Fontana, CA (Best E Casino) - El Cajon, California native Jimmie Johnson spent the first part of the race adjusting his Chevrolet and when the sun went down he turned it on and captured Sunday night's Sharp Aquos 500 at the California Speedway. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line almost two seconds ahead of Carl Edwards.
The victory was Johnson's fifth of the season and 28th of his Nextel Cup career.
"It was a long night and the track was changing," said Johnson. "The season is all about the championship and my guys are ready for it."
Kurt Busch brought the Labor Day weekend event to the green flag for 250 laps of high-speed racing. He continued on leading the first few laps while the man making an early move was his brother Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch started eighth but was up to third by lap eight.
A debris caution on lap 10 sent everyone down pit lane for fuel and adjustments. The only casualties on the stop were Juan Pablo Montoya and Edwards who made solid contact as Edwards was trying to leave his pit box.
Kurt and Kyle Busch were one-two as the race went back to green on lap 13. More caution flags, but both Busch brothers remained strong as did Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Both Kenseth (two wins) and Biffle (one win) use Roush Fenway Racing Ford machines with a great history at this track.
The field passed the 50-lap mark and Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the Busch brother and Kenseth in the top-five. But Kyle Busch had the best car of anyone and after a couple of laps on a restart he would get going and put distance between himself and the competition. The lead was 3.660 seconds after 60 laps.
Tony Stewart also cracked the top-10 from his 22nd-place starting position. Slowly, "Junior" began to reel in Kyle Busch cutting the lead to under two seconds at lap 70. Then John Andretti blew a left-front tire to bring out the caution flag and completely erase Kyle Busch's big lead.
"Junior's" teammate at DEI, Martin Truex Jr. was first of pit road and the new race leader. Behind him was Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Johnson and Jeff Burton.
It took Kyle Busch just two laps to get around Truex Jr. and Earnhardt Jr. for the race lead. But "Junior" never took his foot off the gas pedal and back he came. Jeff Burton's No.21 Chevrolet was also improving and he joined the leaders.
By lap 90 the sun was setting and it was changing the characteristics of the track.
Whoever would be able to adjust best would likely be the race winner. Last night in the Busch Series event, that was what happened and Burton eventually won the race.
Through 100 laps and the Busch brothers were reunited at the top, Kyle first followed by Kurt. Burton, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. were just behind.
One car that obviously made the right adjustments through the early race pit stops was Johnson's No.48 Chevrolet. His car suddenly came to life and at the halfway point he held a two-second lead over second-place Kyle Busch. The lead almost got to three seconds before Kyle Busch began to close the gap as the green-flag run lengthened. On lap 137 Busch ran him down and retook the lead.
Green-flag pit stops began at lap 150 and after they were completed it was still Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson out front. Busch built the lead to more than three seconds before a debris caution flag was waved by NASCAR to slow the action.
Brian Vickers used a two-tire change to get off pit road first, but as soon as the green flag dropped both Kyle Busch and Johnson sailed around the No.83 Toyota.
Jeff Gordon started a crash on lap 179 when he got loose and into Jeremy Mayfield who then clipped David Reutimann to slow the race for an 11th time. It appeared that Ricky Rudd, making his 900th Nextel Cup start, caught a piece of the action too and he was seen walking to an amubulance holding his left arm.
They restarted with 64 laps to go with Johnson and Kyle Busch doing what they had done all-night long - lead the race. Burton was right there too, even getting around Busch for second as the field approached the 195-lap mark.
Ryan Newman suddenly slowed on lap 196 with an engine problem and his very thin championship hopes went up in smoke with it.
Kyle Busch and Burton continued to swap second and third place about one second behind Johnson.
Final pit stops began with Earnhardt Jr. on lap 211. He was forced to be the first in because of a tire going down. The remainder of the leaders came down over the next laps and none of the top cars had any problems.
By lap 220 all the pit stops were completed except for three drivers who were praying for a caution flag. Tony Stewart, Casey Mears and A.J. Allmendinger were making laps about 10 seconds ahead of Johnson, the first car of those who had stopped.
On lap 225 Allmendinger finally made his stop and Johnson was in third place. Three laps later Stewart was out of fuel and made the turn down pit lane. Johnson was not second and just four seconds behind Mears. On the next lap Mears reluctantly made the turn for fuel and tires and Johnson was the race leader with just 21 laps to go.
With the "gamblers" out of the way, the race returned to the guys who had been strong all night. Johnson held 2.7 seconds on Kyle Busch and three seconds on Edwards and Burton.
Edwards was the fastest of the contenders and passed Kyle Busch for seconds on lap 236. But he got to within one and-a-half seconds of Johnson and his charge stalled. Johnson cruised to the checkered flag without challenge and won for the fifth time this season.
Johnson, Burton and Kenseth clinched "playoff" spots.
"I'm just really tired," said Earnhardt Jr., who is 128 points out of the 12th and final "Chase" spot.
The final race before the "Chase for the Nextel Cup" is set for Saturday night, September 8th at the Richmond International Raceway.
