Johnson wins Chevy 400; Bowyer clinches 12th spot in Chase
RICHMOND -- Despite being seeded third behind top-seeded Kyle Busch and second-seeded Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson yesterday proved he was still a force to be reckoned with as the two-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.
Johnson, looking to become the first driver since Cale Yarborough (1976, 1977, 1978) to win three consecutive NASCAR crowns, won the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. The race, which marks the cut-off in determining the 12-man field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, was originally scheduled for Saturday night but postponed on Friday because of Tropical Storm Hanna.
Of course, that in no way put a damper on Johnson's day.
``You know, [we are] very, very happy with the performance today,'' said Johnson, who won for the fourth time this season, third time in the last seven races, and for the second race in a row after staving off runner-up Tony Stewart, who engaged Johnson in a stirring side-by-side duel over the last 10 laps of this 400-lap race. ``Great, great fight throughout the entire day.''
Stewart, who led four times for 23 laps including with 10 to go, surrendered the lead to Johnson with nine to go and was never able to get past him.
``That's probably one of the greatest races I think I've ever had here at Richmond racing there with Jimmie like that,'' Stewart said. ``But we came up short.''
Clint Bowyer, who entered the 26th and final race of the regular season 12th in the points, managed to clinch the 12th and final spot in the Chase by finishing 12 in Sunday's race. Bowyer, winner of last year's Sylvania 300, will enter the first race of the Chase Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the fifth seed.
``Just making the Chase is a big deal,'' said Bowyer, who staved off Kasey Kahne, 13th in the points, and David Ragan, 14th, for the last Chase spot. ``We've been struggling and there have been a lot of things going on in our organization and our team in particular, and everybody stuck together.''
The Chase Field
Seed, Driver, Starting Chase Points
1. Kyle Busch 5,080 points
2. Carl Edwards 5,050
3. Jimmie Johnson 5,040
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5,010
5. Clint Bowyer 5,010
6. Denny Hamlin 5,010
7. Jeff Burton 5,010
8. Tony Stewart 5,000
9. Greg Biffle 5,000
10. Jeff Gordon 5,000
11. Kevin Harvick 5,000
12. Matt Kenseth 5,000
NASCAR Notables
J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, said yesterday that Joey Logano, the 18-year-old wunderkind from Middletown, Conn., who will be Tony Stewart's heir apparent in the No. 20 Home Depot-sponsored Toyota next season, will likely make his Cup debut in the No. 02 Home Depot car at NHMS this week, barring any inclement weather, which spoiled his much-anticipated Cup debut this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. ``We're still trying to work out a contingency plan, but that's what we're hoping,'' Gibbs said. Logano was expected to drive for Hall of Fame Racing at NHMS, but Gibbs indicated that talks were underway to make the No. 96 available for Logano, who has no standing in the owner points, as a precaution in the event rain cancelled qualifying. Logano wasn't totally shut out from racing this weekend. He competed in the Emerson 250 Nationwide Series race and finished seventh after starting on the pole . . . During the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 post-race press conference Carl Edwards jokingly pointed out Jimmie Johnson's celebrity guest, Nick Lachey, or the artist formerly known as Mr. Jessica Simpson, as the reason Johnson was able to win Sunday's race. ``Sometimes during driver run-arounds during the track, you get people [who] flash their t-shirts up at you,'' Edwards said, ``and I noticed that Jimmie brought his buddy, Nick Lachey this week and that was the only bare chest I saw this run around. That was his strategy and it worked. It had me distracted, some hairy chests, and I didn't need that before the race started. So Jimmie was working magic from all angles.'' . . . This will be the first time in Chase history that Stewart and Jeff Gordon, past champions both, qualified without recording a single victory in the first 26 races . . . Austin Dillon, a Camping World Series East rookie and grandson of Sprint Cup car owner Richard Childress, made his Nationwide Series debut in Sunday night's Emerson 250 at Richmond. He finished 26th . . Chasers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, and Edwards along with non-Chasers David Ragan and David Reutimann pulled double duty Sunday, driving in both the Chevy 400 Sprint Cup race and Emerson 250 Nationwide Series event. Edwards won the race ahead of runner-up Scott Wimmer while Bowyer, the Nationwide Series points leader, finished third.
