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Checker Auto Parts 500 - Phoenix International Raceway
Four Wins in a Row for Johnson!
Jimmie Johnson won his fourth straight race, the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, to expand his lead over Jeff Gordon in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, putting the driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet in position to win his second straight championship next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Fifth on a restart on Lap 275, after the 10th caution of the race, Johnson moved quickly to the front, passing Matt Kenseth for second position on Lap 283 and powering past Martin Truex Jr. for the lead on Lap 288 of the 312-lap race.
From that point on, Johnson pulled away to record his series- and career-best 10th victory of season. It is the 33rd of his career, tying him for 18th all time with Fireball Roberts.
In a scramble for position behind him, Greg Biffle finished second .870 seconds behind Johnson. Kenseth ran third, followed by Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. Gordon was 10th and dropped 86 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate heading to the finale in Florida.
Johnson and Gordon are the only drivers with a chance to win to the title. Johnson is the first driver to win four straight races since Gordon accomplished the feat in 1998.
Regardless of the outcome at Homestead, team owner Rick Hendrick will claim his seventh Cup title. Johnson can clinch the championship with a finish of 18th or better in the final race.
“I just go out and do my job and give it everything I have,” Johnson said. “I’m dumbfounded. I’m just as shocked as everybody watching the race.”
Gordon struggled with the handling of his No. 24 Chevrolet throughout the race, though he ran as high as second after the leaders got off-sequence on pit stops. Gordon restarted fourth and Johnson 10th after a caution for Kasey Kahne’s wreck on Lap 148, but Johnson ran down Gordon for the second position 25 laps later, as the No. 48 began to assert its dominance.
The eighth caution of the race, for Dave Blaney’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 233, put all the front-runners back on the same pit sequence. With a two-tire call, Newman won the race off pit road and led the field to a restart on Lap 240, with Kenseth second, Stewart third, Clint Bowyer fourth, Truex fifth and Johnson sixth.
Edwards Pounces on Phoenix Pole
Carl Edwards won the pole position for the Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil on Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway.
Edwards grabbed his third Bud Pole in 120 career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup starts after posting a lap of 27.114 seconds, at an average of 132.773 mph.
This is his first pole position and 10th top-10 start of the 2007 season as well as his first Bud Pole at Phoenix International Raceway.
Last week’s pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. posted the second-fastest qualifying time, to garner his third front-row start in the past four races.
Jeff Gordon will start third, netting his 22nd top-10 start of 2007 and his 11th top-10 start in 18 races at Phoenix, while J.J. Yeley will roll off from the fourth position.
Sam Hornish Jr. (26th) qualified for his career-first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race in his seventh attempt.
Patrick Carpentier (24th) and Jacques Villeneuve (27th) both qualified for their second NEXTEL Cup event.
Brian Vickers (22nd) was the fastest of the drivers required to make the field on time and Juan Pablo Montoya (14th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
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