Post by dalejrfan on May 29, 2006 17:47:33 GMT -5
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Most drivers would be thrilled with a second-place finish in one of the biggest races of the year. Jimmie Johnson isn't one of them. Johnson had his total domination of Lowe's Motor Speedway snapped Sunday night when Kasey Kahne blew past him with 29 laps to go to win the Coca-Cola 600. It ended Johnson's run of three consecutive 600 victories, and five straight overall.
"As I was chasing Kasey at the end, and I couldn't catch him ... looking at the streak and looking at the 600-mile race, to win three of them, I've been very fortunate to do that," Johnson said. "It's a weird race, a long race, and I'm very proud of the stats that I've had — and slightly disappointed that it's come to an end."
Since Johnson began his run of seven wins in 10 races dating to 2003, the rest of the field has been desperate to dethrone him. The fans wanted it, too, and implored their favorite drivers to beat him with pleas and T-shirts that begged for "Anybody But Jimmie" to win the 600.
Kahne was the only one up for the challenge.
"That's all I ever wanted here, was a car that could race with Jimmie at the end," Kahne said. "You know every time you get to the end of a race at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson is the guy to beat.
"We finally made it to that point and had a car that could race him and we were able to win."
It was Kahne's third victory of the season — all in the same Charger — and the first win for a Dodge at this track since Richard Petty in 1977.
Johnson, winner of last week's All-Star Challenge, finished second. He was well over 2 seconds behind Kahne, who stopped his car at the finish line to grab the checkered flag and celebrate with his team.
Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth finished third through fifth for Roush Racing, followed by Jeff Burton, then Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray in the other two Roush Fords. Denny Hamlin and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 10, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th.
Defending series champion Tony Stewart wrecked early in the race and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. He was seen and released, and a team spokesman said he broke the tip of his right shoulder blade.
Stewart — who slipped to fourth in the standings, 209 points behind Johnson — also was taken to the hospital because of a bruised shoulder following a wreck Saturday night in the Busch Series race.
"He's going to be sore — it's the same spot he hit last time," team president J.D. Gibbs said. "There isn't much you can do about it. He needs rest and needs to take care of it, ice it, wrap it up real well."
It looked as if pole-sitter Scott Riggs, Kahne's teammate, was going to make a run at his first career victory until a series of mistakes during his pit stop with 40 laps to go took him out of contention.
Riggs was the leader when he pitted, but didn't come to a clean stop, stalled his Dodge when he tried to pull away, and as his crew pushed him out the jack and fuel can left his assigned area — drawing a stop-and-go penalty that took him out of contention. He ended up 13th, after leading eight times for 90 laps.
Riggs was 17th on the restart, with Edwards, Johnson and Kahne leading the field with 33 laps to go.
Kahne grabbed the lead moments later, his seventh time out front in NASCAR's longest race of the season. He led a race-high 158 of the 400 laps in a race that begins in the day, ends in the night and leaves most drivers mentally and physically exhausted.
"Kasey's car was pretty awesome," Edwards said. "I couldn't keep up with him when he went by us, so I'm pretty happy with third place."
Tempers flared late in the race when Casey Mears lost control of his Dodge, bounced off the wall and into Kyle Busch while the two were running second and fourth. Mears suffered slight damage, but Busch's night was ruined.
As NASCAR officials tried to coax Busch back toward the garage, he angrily tried to break free so he could get at Mears as he passed by. He only managed a feeble, left-handed toss of a safety device that failed to hit Mears.
"Just a very frustrating moment for me," Busch said. "I had a really great race car that I thought could have won the race."