Jimmie Johnson outsprinted teammate Kyle Busch in a 20 lap dash to the checkers today and took the Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Run one day late due to rain last night, it didn’t seem to matter to the Hendrick boyz cause they continue to own these C-O-T events. This was the 4th win of the season for Johnson, and the 27th of his Nextel Cup career (he’s now solo in 22nd all-time). Win #156 for Hendrick Motorsports (and 6th in the last 7 races) was worth $244,386 from the $5M in posted awards. Ryan Newman (6th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Infineon last June. Dave Blaney (11th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Loudon last September. J. J. Yeley (14th) had his best finish since he was 13th at California in February. Dave Reutimann (29th) had his best finish since he was 22nd at Lowe’s in October of 2005. A. J. Allmendinger (32nd) has his career-best finish today. His previous best was 38th at Martinsville last month. STREAKIN….Jeff Gordon has 6 Top-5’s in a row. Jimmy Johnson has 4 Top-5’s in the last 5 races. Denny Hamlin has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. Matt Kenseth has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Kyle Busch (+32), followed by brother Kurt Busch (+28 ), Paul Menard (+27), Ryan Newman (+24), and Kevin Harvick (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Kasey Kahne (-35), followed by Scott Riggs (-27), Ricky Rudd (-26), and Martin Truex Jr (-20). This is BD #3 for Kahne….he’s tied with Riggs for the lead in that negative stat. Tony Raines led today for the first time since he led three times for 28 circuits at Lowe’s last October. He’s the 38th different driver to lead a lap this season…..last year we had 48 different leaders. No move-ups in the Top-35 in Owner Points this week, but Ricky Rudd falls to 35th…..just 34 points ahead of Scott Riggs. Wholesale changes in the driver point standings this week….except at the top. Jeff Gordon’s lead over new second place driver Jimmie Johnson is now 211. Every position but two changed in the Top-35! Ryan Newman (23rd to 19th) made the best move forward, while Jamie McMurray (7th to 13th) fell the most spots….and below the “Chase” line as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr is now in the hunt for the Cup replacing McMurray.(Stock Car Fans)(5-6-2007)
