NSCS Recap: Johnson Boss Of Pepsi 500

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(August 31, 2008)
FONTANA, Calif. -- Forget the rivalry between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

In Sunday's Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway, there was only one car that counted, the No. 48 Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson led 228 of 250 laps and held off a late-race challenge from Greg Biffle, who lost ground when the water temperature in his No. 16 Ford skyrocketed to 260 degrees when a paper wrapper stuck to his grille after a restart on Lap 223.

As the laps wound down, Biffle told his team, "Doing all I can, man. I can't catch him. He's beating me too bad in (Turns) 3 and 4."

Johnson beat Biffle to the finish line by 2.076 seconds. Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

In winning his third race of the season and the 36th of his career -- breaking a tie with Mark Martin for 17th on the all-time victory list -- Johnson also shattered Biffle's record of 168 laps led at Fontana, set in 2006.

Johnson also qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with one race to go, Saturday at Richmond, before the 12-driver field is set. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton also clinched spots. Busch and Edwards already had clinched spots.

Johnson's dominance forced other teams to gamble in the pits. Biffle, Edwards, AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman took two tires on Lap 163 and held the top five positions for a restart on Lap 166.

Less than two laps after the restart, however, Johnson had regained the lead after passing Biffle through Turns 3 and 4.

Two tires didn't work, but neither did four.

After a slower-than-usual pit stop on Lap 183 -- under caution for Robby Gordon's spin off Turn 4 -- Johnson restarted fourth on Lap 186. Within three laps he had run down David Reutimann, Edwards and Biffle to regain the top spot.