car, it just makes everything a lot easier."

Going into the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, the big story was who would qualify for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.

On the outside looking in was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who was 13th in points, 128 points behind the driver ahead of him in the standings: Kevin Harvick.

The only other driver in play for the 12th position in The Chase was Kurt Busch who was only 13 points ahead of Harvick.

To overcome the deficit, Earnhardt would have to finish the race in the top 5.

Harvick could clinch his spot in The Chase by finishing better than 32nd and Busch could lock in his spot by finishing better than 36th.

On the start, pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson made a mistake driving into turn 3 for the first time of the evening and locked up the front tires.

Jeff Gordon seized the opportunity to grab the lead as Johnson slid back to 5th place.

The first caution period of the night started on lap 8 when Tony Raines slid up into the car of Jeff Green as they entered turn 3.

Their spinning cars collected those of Dale Jarrett and Greg Biffle.

Raines would sit in the garage area for 51 laps while his team made repairs to his car.

Jeff Green lost 3 laps making repairs on pit road. Jarrett continued, falling to the end of the lead lap.

The green flag flew on lap 13 with Jeff Gordon leading Denny Hamlin.

The second caution of the evening happened on lap 23 for a one-car spin by Paul Menard.

Pit road became a very busy place as all the front runners came in for service to their machines.

Ryan Newman made a two-tire stop and returned to the track in third place behind two cars that did not pit: Casey Mears and David Gilliland.

In the mean time, Greg Biffle climbed from this damaged Ford that had been damaged in the lap 8 wreck.

A sullen Biffle commented, “I qualified badly. That’s what you get when you start back there with the donkeys. Those guys get in trouble. I guess I can’t drive because I qualified bad to start with. I’ve got a really fast Ford Fusion but I was back with the guys who can’t drive and they run into each other and caused a big wreck. There was no way we could avoid it. It was unfortunate for us.” Biffle would eventually climb back into his extensively repaired car, 113 laps behind the leaders.

The green flew again on lap 29. Newman would have the lead within 3 laps.

On lap 63, Scott Riggs hit the outside wall on the front straight after getting a nudge from a competitor, bringing out the third caution of the day.

His Dodge was heavily damaged on the right side. It sustained left-side damage when it hit the inside wall on its way to pit road.

He would not be able to continue. Once again, all of the front running cars headed to pit road for tires, fuel and handling adjustments.

The field returned to racing speeds on lap 70 with Jeff Gordon in the lead ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch.

At one quarter distance, Gordon led Johnson by 0.7 seconds and Kurt Busch by 2 seconds.

Rounding out the top 5 were Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was languishing back in 12th, 128 points out of The Chase.

Joe Nemechek brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 132 when he crashed into the outside SAFER Barrier between turns 3 and 4.

His car would sustain heavy damage to the right front of his car. Once again, all the front runners headed to pit road for service.

As the field went green again on lap 137, the running order was Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick.

Carl Edwards passed Jimmie Johnson for second place on lap 157 and began running down leader Gordon.

On lap 165, Carl Edwards pulled along side coming down the front straight.

He would grab the lead later that lap coming out of turn 2 and pulled out a half second lead with one lap.

Oddly, just as this was happening, his team reported that Carl was concerned that his engine was not running properly.

Edward’s concerns about his motor were well founded.

The engine in his Ford Fusion blew up in a big way while he was leading on lap 182 in turn 3, bringing out the 5th caution of the evening.

Edwards did a fine job of driving as his car fish-tailed badly on his own oil.

After Carl Edwards climbed from his car, he said, “I don’t know what broke. I think it was something really important because it wouldn’t go good after that quit working. I’ve got to thank all my guys. They’ve been working so hard on these cars. I told them, 'Man, I’m having so much fun.’ I hate to pull in. This is such a fun night. It looked pretty good. I thought it was going to be great. It kept getting better and better. Hopefully we can put this as collateral against good luck for later in The Chase. If we can run like this for the rest of The Chase, we’ll be good.”

Once again, the front runners headed to pit road. Denny Hamlin’s team got him out in the lead, ahead of Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson.

At the half-way point of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Denny Hamlin led ahead of Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

Bowyer dove under Hamlin going into turn 3 and spun out in turn 4 trying not to wreck Hamlin’s Chevrolet.

Gordon took advantage of the action in front of him and regained the lead just before the 6th caution flag came out.

Most of the front runners stayed out on the race track as those who were struggling with handling went in for service.

When the green flag waved on lap 207, there was three-wide racing up and down the field and drivers jockeyed for position on the racetrack.

Tony Stewart was the man-on-the-move, grabbing the second position from Denny Hamlin on lap 215.

Kenny Wallace, driving for the injured Ricky Rudd, spun out on lap 233 exiting turn 2, nearly collecting a dozen cars who scattered all over the back straight.

This brought out the seventh caution of the race.

Once again, all the front runners went to pit road for service.

Clint Bowyer decided to stay out on the track and inherited the lead ahead of Gordon, Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The green waved again on lap 239. Jeff Gordon was in the lead by the time they exited turn 2.

The lapped car of A.J. Allmendinger got loose, forcing Stewart to take evasive action. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moved into second behind Gordon.

On lap 242, Ryan Newman, running in sixth position, spun exiting turn 4.

With the front straight clouded in smoke, Dave Blaney hit the back of Juan Pablo Montoya’s machine, pushing him into the back of Kurt Busch’s Dodge.

Montoya’s car sustained heavy damage to the nose and caught on fire in a big way.

Montoya steered his flaming machine onto the front-straight grass and jumped to safety.

Said the Columbian, “I think the 12 car spun and then people started hitting me. I just got hit from behind. I got pushed into I don’t know what car. There was smoke everywhere. I got pushed, hit the guy in front and the next thing I hear, is my spotter saying 'Jump out!’.”

As the cars turned two laps under caution, Kevin Harvick’s car began blowing water out an overflow hose after his radiators became clogged with grass.

Harvick had to cut through the front-straight grass to avoid the melee in front of him.

On lap 244, NASCAR officials decided to put out the red flag on lap 244 so they could clean up the race track.

The field was stopped on pit road, yet none of the teams were allowed to work on their cars.

The red flag period lasted 8 minutes and 18 seconds.

After the cars re-started their engines, many of the front runners went to pit road for service. Harvick’s extended stop dropped him down to 29th place.

The green waved on lap 250 with Gordon leading Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer.

On lap 255, Tony Stewart made a move around Earnhard, Jr. in turn 3 to rest the second position from the Budweiser Chevy driver.

The caution waved on lap 257 for the ninth time when David Gilliland’s Ford slowed dramatically when an ignition box failed in turn 2.

With nowhere to go, Reed Sorenson plowed into the back of the M&M’s Ford, spinning both cars. Sorenson’s Dodge sustained limited damage and was able to continue.

Jeff Gordon led Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth and the green flag waved again on lap 263.

Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon raced side-by-side for two laps until Stewart finally grabbed first on lap 270.

Gordon tried to get the position back for the next two laps before Stewart pulled out a small lead.

Jimmie Johnson was able to get around his Hendrick Motorsports teammate a few laps later, dropping Gordon to third.

On lap 293, the caution flag waved for the 10th time when there was a multi-car pile-up on the back straight.

While exiting turn-2, Kenny Wallace, Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett tangled with David Stremme, John Andretti, Dave Blaney and Jamie McMurray.

McMurray’s Ford was turned straight into the outside wall, pushing in the entire front of the car.

Blaney and McMurray’s cars dropped so much fluid on the track that NASCAR officials threw their second red-flag of the evening.

The cars were parked on the front straight for 19 minutes.

McMurray was happy for the safety features built into his car and said, “A couple guys got together in front of me and someone ran into the back of me and I got turned into the wall. I let my guard down because I thought the wreck was over and I got run into by somebody. It really just knocked the wind out of me. In situations like that, you’re thankful for the carbon fiber seats Hendrick’s builds and for your HANS device and good helmets and good suits.”

Dave Blaney said, “Man, I should have been able to miss that. I just got my brakes locked up and I just couldn’t get it turned. I hit Jamie a ton.”

On lap 296, all the drivers headed for pit road for service again.

With so many cars out of the race, Kurt Busch was assured a place in The Chase at this point in the race.

Jimmie Johnson beat all the others out of pit road, taking the lead for the re-start on lap 299.

Robby Gordon hit the wall in turn 3 very hard after the right-front tire blew entering the corner.

Robby sat, frustrated next to his damaged racer, saying, “I’m sure we popped a tire because of the brake rotor heat. We were switching between batteries and had no fans on it. These cars don’t have a lot of down force and don’t like to stop. You’ve got to have the fans. Unfortunately, that hung us out, finally.”

With the field slowed again by a caution for the 11th time, and knowing that they can now make it to the end of the race, all the front runners headed for pit road again.

Once again, Jimmie Johnson’s crew got him back out first, ahead of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Stewart.

The green waved again on lap 341, only for the yellow to fly again as John Andretti’s Dodge blew up, oiling down the entire front straight and both turns one and two.

When the green waved on lap 350, Dale Earnhardt Jr. tried mightily to pass Jeff Gordon.

They race side-by-side, lap after lap, as Jimmie Johnson pulled away from the bunch.

Earnhardt took second from Gordon on lap 353. Gordon came right back at the Budweiser Chevy, with Tony Stewart stalking them both.

Gordon re-passed Jr. on lap 363 after Dale slid up the banking in turn-one.

With 30 laps to go, Tony Stewart put the fans on their feet as he joined Gordon and Jr in a three-way fight for second.

The three cars ran side-by-side, nose-to-tail.

Tony pulled out a little lead, only to have Dale Jr. right back on his tail.

With 15 laps to go, Jeff Gordon fell back into the clutches of and was passed by David Ragan, who was having one of the best runs of his young career.

Up front, Jr. and Tony Stewart renewed their battle for second. Ragan then pulled right up to the tail of the Stewart/Earnhardt, Jr. battle.

Just as David Ragan was making his move on the Budweiser Chevy, Dale Earnhardt’s race ended on lap 394 when his motor gave up yet again this season. This officially dashed his hopes of making the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL CUP.

With all the action behind him, Jimmie Johnson cruised to a 3.132 second win in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. This was the 6th win of the season and 29th for Johnson.

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