The Chase Gets Tight / Johnson wins at Lowes (Nextel Cup Series)
The Chase Gets Tight / Johnson wins at Lowes (Nextel Cup Series)
Jimmie Johnson takes the checkered flag moments after winning Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Credit: Autostock
Johnson overcomes adversity for win No. 4
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
October 16, 2005
02:10 AM EDT (06:10 GMT)
NASCAR.com
CONCORD, N.C. -- The alternator failed, the battery had to be switched mid-race and the entire electrical system was on the fritz. Add all that to a constant fear of having a tire explode at any second and even the most veteran driver would be rattled.
Jimmie Johnson celebrates another win at Lowe's Credit: Autostock
Johnson overcame every problem thrown his way -- including the tire troubles that turned Saturday night's event into a laughingstock -- to win his fourth consecutive race at Lowe's and move into a tie with Tony Stewart in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
"I don't have a clue what took place [Saturday night],' Johnson said. "We had problem after problem. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.'
Johnson started 41st because his engine failed before qualifying. Then his alternator went mid-race. He cut a right rear tire. And then he had overtime.
In the end, he proved no one can beat him on the track his Lowe's-sponsored team considers its own private playground. Johnson has won five of the past six events at the suburban Charlotte facility.
"I can't believe that we always end up somehow toward the front at the end of a race ... this one in the closing laps after a long night of adversity,' Johnson said. "We changed batteries, the alternator had some troubles, flat tire, all kinds of crazy things.'
He took the lead with nine laps to go and was pulling away until Rusty Wallace brought out the 15th caution of the race with one of the many, many tire problems. It forced the field to be bunched up for one final restart and Johnson held off Chase contenders Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle to lock up the victory.
It moved Johnson up three spots in the standings and into a tie with Stewart --who finished 25th after crashing while leading earlier in the race -- with five events remaining in the race for the Nextel Cup title. Biffle is third in the standings, 11 points out.
Johnson's victory was the one bright spot in a race that was marred by tire problems for 16 drivers -- including five Chase competitors -- because Goodyear's rubber could not stand up to the increased speeds on the smoothed track surface.
It forced NASCAR to issue a mid-race mandate on the minimum air pressure used on right front tires, and led inspectors to police pit road with a threat of docking points to teams who disobeyed.
"As we got deeper in the event, it was obvious this was an abnormal evening,' NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "No one will be docked points because the teams responded.'
Stewart, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne all blew tires while leading, and many drivers said the tire concerns left them too scared to push their cars to the limit so they instead chose to race at about 85 percent effort to prevent a possible tire failure.
"I need a renewal of my life insurance policy, to tell you the truth,' Stewart told his crew when asked late in the race what he needed. "I just can't wait for this thing to be over so I can get out of here and hopefully not be hurt.'
His displeasure was evident by the scowl on his face after the race.
"It was just one of those screwed-up nights that's probably going to dictate the way the Chase comes out,' Stewart said. "It doesn't matter what happened. It's over with. We're stuck with it the way it is.
"It just sucks when you're the fastest car and something that's out your control happens like that that really shouldn't happen.'
Helton acknowledged the race was a disaster.
"I think everybody that was part of the evening would like to figure out how not to have another evening like this one,' Helton said. "It was extremely undesirable ... I think there will be a lot of digestion of this one when we get the opportunity.'
Tire troubles forced Tony Stewart's car into the wall. Credit: CIA Stock Photo
The smooth track surface was a concern all weekend because of the dizzying speeds created after track president Humpy Wheeler twice grinded out its trademark bumps.
Friday night's Busch race gave teams a preview of what to expect when Goodyear's tires struggled to hold over long runs and the race was marred by a record 14-cautions.
It had drivers on edge before the Cup event even started.
"If somebody gets hurt, then whoever made the call to change the racetrack needs to feel a little bit responsible,' said Jeremy Mayfield, who wrecked in the Busch race.
"We're going way too fast here, it's not right.'
NASCAR had a scheduled "competition caution' 30 laps into the race to give teams a chance to inspect their tires and assess how well the rubber was holding. Ryan Newman didn't even make it that far, with his right front tire blowing while he was running in second place.
The tire failure didn't cause him to wreck, but put him two laps down very early and forced him to battle back for a seventh-place finish. Newman came into the race second in the standings but dropped to fourth -- only 17 points back.
Newman's problem was the first sign that the tires would be troublesome all night.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s exploded with no warning and sent him crashing hard into the wall.
"It just went 'BAM!' and then I hit the wall,' he said.
Moments later, championship contender Matt Kenseth's right front failed, and the eruption tore the entire front panel off his Ford. He needed several stops on pit road to fix it and fell 11 laps down.
That's when Biffle realized just how perilous the situation was for the drivers: "Guys, we're not racing to win here. We're racing for a finish, whatever we can do to survive,' he radioed to his crew.
As more and more tires popped -- leading Kevin Harvick to call the problems "the biggest joke in racing I've ever seen' after losing his right front -- NASCAR again called a competition caution and made the air pressure mandate.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Unofficial Race Results
UAW-GM Quality 500 | Lowe's Motor Speedway
October 15, 2005 | Race 31 of 36
http://aolsvc.sports.aol.nascar.com/...nofficial.html
Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 3 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 185/5 336 Running
2 7 #97 Kurt Busch Ford IRWIN Vise-Grip GrooveLocks 175/5 336 Running
3 21 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 170/5 336 Running
4 12 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 165/5 336 Running
5 6 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 155/0 336 Running
6 9 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target/Breast Cancer Rsrch Fndation 155/5 336 Running
7 2 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 151/5 336 Running
8 39 #11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 147/5 336 Running
9 31 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Genuine Parts 143/5 336 Running
10 8 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts 134/0 336 Running
11 37 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 135/5 336 Running
12 25 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC/ditech.com 127/0 336 Running
13 22 #07 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 124/0 336 Running
14 19 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 121/0 336 Running
15 16 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia-Pacific/Brawny 118/0 336 Running
16 43 #09 Johnny Sauter Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 115/0 336 Running
17 42 #77 Travis Kvapil * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 117/5 336 Running
18 5 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 109/0 336 Running
19 41 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Petty Fan Fest 111/5 336 Running
20 14 #22 Scott Wimmer Dodge Caterpillar 108/5 336 Running
21 17 #66 Kevin Lepage Ford Peak Fitness 100/0 336 Running
22 26 #100 David Reutimann Chevrolet State Fair Corn Dogs 97/0 336 Running
23 33 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 99/5 336 Running
24 27 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 91/0 336 Running
25 4 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 93/5 328 Running
26 18 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 85/0 326 Running
27 1 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 92/10 326 Running
28 35 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Snap-On Tools 79/0 291 Running
29 29 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 76/0 279 Out of Race
30 32 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 78/5 278 Out of Race
31 20 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 70/0 278 Out of Race
32 23 #7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Jim Beam 67/0 278 Out of Race
33 15 #10 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Valvoline 64/0 267 Out of Race
34 40 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 61/0 255 Out of Race
35 11 #0 Mike Bliss Chevrolet NetZero Best Buy 58/0 252 Out of Race
36 34 #39 David Stremme Dodge Commit Nicotene Lozenges 55/0 244 Out of Race
37 38 #151 Stuart Kirby Chevrolet Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 52/0 213 Out of Race
38 10 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 49/0 151 Out of Race
39 13 #5 Kyle Busch * Chevrolet Kellogg's 51/5 150 Out of Race
40 30 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 43/0 124 Out of Race
41 24 #32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chevrolet Tide 40/0 94 Out of Race
42 28 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 37/0 61 Out of Race
43 36 #4 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Lucas Oil Products 34/0 40 Out of Race
* Denotes Rookie
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2005 Unofficial Driver Standings
http://aolsvc.sports.aol.nascar.com/...nofficial.html
After: UAW-GM Quality 500 | Lowe's Motor Speedway | Race 31 of 36
Rank +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 -- Tony Stewart 5777 Leader 31 2 5 15 21
2 +3 Jimmie Johnson 5777 Leader 31 1 4 11 19
3 -- Greg Biffle 5766 -11 31 0 5 13 18
4 -2 Ryan Newman 5760 -17 31 6 1 8 14
5 +2 Mark Martin 5726 -51 31 0 1 9 16
6 -- Carl Edwards 5723 -54 31 1 2 10 14
7 -3 Rusty Wallace 5685 -92 31 0 0 8 17
8 +1 Jeremy Mayfield 5662 -115 31 0 1 4 8
9 -1 Matt Kenseth 5653 -124 31 2 1 9 14
10 -- Kurt Busch 5635 -142 31 0 3 9 16
11 +2 Elliott Sadler 3507 -2270 31 4 0 1 10
12 -1 Kevin Harvick 3496 -2281 31 2 1 3 9
13 -1 Jamie McMurray 3492 -2285 31 1 0 4 8
14 +1 Joe Nemechek 3490 -2287 31 1 0 2 9
15 +2 Brian Vickers 3444 -2333 31 1 0 5 10
16 -- Dale Jarrett 3389 -2388 31 1 1 4 6
17 -3 Jeff Gordon 3385 -2392 31 2 3 5 10
18 +3 Jeff Burton 3227 -2550 31 0 0 2 4
19 -- Kyle Busch* 3215 -2562 31 1 1 8 11
20 -2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3210 -2567 31 0 1 6 11
21 -1 Kasey Kahne 3207 -2570 31 2 1 5 8
22 -- Ricky Rudd 3141 -2636 31 0 0 2 9
23 -- Michael Waltrip 3047 -2730 31 1 0 3 7
24 -- Casey Mears 3018 -2759 31 0 0 1 7
25 -- Bobby Labonte 2957 -2820 31 0 0 2 5
26 +1 Jeff Green 2847 -2930 31 0 0 0 0
27 -1 Sterling Marlin 2786 -2991 30 0 0 1 5
28 -- Mike Bliss 2784 -2993 31 0 0 0 2
29 -- Kyle Petty 2781 -2996 31 0 0 0 2
30 +1 Dave Blaney 2756 -3021 31 0 0 0 1
31 -1 Ken Schrader 2723 -3054 31 0 0 0 3
32 -- Scott Riggs 2651 -3126 31 1 0 2 4
33 -- Scott Wimmer 2635 -3142 31 0 0 0 0
34 -- Travis Kvapil* 2600 -3177 31 0 0 0 1
35 -- Mike Wallace 2156 -3621 26 0 0 0 1
36 -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. 1902 -3875 28 0 0 0 0
37 -- Robby Gordon 1817 -3960 26 0 0 1 1
38 -- Jason Leffler 1538 -4239 19 0 0 0 0
39 -- Kevin Lepage 1301 -4476 18 0 0 0 1
40 -- Terry Labonte 1001 -4776 13 0 0 0 1
41 -- Boris Said 791 -4986 9 0 0 1 1
42 +2 Johnny Sauter 722 -5055 9 0 0 0 1
43 -1 Hermie Sadler 650 -5127 11 0 0 0 0
44 -1 Bill Elliott 628 -5149 8 0 0 0 0
45 -- Mike Garvey* 491 -5286 9 0 0 0 0
Click HERE for 46-83
