A Crown Jewel
Jimmy Johnson rolls to a victory at RIR after Saturday's rain delays.
Andy Pigsley/Richmond.com
Jimmy Johnson's victory Sunday at Richmond International Raceway boosts him to second place in Nextel Cup point standings.
Kent Jennings Brockwell
Richmond.com
Sunday, May 06, 2007
With 15 laps to go and 14 caution flags behind him at Richmond International Raceway, Jimmie Johnson had nothing but the checkered flag on his mind as he rolled away from the battered pack to win Sunday's action packed NASCAR Nextel Cup Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400.
Following Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet across the finish line was Hendrick Motorsports partner Kyle Busch (No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevy) in second and hometown favorite Denny Hamlin in third, who kept his No. 11 FedEx Express Chevy in the top-10 for all but three of Sunday's 400 laps. Kurt Busch finished fifth.
For Johnson, who started fourth and led 105 laps, this was his fourth win of the season but his first victory and second top-10 finish in 11 races at Richmond.
"It's taken me six years now to understand this place," Johnson said shortly after the race. "This means the world to me to win here. We haven't been that strong here [in the past]. It reminds me a lot of Indy last year where we came back and we were able to beat a track that's tough on us so I think this car has been an opportunity for myself and the team to kind of learn the right setup."
Jeff Gordon, whose No. 24 DuPont Chevy Impala SS started on the pole for Sunday's race, spent most of the race in the top-five and led 114 laps early on but settled for a fourth-place finish, trailing Johnson by 3.8 seconds. Though he dominated Talladega last weekend and was aiming for a third consecutive victory, a fourth-place finish at Richmond is actually a welcome change for Gordon, who hasn't finished better than 30th in his last four appearances at RIR.
"To have a top five coming out of here at Richmond, that's a huge improvement compared to what we've had the last four races here," Gordon said. "We just didn't have it. We had it one time. I thought 'We're looking good' but something happened there at the end and we'll have to find out what it was."
After reviewing a tape of the race, Gordon will probably see that his biggest problem was Hamlin. With 130 laps to go, Hamlin began eyeing the No. 24's rear fender and didn't let up until lap 390 when Gordon finally ceded his third-place position to the Chesterfield native. Though this was only Hamlin's third career race at RIR, it marks an astounding second top-five finish for the 26-year-old at his home track.
"We had a really good run and we stayed in the top seven pretty much all day long," Hamlin said. "I can't drive any harder than I drive every single weekend but it seems like I always grab a little bit more when I come here to Richmond. We have run really well here in the past and it feels good to be competitive here and lead laps."
It's probably good that Hamlin was running toward the front of the pack all day because several drivers, including many of Hamlin's fellow Virginians, didn't fare too well farther back in the pack. Emporia native Elliott Sadler finished 27th after struggling to recover from a right-front tire blowout and subsequent spinout in lap 103, which brought out the fourth yellow flag of the day.
Ward Burton of South Boston was running in the mid-20s before getting tangled up with Chesapeake's Ricky Rudd in lap 372. Both sustained body damage when they hit the wall in turn 3 and finished 35th and 37th respectively.
Jeff Burton finished last in the 43rd position after entering the garage in lap 147 with engine trouble.
Today's race keeps Jeff Gordon in first place in Nextel Cup series points with 1,691 but moves Jimmy Johnson up two positions to second place, 211 points behind Gordon. Hamlin advances one position to fourth with 1,359 but Jeff Burton drops three positions to fifth with 1,352.
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