NASCAR: Johnson Wins Third Consecutive UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

Johnson`s teammate Jeff Gordon finished second.

Photo: lvms.com

LAS VEGAS - Defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by a comfortable margin of 2.795 sec. before a sun-drenched sellout crowd.

Perhaps comfortable is not the right word to use when race teams were thrown for a loop after testing here on the new, higher-banked track in January.

After the teams tested here and took home data to analyze, Goodyear switched the prescribed tore to a harder compound and NASCAR mandated a smaller fuel cell to force teams to make more pits stops and give them the opportunity to change tires more frequently.

When teams arrived this week to practice, qualify and race, there was much concern because their setups had pretty much been thrown out the window.

While most crew chiefs would have preferred to spend some fun time in Las Vegas after the garages closed, they struggled to regroup and make important chassis setup decisions instead.

Johnson's win marks 150th victory for Hendrick Motorsports

"When you go home and work on your data and try to sort everything out and then it all changes, it really complicates things," said Johnson. You don't know what to do. You don't have any data and it's really trial and error. When you have a short amount of practice time like we do on race weekends, it really ramps up the frustration.

"One thing I am very confident and proud of is the 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports in general - we seem to figure things out on a fast pace. We might not be the first or the fastest with certain rules changes or new tracks. We smile and say, ‘All right, this is a chance for us to really step up and figure something out.' I think we were able to do that this weekend with the new tire. Coming back, nobody had any data to work with. It was really between Chad and I to talk through the issues of the car and the sensations I was having. We do a good job with that. That's one strength of our team and this weekend allowed our strength to show.

Johnson not only had to contend with 42 other drivers, he had to overcome two setbacks as well.

"I had a tire roll away on a pit stop and that caused us some trouble," said Johnson. "Then I hit the wall a little in Turn 4 and bent up the suspension a little bit. I saw Jeff Burton up on the top in Turns 3 and 4 and he was really making some ground. I was able to find the right rhythm up there. I tried to get a little bit more aggressive and made a late exit and the car lost control and started sliding on me and I didn't have a lot of room left and got into the wall a little bit off Turn 4.

"Over the long haul, I don't think I had the speed to run with Jeff (Gordon) or (Jeff) Burton, but at the end, when I came in, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) put right-side tires on. We had a tire pressure adjustment that really brought comfort back to the car. I had that edge I could lean on and really push to get by Gordon and get by Burton. It was a great day for us. I am very proud of the race team - to overcome the adversity this week to come back with a new tire and not have any experience on it. The team worked through all the issues we had to work through to get the car right."

UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400 - Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS

1. 23 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 190/5 267 Running

2. 36 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont / Nicorette 180/10 267 Running

3. 17 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko's 165/0 267 Running

4. 37 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 165/5 267 Running

5. 14 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 160/5 267 Running

6. 13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 155/5 267 Running

7. 25 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 146/0 267 Running

8. 39 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 147/5 267 Running

9. 12 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg's / CARQUEST 143/5 267 Running

10. 33 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 134/0 267 Running

11. 28 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 135/5 267 Running

12. 26 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 132/5 267 Running

13. 42 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 129/5 267 Running

14. 3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 126/5 267 Running

15. 5 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 123/5 267 Running

16. 18 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M / Ameriquest 115/0 266 Running

17. 38 7 Robby Gordon Ford Robby Gordon Motorsports 112/0 266 Running

18. 24 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 114/5 266 Running

19. 2 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light 106/0 266 Running

20. 27 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 103/0 266 Running

21. 21 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's 100/0 265 Running

22. 4 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 97/0 265 Running

23. 6 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper - Valvoline 94/0 265 Running

24. 15 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 91/0 265 Running

25. 29 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Samsung Four Seasons of Hope 88/0 265 Running

26. 10 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 85/0 265 Running

27. 20 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 82/0 265 Running

28. 22 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 79/0 265 Running

29. 41 21 Jon Wood Ford U.S. Air Force 76/0 264 Running

30. 40 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 73/0 264 Running

31. 7 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 70/0 263 Running

32. 19 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 67/0 263 Running

33. 43 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 64/0 263 Running

34. 8 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 66/5 251 Out of Race

35. 1 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge McDonald's / Dodge Dealers / UAW 63/5 251 Off Track

36. 16 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 60/5 239 Out of Race

37. 35 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 52/0 236 Running

38. 9 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet CertainTeed 49/0 156 Off Track

39. 32 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 46/0 147 Out of Race

40. 34 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 43/0 141 Running

41. 31 180 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Driven 40/0 46 Out of Race

42. 11 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 37/0 17 Out of Race

43. 30 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet State Water Heaters 34/0 15 Out of Race

(* Rookie)

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