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Johnson steals Busch brothers' thunder
By Tom Zulewski March 13, 2005 |
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LAS VEGAS - As Kurt and Kyle Busch talked with the media following their performance in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, they had a lighthearted moment in their debate of Coke against Pepsi. True to their loyalties, one brother needled the other and vice versa. There was no room for debate on who was the better racer Sunday afternoon. Jimmie Johnson led the final 55 laps and won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup event over the Busch brothers before an estimated 160,000 fans at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Even though the race was slowed by a track-record 10 caution flags, Johnson knew the chase would still be on down the stretch between his teammate, looking for his first Nextel Cup win as a 19-year-old rookie, and the defending Cup champion, looking to keep up Roush Racing's dominance. It was best summed up with one word for Johnson, particularly in the late chase over the final laps with Kyle. "Run," he said. "He's hungry, he's at his home track, and sitting in the same equipment I'm sitting in." The younger Busch had the best finish of his young career, following up his pole-position start at California Speedway two weeks ago. "I hope this wasn't just a fluke," Kyle said. "This is just another one of those second-place finishes we wish we could have turned into a win, but we're glad our teammate was able to win." Johnson led for 107 of the 267 laps on the 1 ½-mile oval and took the lead in the standings after three races by 15 points over Kurt Busch. Busch scored his second top-10 finish in four tries at Las Vegas. "It's going to be a fun battle all the way to the end," Busch said of the dueling race teams. "This year with the (new) tires, they've matched up with our cars and the Hendrick cars and away we go." Kyle Busch nearly caught Johnson as the race winner tried to get through lapped traffic with 14 laps to go, but the final margin at the finish line was 1.661 seconds. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, two-time defending champion Matt Kenseth, pole-sitter Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart rounded off the top 10. Harvick had started 42nd after getting caught with a less-than-full tank of gas in qualifying, but was among the top five before getting caught speeding on pit road during a caution on lap 194. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continued to have issues and bad luck at Las Vegas, getting together with Brian Vickers on lap 11 in the first turn as he tried to go high, leading to the first caution of the day. The wreck collected Bobby Labonte and Ricky Rudd as well. On lap 65, Kenseth got involved in a six-car wreck that also collected Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Gordon and Stewart. Kenseth later came in to the pits on lap 77 with a shredded left rear tire and went two laps down, but eventually rallied for his first top-10 finish in the last 12 races. On post-race inspection, both Johnson and Kyle Busch were discovered to have irregularities on their cars. Johnson had a shorter roof measurement and Busch had a high rear quarter panel. NASCAR officials said any penalties will be determined later in the week. UAW-DaimlerChrysler Notebook Fun with words: Robin Leach had what may be construed as a little too much fun when he introduced the 43 drivers and the car sponsors competing in the race. Among the memorable intros: Morgan Shepherd: Racing with Jesus, accented version. Casey Mears: "Dare I say Tar-zhay (Target)?" The topper came when he called Kasey Kahne "Kasey Kahn." What happens in Vegas: With the city in the midst of its centennial celebration, Mayor Oscar Goodman came out to welcome the crowd with three showgirls at his side and an Elvis impersonator sang "Viva Las Vegas" as part of the pre-race entertainment. Homage to the King: The speedway announced before the race that a new grandstand will be built in time for the 2006 NASCAR weekend and named in honor of NASCAR's king, seven-time champion Richard Petty. Exact seating capacity hasn't been determined, but will likely exceed 14,000 and located in Turn 1, bringing total seating capacity to 136,000. Final results from Sunday's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with driver, starting position, make of car, laps completed, reason out (if any), and money won: 1. (9) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, running, $428,066 2. (10) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267, running, $244,800 3. (5) Kurt Busch, Ford, 267, running, $249,125 4. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, running, $197,911 5. (42) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, running, $179,486 6. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, running, $139,600 7. (15) Casey Mears, Dodge, 267, running, $139,083 8. (8) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 267, running, $151,111 9. (1) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 267, running, $148,511 10. (23) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, running, $147,891 11. (16) Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Chevrolet, 267, running, $117,908 12. (21) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 267, running, $129,283 13. (29) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 267, running, $106,100 14. (20) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, running, $104,025 15. (22) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 267, running, $105,925 16. (18) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 267, running, $94,925 17. (24) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, running, $118,970 18. (13) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 267, running, $125,683 19. (12) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 267, running, $112,583 20. (26) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 267, running, $117,220 21. (36) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 266, running, $115,439 22. (17) Jason Leffler, Chevrolet, 266, running, $84,425 23. (39) Jeff Green, Dodge, 266, running, $115,061 24. (30) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 266, running, $85,950 25. (35) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 266, running, $95,958 26. (6) Travis Kvapil, Dodge, 266, running, $90,900 27. (28) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 266, running, $98,947 28. (37) John Andretti, Ford, 265, running, $77,900 29. (2) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 265, running, $117,691 30. (19) Mark Martin, Ford, 243, running, $95,950 31. (4) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 243, running, $85,250 32. (41) Eric McClure, Chevrolet, 237, too slow, $77,050 33. (40) Hermie Sadler, Ford, 226, accident, $77,800 34. (14) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 225, running, $76,650 35. (25) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 219, running, $104,358 36. (38) Randy LaJoie, Chevrolet, 182, engine, $76,250 37. (33) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 181, running, $103,239 38. (7) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 154, accident, $107,900 39. (27) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 57, engine, $75,625 40. (43) Morgan Shepherd, Dodge, 39, too slow, $75,400 41. (31) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 15, accident, $109,780 42. (34) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 11, accident, $122,433 43. (32) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 11, accident, $83,166 Race statistics Time of race: 3 hours, 18 minutes, 32 seconds Average speed: 121.038 mph Margin of victory: 1.661 seconds Cautions: 10 for 46 laps (13-19, 60-63, 66-69, 87-90, 102-107, 126-129, 176-180, 195-198, 207-210, 225-228). Lead changes: 25 among 12 drivers - R. Newman pole, G. Biffle 1-14, M. Wallace 15, K. Petty 16-17, M. Shepherd 18-19, K. Busch 20-22, G. Biffle 23-60, S. Marlin 61, T. Kvapil 62-64, R. Newman 65-87, K. Kahne 88, R. Newman 89-91, T. Kvapil 92-97, R. Newman 98-102, D. Blaney 103-109, K. Busch 110-146, J. Johnson 147-177, J. Green 178, R. Newman 179-182, J. Johnson 183-195, R. Newman 196-200, J. Johnson 201-207, R. Newman 208-210, J. Johnson 211, R. Newman 212, J. Johnson 213-267. Standings: 1. J. Johnson 525. 2. K. Busch 510. 3. G. Biffle 428. 4. J. Gordon 418. 5. C. Edwards 408. 6. T. Stewart 402. 7. R. Wallace 395. 8. K. Harvick 394. 9. R. Newman 389. 10. M. Martin 374. |
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