(By Sarah Farlee Managing Editor, CupScene.com)
Posted: Sunday,June 27th, 2010
Loudon, N.H., Jimmie Johnson should master the art of the thank you note and address them not only Marcos Ambrose for the Sonoma victory last week, but Jeff Burton as well for career win number 52 in Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
In the closing laps Burton was leading the field until the final caution waved. Burton chose to stay out, but the rest of the field decided to come in – leaving Burton a sitting duck. When the green dropped on the restart it didn’t take long for Johnson to slip by and take the lead – that, however, didn’t last long.
“With the strategy to pit or not to pit, that’s just a tough decision to make,” said Johnson.
LOUDON, NH - JUNE 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, leads Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, and Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 27, 2010 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Burton, who finished 12th, said being the leader is sometimes a disadvantage.
“All we had to do was drag one or two people with us on that restart and we would have been fine,” said Burton, who says the call was a team decision.
“I didn’t know what the right thing to do was,” said Burton. “I didn’t have a clue what the right thing to do was. Todd (Berrier, crew chief) made the call, but we made the call together because he makes the calls and I support him 100 percent.”
“I’m not disappointed in the calls at all,” added Burton. “At the end of the day, in retrospect, it wasn’t the right thing to do, but that is real easy to say right now.”
Burton dropped back and slight contact with Kyle Busch forced another caution, and another restart that allowed Kurt Busch to get around Johnson. That pass set up a battle for the lead that had fans on their feet.
“I thought it was a great short track battle,” said Busch, who finished third. “It wasn’t because he did something that I had to do something, or since I did something, he had to do it back. Driving down into turn three, I saw my window, and it was a perfect time to go for it, because our car was good on the short run, and once four or five laps got on the tires, I knew we were going to have a hard time holding them off and he was still going to be right there.”
“So just a classic, get in the corner a little bit deeper than the guy,” Busch added. “We didn’t just flat-out wreck them. We didn’t cut his tire. We didn’t drive over him. It was just a nice nudge that we are all used to seeing and appreciating on short tracks.”
Following the pass Johnson was shocked Busch made contact, but was also ready to add to the show.
“I wasn’t going to wreck him because that was my goal was to wreck him,” said Johnson, laughing. “I have a tough time that when I wreck someone I usually get caught up in it, so I knew what my thought process was, “Wreck his ass.”
“And my end result was like: You can’t do that, you’ll wreck yourself, you’ll look like a fool,” said Johnson laughing. Then turning serious he talked about his thought process in the final laps. “You still have a chance to win the race, focus on your job and do your job. It made it easier for me to get off the brake a little earlier and nudge him.”
Johnson says perception is important, and hopes other drivers don’t think knocking around the number 48 is acceptable due to lack of retaliation.
“That’s last thing I want people to think,” said Johnson. “He didn’t wreck me and at the end of the day, I guess I didn’t owe him a visit to the fence, so it worked itself out.”
LOUDON, NH - JUNE 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 27, 2010 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“At the end of the day, for sure, that’s what the fans want to see,” said Johnson of side-by-side battles for the lead. “If I was in the grandstands, I would love to see a little bit of bump-and-run and watch the guy run him back down and do the same to get by.”
There was no crash between Johnson and Busch, but second place finisher Tony Stewart made contact with Busch that Stewart says, “cost him [Busch] a second place finish.”
“That was my fault 100 percent,” said Stewart. “We both dove off into one and we both went as deep as we knew we could make it in there, and it’s my responsibility as the driver on the inside to keep control of my car.
“I lost it, and luckily, the good news is I’m hitting flat and it didn’t knock him out or spin him out or anything like that,” Stewart added. “It was definitely 100 percent my fault for losing control of my car.”
Busch wasn’t too concerned with the contact with Johnson, or Stewart for that matter.
“When you’re in that position,” said Busch. “You have to know that something is going to come and you’ve got to be ready for it.”
“I think it’s fun,” added Busch.
Jeff Gordon finished fourth, Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.
Ryan Newman was sixth, Clint Bowyer was seventh, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was eighth and Joey Logano was ninth. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10.
Harvick continues to lead the Sprint Cup Series point’s standings 105 points over Johnson, and 161 points over Kyle Busch. The only fluctuation in the top-12 was Stewart’s move to ninth, and Greg Biffle’s move to 10th.
The gap to the final Chase position occupied by Carl Edwards closed. Earnhardt is three points back, Newman is 15 points back, and Bowyer is 16 points behind Edwards with nine races remaining until the cutoff.
Other notes from the Lenox Industrial Tools 301:
Kasey Kahne’s chances for a solid finish, and possibly a Chase spot, blew up, right along with the engine. Kahne dropped a cylinder after leading several laps, and it wasn’t long until the engine finally expired. It wasn’t something Kahne expected, especially with a new engine.
“When you put it on the track, they’re not supposed to break,” said Kahne, who finished 36th. “That engine could have broke. One of the old engines could have broke. It’s probably just something small inside that happened, but when we brought it here we had no idea that it would break.”
Polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya ended the day in the fence after contact with Reed Sorenson. Sorenson, a lap car, didn’t give Montoya any room heading into the corner. Montoya ended up smacking the wall, hard.
“They told me he (Sorenson) turned right,” said Montoya. “It was the end of the race and nobody gives you any room and that is what happens.”
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