JIMMIE JOHNSON'S THIRD
VICTORY A CHARM

Long Pond, PA: Though he didn't win the Bud Pole in qualifying on Friday, Jimmie Johnson brought out all the horsepower he needed to win, under caution, at the Pocono 500.

There were a record 57 laps under the caution flag today. Fortunately, there were no big wrecks that took out a lot of cars like last week at Dover. The worst accident occurred when Rusty Wallace ran into the back of Michael Waltrip on lap 168. Both cars went hard into the outside wall, both drivers were uninjured. Michael Waltrip was extremely upset with Rusty, however, we soon learned that Rusty had completely lost his brakes. He was not able to slow down which caused him to run into the #15 NAPA Chevrolet.

Pocono Raceway is very hard on engines as evidenced by the number of cars leaving the race with failures. Morgan Shepherd in the #89 Red Line Synthetic Oil Dodge was the first to go on lap 1. Brendan Gaughan, in the #77 Kodak Dodge, went on lap 60. Mark Martin had been in the top 10 until lap 113 when the #6 Viagra Ford lost its stamina.

Bobby Labonte had a broken oil line that took Scott Wimmer in the #22 Caterpillar Dodge and Sterling Marlin in the #40 Coors Light Dodge out of the race. The crew of the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet successfully replaced the line under the caution and Bobby remained on the lead lap.

On lap 156 Ricky Craven lost the engine of the #32 Tide Chevrolet. Tony Stewart had also battled to keep the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet in the top 10 for three-quarters of the race. However, his transmission gave out and he was forced into the garage. Amazingly, his crew replaced the transmission in 10 minutes which allowed Tony to return to the race just 6 laps down. Later, Tony got up high into the marbles and spun around. Once again showing his driving skills, Tony stayed off the outside wall and out of the infield grass. He continued on to finish 27th, but dropped to 5th in points.

With just 5 laps remaining, it looked as though Dale Jarrett might have the car to overtake Jimmie Johnson. However, the engine gave out on the #88 UPS Ford, followed close behind by the #99 Duke Children's Hospital Ford of Jeff Burton.

On the ensuing caution, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick showed their pettiness by ramming into one another. The initial incident occurred when Kevin Harvick in the #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet passed Matt and slid up the track in front of him. Matt indicated his displeasure by shoving the nose of the #17 DeWalt Ford up under the rear bumper of Kevin Harvick. As the lap 195 caution came out, Kevin pushed Matt sending Matt into a spin. Matt regained control of his car and came back around the track, taking his position in front of Kevin. When the field stopped with the idea that NASCAR would red flag the race, Greg Biffle and Casey Mears brought their cars between Kevin & Matt in hopes that any retaliation would be stymied. But, when the cars proceeded with the caution, Matt went behind Kevin and pushed him in the same manner Kevin had pushed him and producing the same results. Both drivers were put to the end of the longest line and called to a meeting with NASCAR officials following the race.

Jimmie Johnson powered his way around the D shaped track, staying out of trouble all day. He dominated the field much as he did at Charlotte when he won the Coca Cola 600. He and his Hendrick Motors team mates, at one time, held a place in the top 7 positions. Once in front, no other cars posed much of a threat to the #48 Lowes Chevrolet. It wasn't until the end of the race that Jeremy Mayfield brought some pressure on Jimmie. This was mostly caused by the cautions that brought the field together and closed up the gap between the top cars. But the cautions favored Jimmie as well. Without them, he would not have retained enough fuel to make it to the end of the race without pitting. Some fans may have been upset that the race finished under caution. However, Jimmie clearly had the best car all day and deserved the win.

Jeremy Mayfield had a pretty good car as well. The #19 UAW Dodge Dealers Dodge was able to forge his way to the front and threaten Jimmie Johnson. His last effort was foiled by the caution that ended the race with Jeremy in 2nd.

It appeared that Bobby Labonte had been holding back for much of the race. Just as he began to move forward, the oil line broke. The stellar efficiency of the crew for the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet proved to be outstanding by keeping that car in contention. It was a miracle Bobby was able to finish 3rd.

Jeff Gordon had been leading the race when he pitted on lap 88. Unfortunately, a lug nut was missing from his left rear tire and NASCAR forced him to pit again. Even though Jeff went down a lap, he fought his way back and ended 4th.

Kurt Busch quietly made his way into the top 10. The #97 Irwin Industrial Tools/Sharpie Ford benefited from the numerous cautions. He finished 5th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had an ill handling car at the beginning of the race. He nearly went down a lap on 2 occasions, but was saved by cautions. He was able to sneak into the top 10 by topping off his fuel. This meant he would not have to pit when many other cars had to. The #8 Budweiser Chevrolet came in 6th.

Using different pit strategies throughout the day, Terry Labonte brought the #5 Kelloggs Chevrolet in with an impressive 7th place finish. Cautions had knocked him back, but he was able to weave his way through traffic and his persistence paid off.

It was hard to believe that Robby Gordon actually finished the race in the top 10. On lap 184 as Robby tried to press forward, he got into the curb at the bottom of the track, and bounced into the #12 Alltel Dodge of Ryan Newman. Ryan smacked the outside wall as Robby continued on. The #31 Cingular Chevrolet came in 8th.

Jamie McMurray made his way forward and brought the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in 9th. Casey Mears had made it to as high as 3rd in the #41 Target Dodge. But his car did not have the power to stay there. He finished 10th.

After the debacle in Dover last week, NASCAR instituted a new rule concerning the position of cars during a caution. New technology involving the use of electronic devices will determine where cars will line up after a caution. No videos or visual aids will be used unless deemed necessary by NASCAR. Also, the caution will only be thrown electronically by NASCAR. Despite these efforts, human error still caused havoc as pit road was open, then closed before all lead lap cars had an opportunity to pit. We can only hope the caution situation will improve in the weeks to come.

Article by S. Kipple
06/13/04

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