Backstretch Motorsports

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was probably one of the most spectacular finishes in NASCAR history.

Carl Edwards made a suicide run into the third turn underneath race leader Jimmie Johnson. He was determined to win.

Unfortunately, Edwards ran out of track before running into the wall, struggled to maintain control and watched Johnson go back by him for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

“Yeah, I’d say winning the race is a huge boost of confidence for the team, for myself.” said Johnson of winning but not pulling away from Roush Fenway teammate competitors Edwards or Biffle. “It helps beating the No. 99, without a doubt. I kind of looked back on that last segment in general to feel really good about us closing the gap. We were 2 or 3/10ths off the No. 99 before that. Chad made some great decisions on the car. I’m real proud of that, knowing that we could fine-tune and find more speed in the car.”
To be honest with you, looking up at the board, the way we finished, man, it’s hard to get any points on anybody. Five or 10 here or there is nothing. At this pace, it’s going to take somebody having some bad luck to get a gap. You’re not just going to outrun people week to week like we’re all performing right now.”

A sellout crowd stood, cheering the last-lap, do-or-die antics of the hard-driving Edwards, even though his banzai run tactics didn’t work.

There (at the end) my car was just a little too loose. I could just hang with Jimmie, said Edwards. “I couldn’t get him until the last couple of laps when I just started bonzai-ing it around on the top there. He was what I was doing, so he went up there to block, and that last lap I just figured the hell with it, I don’t want to finish second here, I want to win this race more than anything in the world, so I kind of bonzaied it in there. I wanted to make sure I cleared Jimmie. I went probably just a little too far and hit the wall harder than I planned on hitting it, and he got back by me. It was fun, though. I’ve always kind of wanted to try that. Now I know that it doesn’t work quite the same as video games, but it was fun.”

Greg Biffle made a last-lap pass of Jeff Gordon for third position. Matt Kenseth was fifth after a day of struggles, and Kevin Harvick finished sixth. Jeff Burton was seventh, David Ragan eighth, AJ Allmendinger ninth and Elliott Sadler 10th.

It was another sad day for Kyle Busch, who encountered mechanical problems again and wound up 28th. Busch was never a factor.

It was Johnson who led most of the way. Edwards, however, was a contender throughout the race, having to fight his way back from 25th spot after a pit road accident sent him back in the field for a restart.

Johnson’s win establishes him as the man to beat in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship since he has two Sprint Cups in his possession already, but Edwards and Biffle plan to give him all the competition he could ask for in the remaining seven races.

The three up-on-the-wheel drivers — Johnson, Edwards and Biffle — will wear out the gas pedal at Talladega next weekend if Sunday’s race was an indication of what to expect.

Talladega is a wide-open, 2.6-mile, high-banked speed palace where drivers draft together in a 40-car swarm.

Sunday in Kansas, popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., once again finished poorly in 13th position.

Under a steaming sun on a tacky track, two-time defending champion Johnson took the lead in his Lowe’s Chevy and raced away from the field at the start.

Kenseth’s yellow DeWalt Ford took over near the 20-lap mark with Martin Truex Jr. just behind. The rest of the field fanned out around the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

Truex passed Johnson at 30 laps for second spot. For the third race in a row, regular-season points leader Busch encountered some type of engine problem, dropping out of contention before 50 laps had been completed.

Busch established his Joe Gibbs Racing team as the favorite to win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with eight wins during the regular season. He started the Chase atop the standings but fell to 12th out of 12 after the Dover race last weekend. At the 60-lap point in Sunday’s race, no relief seemed to be in sight as both Kyle and brother Kurt struggled near the back of the pack.

Once the first round of green-flag, pit stops were complete, Kenseth was back out front with Truex and Johnson behind. Rounding out the top 10 were Casey Mears, Gordon, Sadler, Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Biffle and Ragan.

Vickers lost several positions due to a run-in with Edwards during the pit stops. Edwards clipped the rear of Vickers’ Toyota as he entered his pit while Vickers was exiting his. Both cars suffered minor damage. The incident shuffled Edwards back to 25th.

Ryan Newman slid into the wall on the 74th lap bringing out the first caution flag of the day.

During this pit stop, several cars banged together when Dave Blaney pulled in front of others leaving his pit. Allmendinger’s crew let a tire roll across pit road, costing him a bunch of track positions.

On the restart at lap 79, it was Mears, Truex, Gordon, Johnson, Biffle, Earnhardt, Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Sadler and Mark Martin.

Kyle Petty brought out a caution on lap 94, spinning off the track in Turn 3. After a restart with Mears in the lead, Johnson charged back to the front on lap 110.

Much-heralded rookie Joey Logano brought out a caution at lap 117 when he brushed the wall.

Once the green waved again, Truex was in front, Johnson, Bowyer, Biffle, Gordon, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt, Harvick, Sadler and Mears. Shortly after the restart, Kenseth lost control and spun but did not make contact with anything. Again on the restart, a spin brought the caution back out. Tony Stewart spun off the track after a brief on-track exchange with Vickers.

At the halfway point (134 laps), Johnson led with Truex and Biffle in tow. Gordon was fourth, Edwards fifth and Bowyer sixth. Earnhardt, Burton, Harvick and Mears were seventh through 10th.

NASCAR Race Number 29
Unofficial Race Results for the Camping World Rv 400 Presented By Coleman - REVISED (ALL MONEY)
- Revised - Sunday, September 28, 2008
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles - Purse: $6,134,923
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 267 195 10 $364,411 Running 5 124
2 34 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 267 175 5 $259,575 Running 2 31
3 18 16 Greg Biffle 3M/Sherwin Williams Ford 267 165 $180,100 Running
4 13 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 267 160 $184,786 Running
5 3 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 267 160 5 $164,866 Running 2 49
6 36 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 267 150 $156,411 Running
7 37 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 267 146 $150,558 Running
8 12 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 267 142 $114,550 Running
9 14 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 267 138 $102,850 Running
10 4 19 Elliott Sadler GARMIN Dodge 267 134 $137,120 Running
11 30 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 267 135 5 $133,816 Running 1 1
12 24 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 267 127 $110,825 Running
13 11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 267 124 $104,475 Running
14 10 5 Casey Mears CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet 267 126 5 $108,675 Running 1 29
15 9 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 267 118 $102,150 Running
16 15 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 267 115 $136,775 Running
17 16 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 267 112 $102,250 Running
18 2 8 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet 266 109 $126,108 Running
19 40 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 266 111 5 $91,250 Running 1 1
20 42 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 266 103 $120,808 Running
21 8 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 266 100 $119,841 Running
22 32 38 David Gilliland Ford Drive one. Ford 266 97 $107,308 Running
23 25 70 Tony Raines Haas Automation Chevrolet 266 94 $86,100 Running
24 21 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 266 91 $124,761 Running
25 7 21 Bill Elliott Motorcraft Ford 266 88 $102,770 Running
26 17 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 266 85 $113,739 Running
27 6 15 Paul Menard Menards/Super Clean Chevrolet 266 82 $93,825 Running
28 27 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 266 84 5 $100,125 Running 1 1
29 19 10 Patrick Carpentier # LifeLock Dodge 266 81 5 $86,425 Running 1 3
30 31 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 265 73 $84,675 Running
31 26 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 265 70 $100,633 Running
32 35 01 Regan Smith # DEI/The Principal Financial Group Chevrolet 265 67 $89,275 Running
33 23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Penske Truck Rental Dodge 265 64 $126,650 Running
34 33 28 Travis Kvapil HITACHI Power Tools Ford 264 61 $109,039 Running
35 29 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 264 63 5 $94,808 Running 1 1
36 20 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Snacks Ford 264 55 $80,450 Running
37 39 7 Robby Gordon Menards Dodge 264 52 $99,883 Running
38 43 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Chevrolet 263 49 $80,000 Running
39 28 96 Joey Logano DLP HDTV Toyota 263 46 $87,800 Running
40 41 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 260 43 $128,336 Running
41 22 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 257 40 $88,922 Running
42 38 66 Scott Riggs State Water Heaters Chevrolet 235 37 $79,205 Running
43 5 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 229 39 5 $110,425 Transmission 2 27
Race Comments: In front of an estimated crowd of 100,000 - Jimmie Johnson won the Camping World 400 presented by Coleman, his 38th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following drivers droppped to the rear for the reason indicated: #44 Reutimann (engine change); #31 Burton (pit stop).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 00 Michael McDowell #, 08 Johnny Sauter.
Time of Race: 2:59:56 Average Speed: 133.549 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.280 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 25 laps: Laps: 76-79 (#12 accident turn 2); 95-98 (#45 accident turn 2); 118-121 (#96 accident turn 3); 124-126 (#17 spun turn 2); 131-133 (#20 spun frontstretch); 219-222 (#28 accident turn 2); 227-229 (#55,77 accident turn 4).
Lead Changes: Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers: J. Johnson 1-16; M. Kenseth 17-41; M. Truex Jr. 42-50; M. Waltrip 51; Kyle Busch 52; M. Kenseth 53-76; D. Hamlin 77; C. Mears 78-106; J. Johnson 107-118; M. Truex Jr. 119-136; J. Johnson 137-175; C. Edwards 176-177; D. Reutimann 178; P. Carpentier # 179-181; J. Johnson 182-190; C. Edwards 191-219; J. Johnson 220-267.

Top 10 Driver Points: Top 12 Driver Points: (1) J. Johnson 5,575;(2) C. Edwards 5,565;(3) G. Biffle 5,545;(4) J. Burton 5,454;(5) K. Harvick 5,439;(6) J. Gordon 5,432;(7) C. Bowyer 5,411;(8) D. Earnhardt Jr. 5,385;(9) M. Kenseth 5,383;(10) D. Hamlin 5,332;(11) T. Stewart 5,320;(12) Kyle Busch 5,264.

Coors Light Pole Award : Jimmie Johnson, #48 (172.007 mph) DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Elliott Sadler, #19
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Jimmie Johnson, #48 EA Sports Move of the Race : Jimmie Johnson, #48
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Jimmie Johnson, #48 (168.782 mph, Lap 2) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Jimmie Johnson, #48
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Ryan Newman, #12 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Carl Edwards, #99 (.45 seconds)
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Patrick Carpentier, #10 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Jimmie Johnson, #48
USG Improving the Finish : Carl Edwards, #99 (32 Places) WIX Lap Leader : Jimmie Johnson, #48 (124 Laps)
Next Race: Oct. 5, 2008 - Talladega Superspeedway