Johnson Rocks Richmond, Bowyer Rolls into Chase

Jimmie Johnson edged out a hungry Tony Stewart on Sunday to win the rain-delayed Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at the Richmond International Raceway, the final race before the 10-race Chase to determine the championship.

Johnson passed Martin Truex, Jr. for the lead on lap 367 but had his hands full battling Stewart during the final 10 laps.
 
He picked up an additional 10 bonus points with the win, his second straight in the Sprint Cup Series.

“Momentum is certainly something we are looking at and trying to carry, but more than anything, I think we are just confident in our stops and what I'm doing on the track and the way we can adjust on the car,” Johnson said.
 
Johnson had his hands full behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet during the final 10 laps, battling Stewart, who remains winless this season. Stewart inched his No. 20 Toyota ahead on lap 391 of 400 but within a lap, Johnson reclaimed the position and ran away with his fourth win of the season.
 
Following the race, an agitated Stewart deflected questions from the media, and in typical Stewart fashion, vented his frustration about the run.
 
“Can we for one week just leave it as we run second and we had a good, hard fought battle and we just fell short … that's the moral of the story,” he said. “We could sit here for hours and try to dissect exactly why we didn't win the race.”
 
Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and Richmond native, Denny Hamlin, recorded his third consecutive third-place run.
 
Richmond was the sight of Johnson’s championship charge last season, setting the pace for his second series title. As the Chase begins next weekend in New Hampshire, he is third in the standings, 40 points behind leader Kyle Busch and 30 behind second-place Carl Edwards.
 
The race began with a cloud of uncertainty hovering over Clint Bowyer and David Ragan with only 17 points separating the two for the 12th and final Chase spot.
 
The position swapped hands throughout the event but Ragan’s hopes were dashed on lap 122 when he got loose and spun, collecting Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth in Turn 1. His Ford suffered heavy damage and he ended the event 32nd.
 
Bowyer secured the final Chase position by avoiding trouble and running comfortably in the 12th spot.
 
As the points now reset, Bowyer is seeded fifth in the Chase heading to New Hampshire where he is the defending race winner.

“It's been a tough summer for all of our team. Just making the Chase is a big deal,” Bowyer said. “We've been struggling and there have been a lot of things going on in our organization and our team in particular, and everybody stuck together.

“It’s very disappointing,” Ragan said. “This one race doesn’t dictate how our season has gone. We’ve got 10 more races to try and get a win and certainly to finish 13th in points is our goal now, but running back there 30th and 25th, you don’t deserve to make the chase running like that.”
 
The race was originally scheduled for a Saturday night run but rain set in on Friday, first knocking out qualifying, then the Nationwide Series race. Knowing that Tropical Storm Hanna could potentially cause flooding and other safety issues to thousands of visiting race fans, NASCAR officials decided to cancel both races and reschedule them for Sunday.
 
With clear skies the race was moved to an afternoon start time as the first of the double-header on the three-quarter mile track. Since rain had washed all of the rubber off of the racing surface NASCAR called for a competition caution on lap 35.

Seeking his ninth race win of the season, points leader Kyle Busch led the way for a restart on lap 208 after an incident involving Sam Hornish, Jr. He was quickly on the defensive, holding off challenges from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. On lap 211, the two made contact in Turn 2, sending Busch’s Toyota spinning into the wall.
 
The crowd erupted into cheers as Busch nursed his damaged machine onto pit road. In the spring Richmond event, Earnhardt was leading before contact from Busch sent them both spinning and out of contention.
 
Busch nursed his car to a 15th-place finish while Earnhardt was fourth.
 
Mark Martin closed out the top 5. Jeff Burton, Kevin Havick and Jeff Gordon slid into spots six through eight. All three drivers are also seeded in the Chase.
 
David Reutimann equaled a career-best finish of ninth after leading a race-high 104 laps. Kurt Busch finished 10th, his sixth top-10 run of the season.

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