It was a hot one….but JJ was nothin’ but cool at the end! Jimmie Johnson dominated late tonight at California Speedway and went on to win the Sharp Aquos 500 (tho you wouldn’t have known the race sponsor by watching the event on ESPN) over Carl Edwards. Johnson led four times for 84 circuits on the way to his 5th win of the season (that’s tops this year), and 28th of his Nextel Cup career (he’s now tied with Rex White for 21st on the all-time win list). This was the second win for Johnson in Fontana, and the 160th for Hendrick Motorsports (they have 11 this season). It was worth $289,411 from the over $6M in posted awards. Kyle Busch (3rd) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Daytona in July. Jeff Burton (4th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Infineon Raceway in June. David Ragan (12th) had his best finish since he was 12th at Daytona in July. Jamie McMurray (16th) had his best finish since he won at Daytona in July. A. J. Allmendinger (18th) had his career-best finish tonight. His previous best was 31st twice….at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May and at Michigan in June. Kyle Petty (28th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. Aric Almirola (31st) had his career-best finish tonight. His previous best was 36th last week at Bristol. STREAKIN….Carl Edwards has 4 Top-5’s in a row. Jimmie Johnson has 4 Top-5’s in the last 5 races. Kurt Busch has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. The Rookie Report: David Ragan (12th) takes this award for the 10th time this season. He was followed by A. J. Allmendinger (18th), Paul Menard (24th), David Reutimann (32nd), and Juan Pablo Montoya (33rd). This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Matt Kenseth (+29), followed by Jamie McMurray (+22) and David Ragan (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Ryan Newman (-35) followed by Elliott Sadler (-29). This was Op #4 for Kenseth (tops this season) and BD #4 for Newman (he’s tied with Kasey Kahne for the lead in that category. David Reutimann led a lap tonight for the first time in his Cup career. John Andretti led a lap tonight for the first time since he led one lap at the Daytona 500 in 2004! We’ve had 50 drivers lead a lap this season….. last year’s number was 48 and we had 51 leaders in ’05. We had another swap in the final exempt qualifying position (35th in Owner Points) tonight. The #21 of Bill Elliott is now in (by four points) over Dave Blaney’s #22. We’ve got five drivers for four spots….but Dale Earnhardt Jr certainly has his work cut out for him. He’s 128 points behind Kevin Harvick for the 12th and final transfer spot to the Chase. The Top-8 are locked in, but for all practical purposes the Top-10 are in (all Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr have to do is start next week’s race)….the Magic Number for Harvick is still a relatively safe 32nd (and remember, that’s assuming that Little E would win the event and lead the most laps in doing it). Three drivers (Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, and Reed Sorenson) advanced two spots in the points tonight, while Mark Martin fell three spots. Of the drivers entered, Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler fell two spots each.(Stock Car Fans)(9-2-2007)
