Earnhardt Finishes Fifth But Gains Little Ground On Top 12

FONTANA, Calif. — The driver who no one wants to get hot is heating up at just the right time. The Chase for the Nextel Cup is one race away, and Jimmie Johnson appears to be in championship form.
Johnson, the defending series champion, found the bottom groove of California Speedway to his liking, and his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet gobbled up the Nextel Cup field under the lights, leading four times for 84 laps to win Sunday night’s Sharp Aquos 500.
Once the final round of pit stops cycled through, Johnson found himself out front with 21 laps to go. He held off a hard-charging Carl Edwards and lame-duck teammate Kyle Busch to win by 1.868 seconds for his fifth season victory and first since May’s race at Richmond.
“It was nice to get the job done tonight,” Johnson said. “Historically, we start the season strong, have a little bit of a struggle when we get to the warm weather and then get it going again. It seems like that’s the way it’s going.”
Was it ever warm in southern California. The race began in sizzling 100-degree temperatures and ended under dark skies that offered little or no relief.
But the heat was hardly a factor after Johnson won for the 28th time in his career. The driver from El Cajon, Calif., clinched a spot in The Chase, and based on his five victories, Johnson is guaranteed that he’ll be no worse than in a tie for the top seed when the 10-race Chase begins Sept. 16 in New Hampshire.
NASCAR awards a 10-point bonus for each victory when seeding the 12 drivers who will battle for the Nextel Cup. If The Chase began this weekend at Richmond, Johnson would be the top seed, with 10 more points than Hendrick teammate and runaway point leader Jeff Gordon, who has four victories.
“That’s very satisfying,” Johnson said. “The season is all about a championship, especially when you get in The Chase. It’s time for the pressure to pick up and the hard work to start.”
While Johnson is locked in, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. isn’t even close.
Martin Truex, Jr. and Kurt Busch each climbed one spot in the standings to 10th and 11th, respectively. Kevin Harvick dropped from 10th to 12th, but he still leads Earnhardt by 128 points for The Chase’s 12th and final berth.
Earnhardt did all he could Sunday night, finishing fifth, but it may have been too little, too late. “I’m tired. Real tired,” Earnhardt said. “But we’re not going to quit trying until they tell us we’re not (in The Chase).”
Edwards, in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, passed Busch for second place in the closing laps but never mounted a serious challenge even though he appeared to be gaining on Johnson. Busch ended up third, with the Chevrolets of Jeff Burton and Earnhardt completing the top five.
“I don’t know if he was not using all his stuff or waiting or what. I thought he was a sitting duck out there,” Edwards said of reeling in Johnson. “I’m immensely disappointed. Running second is terrible.”
Busch, who’s out at Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season for a new ride at Joe Gibbs Racing, had the dominant car in early part of the race. He led a race-high 97 laps around the two-mile oval.
The race’s biggest incident came with 71 laps to go when Gordon made a rare mistake along the frontstretch. Gordon lost the handle on his Chevrolet and made contact with Jeremy Mayfield’s Toyota. David Reutimann then went spinning, as did Ricky Rudd, who careened into the outside wall. Rudd, who was making his 900th start, was taken to a nearby hospital and treated and released.
Behind the accident was an oncoming Harvick, who knifed through the smoke and spinning cars to keep his night going. It was critical piece of driving, too. Entering the race, Harvick was 10th in points, and any damage to his Chevrolet could have seriously hindered his chances at making The Chase. But he emerged unscathed and finished 14th.