Phoenix, AZ (Best E Casino) - Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 Nextel Cup race, the ninth of 10 events which make up the "Chase for the Nextel Cup." Peaking at just the right time Johnson won his fourth consecutive race to open up an 86-point edge over Jeff Gordon.
The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.870 ahead of runner-up Greg Biffle.
The victory was Johnson's 10th of the season, first at PIR and 33rd of his "Cup" career.
"I'm lucky to be in cars that are capable of winning races," said Johnson. "I'm just as shocked as everyone watching and couldn't be more proud of this race team.
"Those guys are on an unbelievable roll...and we're just coming up short at a crucial time," said Gordon after his 10th-place finish.
It was all Carl Edwards early on as the pole winner pace the field through the first portion of the race. Meanwhile, the "race-within-a-race" between Gordon and Johnson was staying tight as expected. Both were sitting in the top-five and eyeing each other carefully.
Edwards continued to show the way despite taking just two tires at the first pit stop.
Also of note was the No.5 Chevrolet of Kyle Busch. The lame duck Hendrick Motorsports driver was trying to accomplish a feat which had never been done in all of NASCAR's long history. Busch won the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday and the Busch race on Saturday and a win on Sunday would be a series first. No driver has ever won all three NASCAR races in a single weekend. Busch started the race 38th on the 43-car grid, but by lap 75 was up to 13th.
A caution flag on lap 85 slowed the race and sent all the leaders down pit lane. Edwards, who took just right-side tires the first time, took all four this time and returned to the track in second place behind Martin Truex Jr. Johnson and Gordon came out third and fourth, respectively.
Then on lap 106 Edwards suddenly announced that he was down a cylinder. The No.99 team pulled down pit lane, but his chance at the win was over. The team looked at the plug wires, hoping one had fallen off, but that wasn't the case. Edwards pulled his Roush Fenway Racing Ford behind the wall, his day over.
"That was a race-winning car there, I was just cruising around having fun," said Edwards.
With Edwards on the sideline, Johnson inherited second place behind Truex Jr.
Lap 118 saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. slam the inside wall pretty hard in turn two ending his day. It appeared he just got too loose coming out of the turn and lost it.
Gordon used the caution flag to pit while leaders Truex Jr. and Johnson stayed out on the race track. Gordon came out 15th right in the middle of the action. A dangerous move if something happened around him. Johnson chose the safer route staying near the lead and hopefully keeping any trouble in his rearview mirror.
Up front it was still Truex Jr. and Johnson, but Kyle Busch cracked the top- five by lap 130 and was looking for the sweep.
Former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and Kasey Kahne got together to bring out a caution flag on lap 137 and the leaders pitted. Now Gordon, one of those out of sequence with the leaders was five spots ahead of Johnson in fourth place.
Truex Jr. and Johnson were still fast and weaving their way through the top-10 and back towards the top. They were seventh and eighth when Kahne and Tony Raines had a problem to slow the action with the seventh caution of the day.
Gordon could get no higher than third as they reached the mid-point of the race, while Johnson was still coming. The No.48 Chevy was up to fifth and Truex Jr. was seventh.
Gordon was still working hard and finally got around David Stremme for second behind Matt Kenseth.
Could he get around Kenseth to lead a lap (and earn the five-point bonus) before he got caught by Johnson and Truex Jr.?
On lap 171 Johnson caught Gordon. They fought side-by-side for a couple of laps, but Johnson's tires were newer and it was inevitable that Johnson would make the pass.
After the pass of Gordon, Johnson was about three and-a-half second behind Kenseth. But he wasn't making any headway as the field passed the 187-lap mark.
However, when Kenseth pitted for fuel on lap 188, Johnson inherited the lead and five points. By lap 190 Truex Jr. also got around Gordon for second place. Disappointed that he could not lead a lap, Gordon pitted on lap 199 going down a lap to the leaders.
The No.24 team held their collective breath waiting for Johnson to pit and get back on the lead lap. Finally on lap 219 Johnson pitted and Gordon survived.
On lap 233 Dave Blaney spun to bring out caution flag No.8. It set up a final pit stop for everyone. Ryan Newman took just fuel to grab the lead while Johnson and Gordon took four tires each, coming out sixth and eighth, respectively.
Right after the restart, Kenseth swept around Newman and so did Tony Stewart, who's No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet had suddenly come to life.
Gordon had a little problem with Harvick with 52 laps remaining and Gordon's left-front fender began to rub on the tire. But there was no way he was going to stop with the championship on the line.
A debris caution flag with 43 laps to go, gave Gordon a chance to save his day. A number of teams came in and Gordon came out still 12th with a chance to catch his teammate.
Truex Jr. was the new leader with Johnny Sauter (neither driver stopped), Kenseth, Stewart and Johnson making up the top-five with 40 laps to go.
But it was not to be today for Gordon. Johnson began a late-race march towards the front while Gordon couldn't move up the charts. Johnson and Kenseth renewed their battle from last week with Johnson winning again taking second place on lap 283.
Now it was leader Truex Jr. on old tires trying to hold off Johnson on fresh rubber. There were 25 laps to go. The two leaders were side-by-side with 24 laps to go, but Johnson's better tires prevailed.
Kenseth, also on newer tires got past Truex Jr. as did Biffle but did he have anything for Johnson?
Twenty laps remained and the margin was 0.799 seconds between Johnson and Kenseth. The gap was getting larger not smaller. Biffle got around Kenseth and was suddenly the fastest car on the track, but time was running out. He would need a caution flag to have a chance to race for the win.
"I felt like we got something at the end and maybe we would have won this thing if we had found it at the beginning," said Biffle.
There was none, however, and Johnson won for the fourth consecutive time stretching his championship lead over Gordon to a gigantic 86 points.
Kenseth, Stewart and Newman completed the top-five. Busch came up short in his attempt to sweep the weekend finishing eighth.
The final race of the 2007 Nextel Cup season is scheduled for next Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"We just have to go down there and be smart and see how it shakes out," said Johnson.
