JIMMY JOHNSON
SWEEPS LOUDON
Loudon, NH: When Jimmy Johnson pulled into his pit box on lap 127 at the Sylvania 300, he didn't expect to watch 3 of his crew members go sailing through the air onto the hood of team mate Jeff Gordon's #24 DuPont Chevrolet. Nor, did he figure after the pit fiasco that he would win the race. Fortunately, no one on his crew was injured and despite what happened, his crew and more importantly, his crew chief Chad Knaus, remained calm and focused.
Fuel mileage once again played a part in the outcome of the race. There were 7 lead changes in the last 69 laps as drivers ducked onto pit road for splash & goes. Jimmy's final pit stop of 5.1 seconds was enough for him to prevail to the end. Jimmy had won the July race at Loudon as well.
Another hair raising incident occurred when Dale Jarrett struck the wall on lap 162. Bill Elliott who was leading the race in the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge had agreed to allow Bobby Labonte to get his lap back. Bill slowed down as he came around the 4th turn approaching the start/finish line for the caution. Several other drivers decided to speed up to get their laps back as well. Michael Waltrip, in 3rd place driving the #15 NAPA Chevrolet had not slowed down. Ryan Newman, currently in 2nd place in the #12 Alltel Dodge, felt Michael was attempting to race him and Bill back to the yellow flag for the lead. Ahead a defenseless DJ was sitting in the middle of the track. Luckily, everyone was able to react in time to avoid striking the stationary #88 UPS Ford.
The entire situation made little sense considering NASCAR had advised everyone at the drivers meeting that the leader of the race would decide who would get their lap back. Apparently, some of the drivers were still sleeping during that meeting.
Although the race was far from being edge of your seat exciting, the end did prove to be captivating. There were several different scenarios taking place while we tried to figure out who would make it to the end of the race before running out of gas. Dale Earnhardt Jr lead the most laps. However, he lost a cylinder two thirds of the way through the race. He nursed the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet to finish 5th. He moved back into 2nd place in Championship points.
Bill Elliott also lead for several laps. He ended the race in 4th. Rusty Wallace had to start the race in the back of the field due to changing engines in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge. He worked hard slipping past mishaps and made his final pit stop in 5.1 seconds, as did Jimmy Johnson. Rusty finished the race 6th, his second top 10 in 2 weeks.
Ricky Rudd, who had finished 3rd in Richmond a week ago, finished in 2nd today with the #21 Motorcraft Ford. Joe Nemechek, looking for a new ride in 2004, came in nicely at 3rd. Championship points leader, Matt Kenseth had another top 10 finish in the #17 DeWalt Ford, ending the race 7th. Elliott Sadler came in 8th driving the #38 M&M's Ford. Pole sitter Ryan Newman was 9th and Jamie McMurray brought the #42 Havoline Dodge in 10th.
Two top 10 contenders stalled out on pit road. Terry Labonte in the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet and
Kevin Harvick in the #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet had problems restarting after their splash & dash on
pit road. Jeff Gordon did not get enough gas when he pitted. He ran out of fuel with 2 laps to go
and had to get a push from Ken Schrader in the #49 BAM Dodge.
Article by S. Kipple
9/14/03
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