So much for all that Friday Night talk about this being a Dodge track… Jimmie Johnson dominated late after teammate Jeff Gordon controlled the middle of the race, and the Hendrick Motorsports Chevies ran one-two today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson made it a three-peat this afternoon as he ran away from a restart with 11 laps left in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, and it was career victory #24 (he’s 25th on the all-time win list). It was also a milestone win for HMS (#150)….with four of those coming here at LVMS. JJ’s take of the over $6.3M in posted awards was a rather nice $415,366. The new asphalt and hard tires played tough today, but it wasn’t quite as bad as many predicted (we had nine caution periods for accidents). The 28 lead changes among 16 drivers was also a pleasant surprise. Ryan Newman (8th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Bristol last August. Jamie McMurray (10th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Watkins Glen last August. Kenny Wallace (24th) had his best finish since he was 21st at Homestead in November of 2005 (he was subbing for Kurt Busch then). STREAKIN….Jimmie Johnson has 8 Top-10’s in the last 9 races. Jeff Gordon has 7 Top-10’s in the last 8 races. Mark Martin has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Jeff Gordon (+34), followed by Matt Kenseth (+33), Ryan Newman (+31), Bobby Labonte (+29), Jamie McMurray (+23), Jimmie Johnson (+22), and Robby Gordon (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Kasey Kahne (-34), followed by Dave Blaney (-31), Joe Nemechek (-29), Sterling Marlin (-26), and Reed Sorenson (-24). This is the second week in a row that Kasey’s had the position of honor in the bottom half of the “Shaft”. We’re three weeks into the all-important first five races (when we change from 2006 Owner Points to the current years’) and we’ve got four high- dollar teams in trouble. The #9 (Kasey Kahne), #21 (Ken Schrader/Jon Wood), #10 (Scott Riggs), and #22 (Dave Blaney) are all on the outside looking in at the moment, (though Kasey’s only 3 markers out)….and you can bet they’d all like that safety net when we get to Martinsville. Mark Martin retains his points lead (and thus the speculation will continue for another week at least)….and it’s up to six markers over new second place man Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt Jr (40th to 28th) made the best move forward this week, while David Ragan (5th to 19th) fell the most spots.(Stock Car Fans)(3-11-2007)
