Las Vegas kind to Johnson
LAS VEGAS— A new track configuration and hard tires that made it difficult to drive. A pit road penalty and a brush against the wall.
Jimmie Johnson faced all of it Sunday, and came out on top yet again at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The defending series champion beat teammate Jeff Gordon to win his third straight Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas — only this one came under extremely different conditions.
"It was obviously a good day for us — we had some issues," said Johnson. "To overcome the adversity this weekend of coming back on a new tire and not having any experience on it, and working through all the issues we did, it was a very good weekend."
Oh yes it was.
Johnson, who led Gordon across the finish line for a 1-2 finish that gave Hendrick Motorsports its 150th NASCAR victory, navigated his way around a track that was under intense scrutiny all weekend because of changes owner Bruton Smith made to the 1.5-mile speedway.
The changes included an increase in the banking from 12 degrees to 20, and a curved pit lane unlike anything the drivers had seen before. Because the new surface produced such fast speeds, Goodyear had to bring a hard left-side tire that was capable of withstanding the loads.
It created a perfect storm of slick asphalt, little grip and a garage full of grumbling drivers.
"I felt like I was on ice from lap one until the last one," said Gordon, the four-time series champion. "There is no reason for us to show up at racetracks and be at a white-knuckle experience for an entire weekend."
That sentiment was echoed over and over as drivers climbed from their cars.
"It was out of control pretty much all day," Clint Bowyer said.
"It was the poorest race I've ever been in. It wasn't fun to drive," David Stremme said.
"You couldn't run side-by-side. When you got alongside of somebody, you were scared to death you were going to wreck," Matt Kenseth said.
The race was marred by nine cautions, most of them products of the new configuration and tough tire. David Ragan spun on the opening lap, and Casey Mears, Robby Gordon and Ward Burton were in a three-car accident 10 laps in.
Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney wrecked eight laps after that.
"There's just no grip at all," said Mears, who blamed Gordon for the accident. "Everybody is having a hard time getting a hold of their cars."
Johnson understood Goodyear's choice of tire based on the short timeframe the company had between the January test that revealed the high speeds to when a choice of tire had to be selected.
But he called on the company to figure out a way to work more with the teams in the future.
