NASCAR Wrecks - Johnson Lashes LOWE's Again
Johnson survives to win the NASCAR All Star Challenge
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
A rain delayed All-Star party at Lowes Motor Speedway turned into a two-day soirée becoming a survivor story authored by the landlord of Lowes, Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson overcame a pit road speeding penalty during the first of three segments in the non-points race, avoided carnage during the final segments and pulled away to win the 22nd annual Nextel All-Star challenge early Sunday morning.
The evening’s festivities got off to a rather subdued start after a rain delay of nearly two hours.
Scott Riggs started on the pole for the Nextel Open qualifying race and led for all but one lap in route to an easy victory and advancement into the big show. The only casualty was Casey Mears who performed a solo spin three laps into the event.
"I wish we could have got a few more laps in," Mears said. "I think it was starting to come in better, but we were really, really loose. It would have been nice to have a shot at the million. I probably should have taken it a little easier."
After the introduction of the field for the main event and the announcement of Kyle Petty as the fans choice, the first segment, 40 laps, got underway with Kasey Kahne on the pole and Johnson staring on his flank in second.
Mark Martin, defending All-Star challenge champion, tapped Roush teammate Jamie McMurray several laps into the race. McMurray spun across the track and glanced off the outside retaining wall before continuing on the track.
According to the quirky rules for the event each team had to perform a green flag, four tires and fuel pit stop in the middle of the segment. In the rush to pit road for his stop, Johnson was nailed by NASCAR entering too fast and given the dreaded ‘pass through’ penalty, regulating him to 19th place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was forced into the infield grass by a spinning Scott Riggs moments later. Riggs and Earnhardt were able to continue with Riggs losing a lap that he was never able to overcome.
Kurt Busch's night ended before the first segment was complete. He limped his smoking Penske Dodge back into the garage with a failed engine.
Soon after the race was red-flagged for 25 minutes due to rain after 34 laps of the first 40-lap segment was completed.
Another quirky rule that hurt Johnson was the inversion of the field after the first segment. Only the top 10 cars were inverted, and Johnson had only battled back to 11th.
The second segment, 30 laps, was when the fireworks on the track began. Michael Waltrip lit the fuse when he spun bringing out a caution. On the ensuing restart, pole-sitter Kasey Kahne's Dodge slid up in turn 2 and into the left side of Martin’s Ford. Both cars slammed into the SAFER barrier and spun back onto the track, igniting a multi-car explosion and a red-flag period.
Kahne and Martin were out along with Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeremy Mayfield and Jamie McMurray.
"We just lost grip," Kahne, said. "It's tough. Not a lot of grip out there. I thought everything was great, and the next thing I knew I was in the wall."
"Looks like Kasey slid up into me," an obviously upset Martin said. "Just one of those things. He lost it. And when you're on the inside that gas pedal determines whether you get loose."
"Just a chain reaction," Biffle said. "It's just too bad, because we had a car that could have won the race."
Although Stewart would continue on after being involved in the second segment incident, his night would come to an end just two laps into the third session. As Stewart and Matt Kenseth danced side-by-side contesting third place, the two cars touched and both slammed into the fourth-turn wall.
Needless to say, each had an entirely different view of the crash.
"Tony had a run, and once he was inside of me, he just turned," Kenseth said
"It was a pretty demented view," Stewart shot back at Kenseth. "He's a whole lane and a half low. Obviously he was blocking.
"I was there,” Stewart added, “and any other weekend that would acceptable. But this is the Nextel all-star crashfest.
"I think he screwed up on this one. If he thinks it's my fault, he's screwed up in the head."
The loss of Stewart and Kenseth left a total of just nine cars for the final dash to the finish.
Kevin Harvick, winner of the second segment had rolled the dice and took only two tires on the final pit stops while everyone else took four. His gamble wouldn’t pay off, as Johnson easily passed him for the lead early in the final 20-lap sprint.
Johnson pulled away and won by 1.729 seconds over Harvick.
"There's something about this place," said Johnson, who led a total of 33 laps. "When the money's on the line, this race team steps up and gets things done."
"I had adversity to overcome, that speeding penalty, “Johnson added. “We still came back and won the thing. When I was still on the lead lap after that pass-through, I knew I had a shot.”
"Jimmie was just half-a-tenth better than we were," Harvick said. "My only chance was to beat him into turn one and keep him pinned to the bottom. But he got away. Still it was a good night for us. We were 0-for-5 before this. Our main goal was to finish. And we weren't part of the wreck-fest.
Now the drivers are looking towards next Sunday for the running of the Coca-cola 600.
"Everyone was geared up just to run 15 or 20 laps tonight, and we won't be able to do that in the 600,” Harvick said. "And there will probably be more give-and-take in the 600." .
"It was a survival race," third place Jeff Gordon said. "The 600 will be a real handful, a real handful. I know we talk tires, tires, tires, but this tire is just so finicky you really have to be careful with it.
"But Jimmie and those guys just own this place."
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
A rain delayed All-Star party at Lowes Motor Speedway turned into a two-day soirée becoming a survivor story authored by the landlord of Lowes, Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson overcame a pit road speeding penalty during the first of three segments in the non-points race, avoided carnage during the final segments and pulled away to win the 22nd annual Nextel All-Star challenge early Sunday morning.
The evening’s festivities got off to a rather subdued start after a rain delay of nearly two hours.
Scott Riggs started on the pole for the Nextel Open qualifying race and led for all but one lap in route to an easy victory and advancement into the big show. The only casualty was Casey Mears who performed a solo spin three laps into the event.
"I wish we could have got a few more laps in," Mears said. "I think it was starting to come in better, but we were really, really loose. It would have been nice to have a shot at the million. I probably should have taken it a little easier."
After the introduction of the field for the main event and the announcement of Kyle Petty as the fans choice, the first segment, 40 laps, got underway with Kasey Kahne on the pole and Johnson staring on his flank in second.
Mark Martin, defending All-Star challenge champion, tapped Roush teammate Jamie McMurray several laps into the race. McMurray spun across the track and glanced off the outside retaining wall before continuing on the track.
According to the quirky rules for the event each team had to perform a green flag, four tires and fuel pit stop in the middle of the segment. In the rush to pit road for his stop, Johnson was nailed by NASCAR entering too fast and given the dreaded ‘pass through’ penalty, regulating him to 19th place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was forced into the infield grass by a spinning Scott Riggs moments later. Riggs and Earnhardt were able to continue with Riggs losing a lap that he was never able to overcome.
Kurt Busch's night ended before the first segment was complete. He limped his smoking Penske Dodge back into the garage with a failed engine.
Soon after the race was red-flagged for 25 minutes due to rain after 34 laps of the first 40-lap segment was completed.
Another quirky rule that hurt Johnson was the inversion of the field after the first segment. Only the top 10 cars were inverted, and Johnson had only battled back to 11th.
The second segment, 30 laps, was when the fireworks on the track began. Michael Waltrip lit the fuse when he spun bringing out a caution. On the ensuing restart, pole-sitter Kasey Kahne's Dodge slid up in turn 2 and into the left side of Martin’s Ford. Both cars slammed into the SAFER barrier and spun back onto the track, igniting a multi-car explosion and a red-flag period.
Kahne and Martin were out along with Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeremy Mayfield and Jamie McMurray.
"We just lost grip," Kahne, said. "It's tough. Not a lot of grip out there. I thought everything was great, and the next thing I knew I was in the wall."
"Looks like Kasey slid up into me," an obviously upset Martin said. "Just one of those things. He lost it. And when you're on the inside that gas pedal determines whether you get loose."
"Just a chain reaction," Biffle said. "It's just too bad, because we had a car that could have won the race."
Although Stewart would continue on after being involved in the second segment incident, his night would come to an end just two laps into the third session. As Stewart and Matt Kenseth danced side-by-side contesting third place, the two cars touched and both slammed into the fourth-turn wall.
Needless to say, each had an entirely different view of the crash.
"Tony had a run, and once he was inside of me, he just turned," Kenseth said
"It was a pretty demented view," Stewart shot back at Kenseth. "He's a whole lane and a half low. Obviously he was blocking.
"I was there,” Stewart added, “and any other weekend that would acceptable. But this is the Nextel all-star crashfest.
"I think he screwed up on this one. If he thinks it's my fault, he's screwed up in the head."
The loss of Stewart and Kenseth left a total of just nine cars for the final dash to the finish.
Kevin Harvick, winner of the second segment had rolled the dice and took only two tires on the final pit stops while everyone else took four. His gamble wouldn’t pay off, as Johnson easily passed him for the lead early in the final 20-lap sprint.
Johnson pulled away and won by 1.729 seconds over Harvick.
"There's something about this place," said Johnson, who led a total of 33 laps. "When the money's on the line, this race team steps up and gets things done."
"I had adversity to overcome, that speeding penalty, “Johnson added. “We still came back and won the thing. When I was still on the lead lap after that pass-through, I knew I had a shot.”
"Jimmie was just half-a-tenth better than we were," Harvick said. "My only chance was to beat him into turn one and keep him pinned to the bottom. But he got away. Still it was a good night for us. We were 0-for-5 before this. Our main goal was to finish. And we weren't part of the wreck-fest.
Now the drivers are looking towards next Sunday for the running of the Coca-cola 600.
"Everyone was geared up just to run 15 or 20 laps tonight, and we won't be able to do that in the 600,” Harvick said. "And there will probably be more give-and-take in the 600." .
"It was a survival race," third place Jeff Gordon said. "The 600 will be a real handful, a real handful. I know we talk tires, tires, tires, but this tire is just so finicky you really have to be careful with it.
"But Jimmie and those guys just own this place."
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
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