Johnson Storms to Beat the Monster
Written by Racin with Russ, Monday June 01 2009
Racin’ with Russ
By RUSSELL SCHMIDT
Greg Biffle led a bunch of laps, as did Tony Stewart in the closing circuits, but it was Jimmie Johnson storming to the front of the pack, grabbing the top spot with just a few to go to capture his second win this year, this one at the Monster Mile in Dover, DE.
As part of the triple header for NASCAR’s top three series, the Cuppers wrapped up a busy weekend on Sunday afternoon with yet another win for Hendrick Motorsports.
The race began with a surprise polesitter, David Reutimann, out front, but that was short-lived as Matt Kenseth led for a while as did Reed Sorensen. But it was Johnson with the strong horse on the day leading the most laps in the process to his 42nd career Cup trophy.
Johnson’s teammate and part-owner Jeff Gordon didn’t fair as well on the weekend, kicking it off with a crash in qualifying, having to start 43rd. The four-time champ struggled all day kind of limping home to a 26th place finish.
Other Hendrick players, such as Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr did better with 10th and 12th place finishes respectively, Junior seemingly communicating well with his interim crew chiefs, Brian Whitesell and Lance McGrew.
Kyle Busch started the day off ok, but wound up his troubled weekend with a lap down 23rd place finish.
By Johnson holding off Stewart and Biffle, he moved up a spot to third right behind a sliding Gordon with Stewart leading the big picture by 46 markers.
Kenseth and Kurt Busch capped off the top five finishers in Sunday’s 400 miler.
Nationwide - Yes, Kyle Busch led the most laps. Yes, it easily appeared he had the fastest car, yet he did not win as his young teammate Joey Logano tapped the No. 18 aside with less than two to go, handing the lead and the win to Brad Keselowski. Joey took second with Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards wrapping up the top five. Busch wound up the final car on the lead lap in 17th.
The latest results has Busch leading Edwards by a mere 40 points in the big picture.
Trucking - The trucks took to the Monster on Friday afternoon, only to be rained out with a special Saturday night venue instead. Ron Hornaday started out front, but fell victim to one of many flat tires on the weekend, sidelining the point leader with a badly damaged Chevy truck.
Kyle Busch led the most laps…again, only to get trapped by a errant yellow flag putting ‘dice-rollers’ Brian Scott and Dennis Setzer out front. Scott went on to win his very first race with a low budget operation and a lot of spirit. Rounding out the top five included David Starr, Jason White and Johnny Sauter. Hornaday has a narrow lead (27 pts.) over Mike Skinner.
Open Wheel News - The Indy Racing League held their latest venue at the famed Milwaukee Mile where Scott Dixon took his second checkers of the year. The Team Ganassi driver edged Penske show Ryan Briscoe and teammate Dario Franchitti.
Last week’s Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves struggled to 11th after crashing during qualifying and starting from the back. Dixon now leads Briscoe and Franchitti by just four points.
From Rumorville - Don’t be surprised to read about Jeremy Mayfield and his attorney John Buric initiating a lawsuit against NASCAR for suspending the NASCAR driver for failing their current drug testing policy. Let the games begin. What do you think of the whole situation? Drop me a line.
--- For those Martin Truex Jr fans, rumors persist he will part as lead driver with DEI for other opportunities such as Michael Waltrip Racing with the very real idea of Waltrip hanging up his helmet. Stay tuned.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the NASCAR action from the big tri-oval in Pocono along with more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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