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Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - Darlington Raceway
Johnson Tames the Lady in Black
Kahne Roars to Darlington Pole Position
Jimmie Johnson edged Bobby Labonte by inches off of pit road on the final pit stop and was able to hold off all challenges to win the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Labonte had a comfortable lead when the caution flag flew on lap 275, but Johnson edged Labonte on pit road with the help of a 13-second pit stop. Johnson then held Labonte off to win by .132 seconds and claim his first career victory at the Track too Tough to Tame. The win is the seventh victory for Johnson in his brief career and boosts him to sixth in the point standings. Kurt Busch led the most laps at the Lady in Black on Sunday, leading 76 of the race’s 293 laps, while Johnson paced the field for a total of 69 laps. Labonte settled for the second position, followed by Ryan Newman in third. Robby Gordon had a solid fourth-place finish, while Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five in the finishing order. Matt Kenseth finished 31st but holds on the point lead by 21 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It’s looking like Ryan Newman has some serious competition on Fridays. In only his fifth series start, rookie Kasey Kahne earned his second career Nextel Cup pole position. Kahne turned in a fast lap of 28.638 seconds, at an average speed of 171.716 mph, to grab the pole for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Kahne now has won two of the last three poles. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join Kahne on the front row, starting from the second spot, followed by Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch in row two.
