Backstretch Motorsports

RICHMOND, Va. — Gather round the water coolers, folks. Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch are at it again, just like they were when they left Richmond International Raceway the last time.

Only this time, the shoe was on the other foot, a hot shoe at that.

More on that in a minute.

Jimmie Johnson outdueled Tony Stewart in a race to the wire Sunday to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.

Running side by side and bumper to bumper the last 10 laps of the 400-lap race, Johnson beat Stewart across the finish line, serving notice he intends to really go after a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in a row. Johnson and Stewart finished ahead of Virginian Denny Hamlin and Earnhardt, who led several times during the race and tangled with Busch, who spun and hit the wall just like Earnhardt did in the spring when the two got together.

It was an instant replay of the spring incident except Busch wound up on the receiving end this time around.

The Sunday crowd of more than 100,000 fans cheered loudly when the two cars rubbed together after racing each other side by side.

Actually, the accident was neither driver’s fault, just good hard racing fans have come to expect at this track.

And they’ll likely be talking about this one for weeks to come. It was the final race before the Sprint Chase and the lineup of the top 12 remained the same, even though young David Ragan made a valiant effort to unseat Clint Bowyer from the 12th and final spot.

At one point in the race, Ragan, who started 17 points behind Bowyer, had moved ahead of the Jack Daniels driver but a skirmish with teammate Matt Kenseth ended his chances.

Rounding out the top 10 in the race were Mark Martin, Jeff Burton,Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, who led the race near the end, and Kurt Busch. Brother Kyle, leading the point standings, salvaged a 15th-place finish after the shunt with Earnhardt.

The race was riddled with caution flags but someone was passing someone, or trying to, almost every lap.

The series moves to Loudon, N. H., next week for the first race in Nascar’s version of a playoff. Busch, Edwards (13th Sunday), Earnhardt, Greg Biffle (14th Sunday), Burton, Harvick, Gordon, Hamlin, Stewart, Kenseth (39th) and Bowyer (ironically 12th Sunday) are now eligible for the coveted championship that will be decided in the next 10 races.

And fans will be debating the Earnhardt-Busch incident for some time.

It was a perfect afternoon, clear, sunny and temperatures in the 80s when 43 powerful engines roared to life after being locked up in team haulers hiding from Tropical Storm Hanna for a day and a half.

The powerful storm forced NASCAR to postpone all events originally scheduled Friday and Saturday, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races, as well as time trials for both.

Hanna roared through in the wee hours of Saturday morning, leaving as much as four inches of rain and high winds in its path. The rain didn’t stop until late Saturday evening which gave all the teams an unexpected day off.

Once the race did start, point leader Busch kept the lead until Harvick, who started seventh, passed him on lap 29. NASCAR threw a compeition caution at 35 laps to allow teams an opportunity to check tire wear. The heavy rains had washed all the rubber from the track.

When they made the stop, Harvick was in front and Earnhardt had passed Busch for second.

Gordon was fourth, trailed by Hamlin, Johnson, Stewart, Ragan, Bowyer and Edwards. Many of the fans were keeping their eyes on Bowyer, Ragan and Kahne, all battling for the 12th and final slot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship.

Bowyer held a 17-point lead over Ragan and a 48-point lead over Kahne entering the race.

When the race resumed, Gordon’s pit crew got him out ahead. Harvick was second with Earnhardt third. Busch dropped back to ninth. Bowyer was eighth but ahead of both Ragan and Kahne.

Both Harvick and Hamlin dusted Gordon in short order, as did Earnhardt. Stewart and Bowyer also moved into the top five.

Edwards had to make an unscheduled stop for a flat tire on lap 71. Harvick, Hamlin and Earnhardt mixed it up around lap 75, and Earnhardt took the lead. The sport’s most popular driver took the high road around the track, sailing off the corners and down the straightaways with a burst of speed. His car was literally flying around the top side of the three-quarter-mile track while every other driver preferred the low side.

A scrape with the trioval wall cut a tire on Johnny Sauter’s Chevy and brought the caution flag out on lap 96.

Earnhardt led on the restart, followed by Hamlin, Harvick, Busch and Kenseth.

The field didn’t get far this time before some beating and banging resulted in Michael Waltrip spinning to bring the caution out again.

Biffle encountered a problem on lap 114, prompting an unscheduled stop for his Roush Ford and another caution.

Teammates Kenseth and Ragan banged together on lap 121, slamming the outside retaining wall, handicapping Ragan’s Chase hopes.

Harvick took the lead from Earnhardt on lap 138 and appeared to have the car to beat as he built up a 1.2-second on Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevy. Both cars pulled away from Hamlin, Busch and Bowyer.

Juan Pablo Montoya hit the wall on lap 163 and caused a chain reaction accident to bring out another caution. Elliott Sadler was involved.

On the restart, Earnhardt was back in front with Harvick second but Harvick passed Earnhardt a few laps later, regaining the lead.

By the halfway point, Busch was back out front with Earnhardt second and Hamlin third. Harvick was next ahead of Stewart, Johnson, Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Gordon and Ryan Newman.

Martin Truex, Jr., spun starting the 201st lap, bringing out another caution.

NASCAR Race Number 26
Unofficial Race Results for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Sunday, September 7, 2008
Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA - .75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 400 Laps - 300 Miles - Purse: $5,157,089

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 400 190 5 $256,836 Running 2 32
2 8 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 400 175 5 $205,461 Running 4 23
3 11 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 400 170 5 $165,366 Running 1 4
4 4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet 400 165 5 $119,800 Running 5 90
5 17 8 Mark Martin U.S. ARMY Chevrolet 400 155 $137,533 Running
6 5 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 400 150 $137,808 Running
7 7 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 400 151 5 $130,011 Running 4 80
8 10 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont/Nicorette Chevrolet 400 147 5 $127,461 Running 1 6
9 27 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 400 148 10 $102,200 Running 2 104
10 20 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 400 134 $82,550 Running
11 25 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 400 130 $95,650 Running
12 12 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 400 127 $90,925 Running
13 2 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 400 124 $121,325 Running
14 6 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 400 121 $83,700 Running
15 1 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 400 123 5 $94,425 Running 2 53
16 18 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet 400 120 5 $104,558 Running 1 6
17 24 28 Travis Kvapil Hitachi Power Tools Ford 400 112 $100,939 Running
18 26 38 David Gilliland CitiFinancial Ford 400 109 $91,383 Running
19 14 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 400 106 $102,641 Running
20 38 00 Michael McDowell # Champion Mortgage Toyota 400 103 $91,883 Running
21 23 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerois Racing/Betty Crocker Dodge 400 100 $109,661 Running
22 32 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 400 97 $86,083 Running
23 29 01 Regan Smith # DEI/The Principal Financial Group Chevrolet 400 94 $80,600 Running
24 41 45 Kyle Petty Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge 400 91 $83,058 Running
25 39 10 Patrick Carpentier # Valvoline Dodge 400 88 $71,650 Running
26 30 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 400 85 $98,114 Running
27 40 96 Ken Schrader DLP HDTV Toyota 400 82 $79,075 Running
28 34 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 400 79 $79,697 Running
29 19 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 400 76 $75,525 Running
30 22 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Juicy Fruit Slim Pack Dodge 400 73 $95,808 Running
31 33 66 Scott Riggs State Water Heaters Chevrolet 400 70 $67,275 Running
32 13 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 400 67 $75,125 Running
33 16 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 399 64 $109,075 Running
34 28 15 Paul Menard Menards/Energizer Chevrolet 399 61 $75,825 Running
35 37 21 Bill Elliott Air Force Ford 399 58 $85,070 Running
36 15 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 398 55 $74,575 Running
37 21 19 Elliott Sadler Best Buy Dodge 398 52 $92,795 Running
38 36 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 398 49 $111,900 Running
39 9 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 398 51 5 $113,841 Running 1 2
40 42 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 398 43 $66,075 Running
41 43 70 Johnny Sauter Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet 397 40 $65,930 Running
42 35 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam/Operation Homefront Dodge 392 37 $73,810 Running
43 31 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 335 34 $65,669 Running
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 110,000, Jimmie Johnson won the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, his 37th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and his second in as many races. No one droppped to the rear.
Failed to Qualify: (3) Tony Raines, #34; Sterling Marlin, #09; Joey Logano, #02.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 13 Secs. Average Speed: 92.680 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.365 Seconds
Caution Flags: 14 for 71 laps: Laps: 37-42 (Competition); 97-102 (#70 accident backstretch); 104-108 (#55 spun turn 2); 116-119 (#16 accident turn 2); 123-127 (#6,17 accident turn 2); 165-169 (#42 accident turn 2); 203-208 (#1,77 spun turn 4); 213-216 (#18 accident turn 2); 228-232 (#19 spun frontstretch); 243-246 (#18 spun turn 4); 298-304 (#83 accident turn 1); 316-320 (#21,43,99 accident turn 1); 360-364 (#66 spun turn 2); 371-374 (#10,15 accident turn 1).
Lead Changes: 22 among 10 drivers: Kyle Busch 1-28; K. Harvick 29-37; J. Gordon 38-43; K. Harvick 44-76; D. Hamlin 77-80; D. Earnhardt Jr. 81-133; K. Harvick 134-158; D. Earnhardt Jr. 159-165; M. Kenseth 166-167; D. Earnhardt Jr. 168-172; K. Harvick 173-185; D. Earnhardt Jr. 186; Kyle Busch 187-211; D. Earnhardt Jr. 212-235; T. Stewart 236-243; D. Reutimann 244-297; T. Stewart 298; D. Reutimann 299-348; T. Stewart 349-360; M. Truex Jr. 361-366; J. Johnson 367-389; T. Stewart 390-391; J. Johnson 392-400.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) Kyle Busch 3,878;(2) C. Edwards 3,671;(3) J. Johnson 3,576;(4) D. Earnhardt Jr. 3,488;(5) J. Burton 3,384;(6) T. Stewart 3,285;(7) K. Harvick 3,283;(8) G. Biffle 3,280;(9) D. Hamlin 3,235;(10) J. Gordon 3,221;(11) M. Kenseth 3,132;(12) C. Bowyer 3,116; (13) K. Kahne 3,047; (14) D. Ragan; (15) B. Vickers 2,854.
Chase Points: (1) Kyle Busch, 5,080, (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.
DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Tony Stewart, #20 DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Jimmie Johnson, #48
EA Sports Move of the Race : Jimmie Johnson, #48 Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Kyle Busch, #18 (120.849 mph, Lap 2)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Jimmie Johnson, #48 Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : David Reutimann, #44
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : David Reutimann, #44 (-.48 seconds) Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Michael McDowell, #00
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Jimmie Johnson, #48 USG Improving the Finish : David Reutimann, #44 (18 Places)
WIX Lap Leader : David Reutimann, #44 (104 Laps)
Next Race: Sep. 14, 2008 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway