Jimmie Johnson Leads Hendrick Las Vegas Domination
Written by John Davison · March 13, 2005
Jimmie Johnson, eight-time in 2004, took the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Closely followed by Hendrick Motorsports rookie Kyle Busch, the older Busch driver, Kurt, in a Roush Ford and a third Hendrick driver, Jeff Gordon, in fourth. Gordon was followed across the line by Kevin Harvick after Harvick was forced to start 42nd on the grid after post-qualifying inspection uncovered a fuel cell rigged to appear full even though it contained only five gallons instead of the required full load.
Johnson took the lead with 53 laps to run, never relinquished it, and has scored five victories in the last nine ‘Cup races with a string of finishes in the top six going back to Charlotte last October.
Dale Earnhardt’s run of bad luck in 2005 continued as he was involved in the event’s first caution, getting together with Brian Vickers and spinning them both out. “You know, we just got wrecked,” said Vickers. “It’s a shame. Junior apologized which is
good. Stuff happens and guys make mistakes. I’m just disappointed for the GMAC Chevrolet team. We had a great car. We had an awesome car for the race, it handled so good. We were moving up toward the front. We didn’t have a good day in qualifying but it was going to be a good day for us.”
Earnhardt, driver of the No. 8 Chevy, explained: “I got into the back of Brian (Vickers) going into Turn 1 and turned him around and got out of the race. It’s a big mistake on my part. It got to the corner too hard and it’s really not a fault of him at all. It’s my fault and it’s a shame and I apologized to him and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. And hopefully next week will be a lot better week.” Earnhardt finished 42nd and dropped to 27th in point standings.
Runner-up Kyle Busch was congratulated by his older brother, saying that from today on, the advice would stop. “I’m very proud of him,” said the elder Busch. “Our car ran great, we just didn’t have track position because of one bad stop. But it was an awesome for our Sharpie Ford. This was the first time I really felt like we were in contention at Vegas. I understand you have to run for a championship and when I come to Vegas it feels like it’s the Daytona 500. Congratulations to my little brother and it officially stops now - the advice to Kyle because he beat me fair and square.”
An event record ten cautions slowed the race to an average speed of only 121.038 mph. A dozen drivers led the race with Johnson leading for 107 of the 267 rounds.
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Pts/Bonus, Laps, Status
1, 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 190/10 pts, 267 laps, Running
2, 10, Kyle Busch *, No. 5 Kellogg’s/Robots Chevrolet, 170/0, 267, Running
3, 5, Kurt Busch, No. 97 Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford, 170/5, 267, Running
4, 11, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 160/0, 267, Running
5, 42, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 155/0, 267, Running
6, 3, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 155/5, 267, Running
7, 15, Casey Mears, No. 41 Energizer Dodge, 146/0, 267, Running
8, 8, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford, 142/0, 267, Running
9, 23, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 138/0, 267, Running
10, 1, Ryan Newman, No. 12 Mobil 1 Ext. Perf./ALLTEL Dodge, 139/5, 267, Running
11, 16, Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 130/0, 267, Running
12, 21, Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Mobil Clean 7500/Miller Lite Dodge, 127/0, 267, Running
13, 29, Dave Blaney, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 129/5, 267, Running
14, 20, Carl Edwards, No. 99 World Financial Group Ford, 121/0, 267, Running
15, 22, Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 118/0, 267, Running
16, 18, Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, 115/0, 267, Running
17, 24, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 112/0, 267, Running
18, 13, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 109/0, 267, Running
19, 12, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 106/0, 267, Running
20, 26, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 103/0, 267, Running
21, 36, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 100/0, 266, Running
22, 17, Jason Leffler, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, 97/0, 266, Running
23, 39, Jeff Green, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, 99/5, 266, Running
24, 30, Mike Wallace, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 96/5, 266, Running
25, 35, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge, 93/5, 266, Running
26, 6, Travis Kvapil *, No. 77 Mobil Clean 5000/Kodak/Jasper Dodge, 90/5, 266, Running
27, 28, Scott Wimmer, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 82/0, 266, Running
28, 37, John Andretti, No. 14 VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford, 79/0, 265, Running
29, 2, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 76/0, 265, Running
30, 19, Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 73/0, 243, Running
31, 4, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet, 70/0, 243, Running
32, 41, Eric McClure *, No. 173 ARC Dehooker/joinrfa.org Chevrolet, 67/0, 237, Out
33, 40, Hermie Sadler, No. 66 Peak Fitness/Stratosphere LV Ford, 64/0, 226, Out
34, 14, Ken Schrader, No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 61/0, 225, Running
35, 25, Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 63/5, 219, Running
36, 38, Randy LaJoie, No. 34 Mach One Inc. Chevrolet, 55/0, 182, Out
37, 33, Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford, 52/0, 181, Running
38, 7, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 54/5, 154, Out
39, 27, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Harrah’s Chevrolet, 46/0, 57, Out
40, 43, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Victory in Jesus/Red Line Oil Dodge, 48/5, 39, Out
41, 31, Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 40/0, 15, Out
42, 34, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 37/0, 11, Out
43, 32, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet, 34/0, 11, Out
*: Rookie
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I heard that Johnson’s car didn’t pass inspection, but that the standings would remain the same. Fines and deductions should follow soon.
Jimmie will more then likely have some points taken away, and a hefty fine…Jimmie you rock!! I can’t wait to see you win in Atlanta..