By Staff
RICHMOND, Va. – Jammin' Jimmie Johnson took the lead when it counted Sunday at Richmond International Raceway to win the 400-lap NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.
Johnson ran near the front throughout the sunny afternoon and took the lead for good shortly after a restart with 20 laps remaining.
A capacity crowd of more than 110,000 watched Johnson's teammate Jeff Gordon lead most of the first half of this postponed event originally scheduled for Saturday night.
Johnson passed another lesser-known teammate, Busch, for the win with 19 laps to go. Denny Hamlin was third and Gordon fourth. Kurt Busch was fifth.
Ryan Newman was sixth, passing Kevin Harvick on the final lap. Harvick was the class of the field at one point but a pit road accident damaged the right front of his car and slowed it down. Harvick, nonetheless, held on for his seventh-place finish. Tony Stewart was eighth. Rounding out the top 10 were Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth, neither of which contended for the victory.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., wound up 13th after a collision with Jeff Green.
Greg Biffle, also involved in a bumping accident with Green, was a contender before the incident but had to settle for 19th spot.
Fourteen caution periods slowed the pace in a race where side by side racing in NASCAR's new, winged cars was commonplace.
The victory was Johnson's fourth of the year and owner Rick Hendricks' seventh of the season.
The first caution of the day fell before the cars had time to lay some rubber down on the "green" track.
Saturday night's rain washed the track clean and Johnny Sauter's Chevy slid up the track into the Chevy driven by Casey Mears. Only three laps had been completed.
Gordon, starting from the pole position, stayed in front until a NASCAR-mandated competition caution slowed the field after 40 laps. Due to the rain and postponement of the race until Sunday afternoon, NASCAR officials told the teams prior to the start a caution would be waved at 40 laps to allow teams to check their tire wear and refuel.
Tony Raines, driving for former NFL stars Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, pushed his Chevy to the front right after a Jamie McMurray-caused caution but Gordon went back to the front a lap later.
Elliott Sadler brought the caution out on lap 102, spinning through the tri-oval. Gordon once again came out of the pits in front.
Just a few laps later, Sauter and Juan Pablo Montoya got together bringing out another caution flag.
On lap 130, Daytona 500 winner Harvick went to the front ahead of Hamlin and Gordon. Johnson and Biffle were running fourth and fifth at the time. Hamlin took a turn up front at 162 laps and Kurt Busch had moved past Jeff Gordon into fourth place.
Harvick passed Hamlin again on lap 172. Harvick's teammate Jeff Burton pulled behind pit wall with engine problems shortly before the 200-lap halfway point. Harvick held the lead with Hamlin, Busch, Johnson and Gordon right behind. Kyle Busch was running sixth, Biffle seventh, Green eighth, Martin Truex Jr., ninth and Earnhardt Jr., 10th.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series top 12 now looks like this: Gordon, Johnson, Kenseth, Hamlin, Burton , Kyle Busch, Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Earnhardt Jr.
(Story provided by NASCAR)