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No Miracles for Junior as Jimmie Johnson wins Richmond

The Chevy Rock & Roll 400 short-track COT race at Richmond was the place where a few questions about the 2007 Chase would be answered. All sorts of things had to fall into place with the cars on the Cup bubble.

Mathematically, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had to finish no worse than 5th, lead the most laps AND “bump spot” guy Kevin Harvick had to finish 43rd. Driving the #8 for his last season, Junior and his specially-painted Elvis car put on a show and ran very hard, but a few laps from the end he was effectively locked out.

“I’m not the type that’s going to make up something that’s unrealistic,” Earnhardt said before the race. “If we make the Chase, great. But we know it’s the longest of long shots. If we don’t make it, I’ll be sad for our fans and sponsors because they’ve been great to me all year even with everything that’s happened. I want them to know that no matter what, me and the team are giving everything we’ve got. We’re not going to lose focus or give up or pack it in.”

Drivers worked the track aggressively from the start; even those who were locked into the Chase wanted the win, for the Chase seeding points that it would bring.

The race was fairly uneventful early on, which meant a lot of channel-flipping as I also tried to keep up with various college football games, just to see which other giants might fall after Michigan’s second Day of Infamy.

(….And if I hear one more time from TV commentator chatter that the COT has less downforce, I’ll lose my mind.)

By Lap 100, Chase contender Kurt Busch was running third, Kevin Harvick seventh and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 13th (Earnhardt had some problems on pit road that slowed him a bit — not something that he could afford in this race.)

By Lap 200, under-the-radar performer Clint Bowyer moved his Jack Daniels car past Jeff Gordon to take the second spot. While he and Denny Hamlin jockeyed hard for the lead, Bowyer got loose and spun out for the sixth yellow flag at Lap 201.

At Lap 212, Chase contenders looked like this: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sixth, Kevin Harvick was eighth and Kurt Busch was 10th.

After significant pitting at Lap 235, it was Jeff Gordon in the lead with Earnhardt Jr. in second and Bowyer back up in third, when Ryan Newman spun out, taking Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya with him. Busch had sheet metal damage and Montoya had a significant fire that forced him out of the car.

Harvick went through the grass to avoid the fracas; he collected a bunch of grass on his front grilles and spewed coolant from the hood. You could almost feel the Red Army wondering if this would be Junior’s opening.

Red flag was called at 245 to do some cleanup.

By Lap 264, Tony Stewart was working over Jeff Gordon for the lead, and he took it at Lap 271. You can always depend on Stewart to appear in the lead pack about this time in a race.

A big ol’ crash at Lap 294 brought yellow flag number 10, with Jamie McMurray, Dale Jarrett, Dave Blaney, John Andretti and David Stremme all tangled up.

Another red flag for cleanup sent me back to college football for a bit.

After everyone got moving again and pitted, Jimmie Johnson roared off of pit road, obviously on a mission, and took the lead. At Lap 305, Earnhardt Jr. was hanging in there at fourth. Harvick was in 16th but began to have problems with his brakes overheating.

Robby Gordon went down at Lap 336 when his right front tire exploded and he hit the wall.

By the time John Andretti pulled off with a blown engine at Lap 344, enough cars had dropped out that Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick were basically locked into the Chase.

Jimmie Johnson led from Lap 351. He said after the race that he could hear the side-by-side jockeying going on behind him, but tried not to let it get into his head.

Not only was Junior battling Tony Stewart hard for second, rookie David Ragan nosed in there and made a statement as well, eventually finishing an impressive third.

At that point, Junior was mathematically out of the Chase, but he kept racing hard only to suffer yet another blown DEI engine only five laps from the finish.

Stewart finished second, Ragan third, J. Gordon fourth and another surprise, Johnny Sauter, finished fifth.

Defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is now the top seed going into the first Chase race in New Hampshire.

(Other recent news: Martin and Almirola will split driving the iconic #8 car for DEI in 2008, IRL driver Franchitti may drive for Ganassi next year and Gibbs is switching to Toyota.)

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