Jimmie Johnson Dominates Pepsi 500

Jimmie Johnson made his case Sunday night at Auto Club Speedway in California that Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards aren't the only contenders for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

And, boy, did he do it in style.
Johnson started from the pole as the green flag waved over the Sprint Cup Pepsi 500 and simply overpowered the field all night long -- giving his fans something to smile about and emphasizing why NASCAR has no business racing twice a year at ACS.

Despite all the wrenches NASCAR and the track could throw at him and the No. 48 crew, Johnson led 227 of the 250 laps at the 2.5 mile track. Cautions waved multiple times for debris cautions (including two separate yellows for pieces of the caution light equipment falling to the track and one for when Marcos Ambrose appeared to just barely graze the outside wall) and brought the field back to Johnson's bumper.

A few times, even, other teams used better pit stops or pit strategy to jump ahead of Johnson, but he would regain the lead very, very quickly and would pull out to a sizeable lead. Greg Biffle held the lead following a caution with about 30 laps to go, but Johnson made short work of the No. 16 and drove off into the night less than a lap later.

Attendance at ACS has long been a hot-button issue for NASCAR, and despite a drop in temperature by over 20 degrees from one year ago, there were noticeable sections of empty seats all around the roughly 80,000 seat grandstand. The racing package on-track could have something to do with that as the cars would get very strung out within 10 laps, and the leader could easily pull away from the field.

The win was Johnson's third of the season and second in-a-row at ACS' fall race date. Last year, Johnson used his ACS win combined with a win the following week at Richmond International Raceway to propel himself to a second-straight Sprint Cup championship.

Johnson's teammate Jeff Gordon was optimisitc about his chances in Sunday's race after starting from third position, but quickly fell back to about 15th for much of the race and continued his winless streak with a 15th-place finish.

Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch was mediocre for much of the race but managed to make adjustments on the car and wind up with a 7th-place finish.

Photo by Stephen Dunn, Getty Images

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-01-2008 @ 9:50AM

Kim said...

Wooooo hooooo!!!!! I called this one! Congratulations to Jimmie and crew! What a fantastic job! Jimmie was on the pole and clearly had the car to beat the entire race. It's great to see Jimmie in this position pre-chase once again this year. Everyone's talking Kyle Busch this and Carl Edwards that. No one stops to think that Jimmie is sitting only 150 (I believe) points behind Kyle at number 3. Jimmie wants that third championship to tie with Yarborough and I for one would love to see him get it! This is what he did last year folks.....came on strong just in time for the chase and kept the momentum going to win his second championship. A third is definitely in sight.

Kim

9-01-2008 @ 10:58AM

Bernie said...

Yeah, that's what I like to hear Kim a little trash talking. :)

Hey, you were right. I did agree with you on Jimmy winning at California but deep down you know I want the shrubie to win. Kyle had a few problems keeping the car in line but he managed to finish 7th. Jimmy was the man in this one, no one on the track had anything for him not even the Biff Jimmy is on his usual late season run. If I were Kyle and Carl I would be looking for where he is on the track every week. He also runs well in Richmond too I think he and KB have a leg up on Carl at Richmond judging by what they have done there in past years.

It will be fun to see how things turn out. Kyle, Carl and Jimmy are the cars to beat without a doubt.

9-01-2008 @ 11:10AM

Hey, Kim Nascar.com has Jimmy 369 behind in third but when the chase officially begins they will be 50 or so points apart anyway. Don't know exactly how or why but I believe they will start that way when they reset the points for the chase.

9-01-2008 @ 11:43AM

Thanks, Bernie!

I don't even pretend to understand this ridiculous point system that NASCAR goes by. :-) It is way too confusing and sometimes unfair. It doesn't seem right that Kyle who has won what eight races, would not be ahead a lot more points than 50 or so apart from the others. The chase definitely needs to be modified.

BTW.....Jimmie won Cali last year and Richmond the next weekend as well.....so look for a two-for next week, too. :-)

Kim

9-01-2008 @ 12:44PM

BRIANFRANCESUX said...

PARITY MY ASS.

9-01-2008 @ 1:09PM

BFS,

would you be more specific about your comment, or am I opening a can of worms I wil regret asking about?

9-01-2008 @ 6:02PM

Kaz said...

I predict that Carl Edwards is going to kick butt!!! Carl was trying out a different package last night. We'll see but my money is not on Kyle.

9-03-2008 @ 12:35AM

anna seitter said...

GUYS ,contrary to what i read i betted real money on kyle bush with a couple friends of mine so kyle best not let me down.And to my surprises also, there is more money out there betting on JIMMY JOHNSON than karl haywards, so we'll see.

news flash-- DARIO FRANCHINI is quitting nazcar to get back in to indy. I predicted and hoped it before exspecially when CHEAP GAMASSI cut off his ride while ago.
A prediction coming true and i'm glad that probably ashley judd talked some sense in to him. I now hope he lands back in to ANDRETTI-GREEN RACING. Lets keep our finger crossed.
works for me...

9-03-2008 @ 7:43AM

Mike LeVan said...

Congrats to JJ. I do see JJ once again coming in and winning the chase CUP away from a driver that has earned more points for the whole year and was deserving of winning. This time however, I will not be as upset. The cream is finally rising to the top. Just go look at the top drivers over the last 6 races. You will see that Kyle Busch is in 3rd, behind Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. While the points may show who has earned more points for the whole year, the last 6 race category shows what the drivers have learned over the course of the year and how they are running now.
I think Kyle Busch has had a great year that ANY driver would love to have. But I think he is going to fall victim to the Chase and Jimmie Johnson is once again going to win the cup while having 300 points less for the whole year. Too bad for Kyle, I don't think alot of people are going to cry for him.
MBL

9-03-2008 @ 11:13AM

robert said...

Last 4 races
1st. Kyle avg. finish 3.0 pts. 696
2nd Carl " " 4.2 " 678
3rd JJ " " 14.5 " 527

Last 5 races
1st Carl avg. finish 3.6 pts. 868
2nd Kyle " " 9.6 " 751
3rd JJ " " 12.2 " 697

You really can't use Indy in any kind of formula, and if you use 2 or 3 races Edwards and Bush are Neck and Neck and JJ always 3rd. Go Carl

9-03-2008 @ 4:16PM

Thank you Robert but NASCAR.com does not post last 4 or last 5 races. They do however have a last 6 races stat that I used. So, I have found the information for you.
1 Carl Edwards 1038
2 Jimmie Johnson 892
3 Kyle Busch 874
As I said, it lists Kyle Busch behind Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.

9-03-2008 @ 4:21PM

Mike said...

Also, if you notice, Kyle was number 1 for last 4 races, number 2 for
last 5 races, number 3 for last 6 races. Not the direction you want
to be heading going into the Chase.
MBL

9-03-2008 @ 7:22PM

My point being you can't really expect anyone to use Indy ( the sixth race ) as a viable gauge to anything with the tire fiasco.

9-03-2008 @ 7:41PM

Jack Hall said...

Lets give credit where credit is due. We see how JJ drives when the car is junk as with all drivers. Kudos to Chad Knaus the main reason of JJ success and the best crewchief in the business.

9-03-2008 @ 8:12PM

Jack,

I couldn't agree with you more! As a Jimmie Johnson fan, I have always believed Chad Knaus is the best Crew Chief in all of NASCAR. Of course, most people on these boards just say he is because he is a "cheater," which really gets my goat. They've all cheated at one time or another.

Kim

9-04-2008 @ 8:21PM

Sorry Robert, I missed that one the first time. My point is simply that unlike the first half of the season when Kyle Busch TOTALLY dominated, Carl and Jimmie have now caught up and even passed him. If I was going to place a bet right now, I would put the money on Jimmie Johnson. He totally dominated the last 14 races last season and he is showing signs of doing it again.
MBL

9-04-2008 @ 8:49PM

Hey Robert:

Aloha, my friend (wink, wink). :-)