Jimmie Johnson does a burnout to celebrate his win in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. It was Johnson's first win of the season and moved him to fourth in the standings. (Photo Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Johnson wins on fuel-mileage gamble at Phoenix

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

AVONDALE, Ariz. (April 12, 2008) -- Sometimes the slowest car wins the race.

With crew chief Chad Knaus beseeching driver Jimmie Johnson to save fuel over the final seven laps of Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the two-time defending Cup champion nursed the No. 48 Chevrolet across the finish line 7.002 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer, who also had gambled on fuel.

Johnson completed the final lap at a relative snail's pace -- 31.19 seconds -- in full conservation mode.

The victory returned Hendrick Motorsports to victory lane after an eight-race hiatus and gave the two-time defending Cup champion the 34th win of his career -- and second straight at Phoenix. Denny Hamlin ran
third, followed by Carl Edwards, who rallied from a pit road penalty to claim the fourth spot.

Mark Martin, who surrendered the lead to Johnson when he came to the pits for two tires and fuel on Lap 302, ran fifth, followed by points leader Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch.

Johnson's margin of victory was the largest since Martin Truex Jr. won the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover by 7.355 seconds over Ryan Newman on June 4, 2007.

After all the other contenders save Bowyer had pitted for fuel in the closing laps, Knaus instructed Johnson on Lap 304 to "Pit this time."

After a brief discussion, they changed their strategy. "Back up your pace half a second a lap," Knaus radioed to his driver. "Screw it. We'll go for it."

Knaus spent the remainder of the race slowing Johnson down, ultimately telling him to back his pace down three seconds a lap, because none of the drivers behind had time to catch up.

"Put it in neutral!" Knaus ordered as Johnson rolled through the final two corners.

"I'm good," Johnson answered. "I've got good fuel pressure."

As he approached the finish line, Johnson screamed, "We're going to win this."

Johnson led 120 of the 312 laps. Only three other drivers -- Earnhardt (87), Martin (68) and polesitter Ryan Newman (37) -- led the race, the fewest since the Siemens 300 at New Hampshire (July 25, 2004) produced three different leaders.

Johnson conserved his fuel so effectively that he had enough left for a celebratory burnout, but he ran out of gas on the backstretch during his victory lap.

The victory moved Johnson from sixth to fourth in the championship standings, 99 points behind Burton.

Notes: The start of the race was delayed for more than 16 minutes to accommodate the rain-delayed Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, which FOX also televised. . . Engine failures wiped out both front row starters. Newman fell out after 134 laps, and second-place starter Elliott Sadler followed with a blown motor on Lap 161. Newman finished 43rd, Sadler 41st. . . Comment of the race from 23rd-place finisher Kurt Busch: "My car's so tight it wouldn't turn at Talladega."

STANDINGS

2008 Official Driver Standings: Samsung 500

Samsung 500 | Texas Motor Speedway | Race 7 of 36

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	POLES	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	WINNINGS

1	--	Jeff Burton	1065	Leader	7	0	1	3	5	1,324,490
2	--	Kevin Harvick	1006	-59	7	0	0	2	4	1,153,090
3	+2	Kyle Busch	1001	-64	7	1	1	4	4	1,572,740
4	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	978	-87	7	1	0	3	5	1,395,140
5	+1	Tony Stewart	957	-108	7	0	0	3	5	1,891,220
6	+4	Jimmie Johnson	921	-144	7	1	0	3	3	1,557,550
7	+1	Denny Hamlin	913	-152	7	0	1	2	4	1,296,660
8	+3	Ryan Newman	901	-164	7	0	1	2	3	2,425,590
9	-6	Greg Biffle	901	-164	7	0	0	3	4	1,063,490
10	+4	Carl Edwards	881	-184	7	0	3	3	4	2,044,140
11	+1	Clint Bowyer	874	-191	7	0	0	1	4	1,009,640
12	-5	Kasey Kahne	874	-191	7	0	0	0	4	1,191,570

13	+2	Matt Kenseth	820	-245	7	0	0	1	4	1,173,450
14	-5	Jeff Gordon	783	-282	7	2	0	3	3	1,289,060
15	+1	Kurt Busch	763	-302	7	0	0	1	1	1,614,970
16	-3	Martin Truex Jr.	755	-310	7	0	0	0	1	1,062,040
17	+2	David Ragan	752	-313	7	0	0	0	1	896,338
18	--	Brian Vickers	746	-319	7	0	0	0	1	825,220
19	-2	Juan Montoya	739	-326	7	0	0	0	0	1,003,850
20	--	Elliott Sadler	711	-354	7	0	0	0	1	1,115,560
21	--	Bobby Labonte	707	-358	7	0	0	0	0	1,082,450
22	--	David Gilliland	699	-366	7	0	0	0	1	961,558
23	--	Paul Menard	676	-389	7	0	0	0	0	854,545
24	--	Travis Kvapil	646	-419	7	0	0	0	1	996,861
25	+5	Jamie McMurray	615	-450	7	0	0	0	1	889,241
26	+1	Casey Mears	611	-454	7	0	0	0	1	960,520
27	-1	Reed Sorenson	607	-458	7	0	0	1	1	1,270,690
28	-3	Robby Gordon	591	-474	7	0	0	0	1	959,519
29	--	Scott Riggs	588	-477	7	0	0	0	0	851,010
30	+6	Mark Martin	563	-502	5	0	0	0	2	900,953
31	-3	David Reutimann	552	-513	7	0	0	0	0	823,480
32	--	Michael Waltrip	530	-535	7	0	0	0	0	864,936
33	-2	J.J. Yeley	505	-560	7	0	0	0	0	843,630
34	+1	Sam Hornish Jr.*	502	-563	7	0	0	0	0	1,067,230
35	-1	Regan Smith*	496	-569	7	0	0	0	0	801,930
36	-3	Jeremy Mayfield	490	-575	7	0	0	0	0	757,475
37	+1	Dave Blaney	473	-592	7	0	0	0	0	838,350
38	-1	Dario Franchitti*	416	-649	6	0	0	0	0	705,113
39	--	Dale Jarrett	367	-698	5	0	0	0	0	637,038
40	+1	Mike Skinner	344	-721	5	0	0	0	0	396,675
41	-1	Kyle Petty	296	-769	5	0	0	0	0	587,657
42	--	Joe Nemechek	266	-799	5	0	0	0	0	574,625
43	+2	Patrick Carpentier*	256	-809	4	0	0	0	0	342,953
44	+2	Bill Elliott	207	-858	3	0	0	0	0	352,498
45	-2	Ken Schrader	192	-873	3	0	0	0	0	331,454
46	-2	Aric Almirola	179	-886	2	0	0	0	1	229,456
47	+1	Michael McDowell*	149	-916	2	0	0	0	0	180,508
48	-1	John Andretti	149	-916	3	0	0	0	0	422,213
49	--	Kenny Wallace	34	-1031	1	0	0	0	0	256,735
50	--	A.J. Allmendinger	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,345
51	--	Jeff Green	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
52	--	Chad McCumbee	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
53	+1	Burney Lamar	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
54	-2	Johnny Benson	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
55	-2	Tony Raines	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
56	-1	Boris Said	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,170
57	-1	Johnny Sauter	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	0
58	-1	Eric McClure	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,988
59	-1	Sterling Marlin	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,095
60	-1	Jacques Villeneuve*	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,863
61	-1	Stanton Barrett	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	22,813
62	-1	Carl Long	0	-1065	0	0	0	0	0	21,920

* Denotes Rookie

UAW-Dodge at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

STORY BY: Gaye Carmichael

(Las Vegas, NV, 03/02/08) It was a hard fought battle to claim the victory of this one and it was a huge victory for Carl Edwards of Columbia, MO,as he raced the Jack Roush, Dish Network Ford, to score his second in a row NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win, racing in the UAW-Dodge 400, on the mile and a half, tri-oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada.

Edwards started his celebration with his traditional back flip, that the sold-out crowd of 153,000 fans totally enjoyed and then made his way to victory lane. Posted awards for this race were in the area of $6,500,000. with Edwards' winner's share, amounting to about $425,500. more or less. Edwards led eighty-six of the laps, out of this 267 lap race. Unofficially, Edwards should now have the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for the Championship Title.

"It's very cool to win two in a row. Our Ford Fusion was a spectacular race car. I'm so lucky to have a great team and I'm just so proud of them. I want to thank all of the fans for coming out." said Edwards

Mr. #88, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. of Kannapolis, NC, racing the Rick Hendrick, National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet raced from his eighth place start to score behind Edwards in second.

"This was a great day for us. My car was good. When the tires warmed up, it drove like a dream. We had a good car last week, too. I want to congratulate Carl (Edwards) for his win, he had a great car." said Earnhardt, Jr.

Sharing the podium with Edwards and Earnhardt, Jr., Greg Biffle from Vancouver, WA, roared across the line in third, racing the Jack Roush, 3M Ford. Roush had to be pretty happy to have two drivers finishing in the top three.

"Man the car really ran good. I had a good run on Jr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) but then had to get off the gas, (referring to a chaotic restart, during the final laps of the race). I feel bad because I feel I gave the race away. I thought my car was faster than the field. I have a good team and I had a lot of fun today." said Biffle

These three drivers had a great day, but it wasn't so for several in the field. The race broke the record in the number of cautions, having a total of eleven. Jamie McMurray (MO) brought out the first caution on the ninth lap, when he took a wild ride, after his car got loose. McMurray kept it off the wall and would tag the rear of the field on the restart. Sam Hornish, Jr. crashed on the forty-ninth lap, didn't leave any debris on the track so the yellow wasn't thrown. Green flag pit stops were under way when Kurt Busch (NV) and Biffle, both were penalized for going to fast in the pits. It was a stop and go penalty, but both cars lost valuable positions. On the sixty-eighth lap, the caution was thrown for debris in the second turn. When the race restarted, there were only seventeen cars on the lead lap. The third caution went out for Tony Stewart (IN). Racing down the back stretch, Stewart's right front tire blew out and the Home Depot Toyota shot straight into the wall. It was an extremely hard hit. Stewart, racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race the day before, also crashed, where he hurt his foot. This crash had him hurting from his hips on down. Stewart said, " This is the hardest hit I've taken in a long time."

Stewart climbed out of his car but needed help walking away from the scene. After his trip to the Medical Center, he was still sore but walking on his own. On the 144th lap Robby Gordon (CA) had a hard crash into the second turn wall. R. Gordon walked away, okay. On lap #162, Patrick Carpentier (CAN.) went into the wall after contact with Ryan Newman (IN). The next victim was Jeremy Mayfield (KY) who had raced in the top seventeen of the field until lap #171, when he had a front tire go down. The caution didn't fly out and some how Mayfield made it back without losing a lap. On lap #179, Scott Riggs (NC), racing in the top twelve, spun out. There was a lot of close racing, so contact may have been a factor. The seventh caution was for debris on lap #215 and just eight laps later, Casey Mears (CA) and Brian Vickers (NC) made contact as they were racing close and Vickers spun up the track and back across the track, without being hit. The ninth caution flew out for Dale Jarrett (NC) when all of a sudden Jarrett lost it and his UPS Toyota slid up and backed into the wall. The wind factor may have caused this yellow, as a rampant gust came through just as this happened. The weather forecast predicted wind at twenty to fifty miles an hour for today. Kurt Busch racing in sixteenth had a right front tire go down and his Miller Lite Dodge also rammed the wall hard. The eleventh and final caution flew out with just six laps to go when the field had lined up for a single file restart after Kurt Busch's caution. It looked like the front runners were going to use this restart to gain as much as they could with some heavy on the petal and others maybe holding back some for a good fast run, in any case, Jeff Gordon (IN) racing in fourth at the time spun, went into the wall, tagged Matt Kenseth (WI) who was in third, who also spun. J. Gordon crashed into an inside open wall area, with out a soft wall. The crash did extensive damage to the Dupont/Nicorette Chevrolet, metal crumpled all over and the radiator flying across the track. J. Gordon was okay, but said, "I will be really sore tomorrow!"

For Kenseth, he was hurting as well, but his hurt was pure disappointment, after having an awesome run all afternoon, leading probably the second most laps of the day and just six laps away from a finish, that would have probably netted him at least third, Kenseth didn't have any damage to his car, but because of his spin, had to line up at the rear of the lead lap, which would be in twenty-second. Other than what was mentioned, there weren't any injuries reported.

A red flag was thrown while the track was cleaned up. The race went to green on lap 265, which made for a green white checkered finish.

Drivers scoring the five bonus points for having led a lap or more, included, Kyle Busch, Riggs, Mark Martin (AR), Stewart, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Burton (VA), J. Gordon and Edwards, who also earned five additional points for having led the most laps.

The average speed of the race was 127.729mph. The fast qualifier for this race was Kyle Busch, having raced a 29.613 second, 182.352mph lap. Edward's margin of victory over Earnhardt, Jr., was .504 seconds.

Kevin Harvick (CA) raced in the top ten all day and took the checkered flag in fourth, followed by, Burton, Kasey Kahne (WA) (Kahne started in thirty-seventh, not feeling well, had a driver standing by in case he couldn't finish driving the race, went the distance and scored in sixth.) David Ragan (GA) (Ragan was another hard charger, coming up from a thirty-eighth start), Travis Kvapil (WI), Denny Hamlin (VA), Martin, KY Busch, Elliott Sadler (VA), Mears, Newman, Martin Truex, Jr. (NJ), Mayfield, Labonte, Reed Sorenson (GA), Juan Pablo Montoya (COL.), Kenseth, Kenny Schrader (MO), Paul Menard (WI), David Gilliland (CA), Vickers, McMurray, Dave Blaney (OH), J. J. Yeley (AZ), Clint Bowyer (KS), Jimmie Johnson (CA), Mike Skinner (CA), Michael Waltrip (KY), Kyle Petty (NC), Dario Franchitti (UKI), Regan Smith (NY), J. Gordon, Riggs, David Reutimann (FL), KU Busch, Jarrett, Carpentier, Hornish, Jr., R. Gordon and Stewart. Drivers that did not qualify, were A. J. Allmendinger, Joe Nemechek, John Andretti and Johnny Sauter. Burney Lamar with drew.

The top twelve in the Cup Championship Title race, looks to be, Edwards (491 pts.), KY Busch (470), Newman (450), Kahne (444), Harvick (428), Biffle (427), Burton (421), Truex, Jr., (371), Sadler (368), Earnhardt, Jr. (361), Stewart (355) and KU Busch (348).

All finishes and points, are unofficial.