JJ will take a fast car over fuel mileage any day
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(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Jimmie Johnson, center, and Chad Knaus, right, have the 48 car humming -- and sputtering.
Crew chief Chad Knaus was featured in a radio advertisement for improving fuel mileage less than 10 minutes after Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
Talk about irony.
That's because Knaus' driver, Jimmie Johnson, ran out of gas on the last lap for the second straight week.
At Pocono the engine began sputtering about a half lap from the finish with Johnson battling Carl Edwards for second place. He coasted to the finish line in seventh.
This one at Michigan cost the three-time defending Cup champion the win. He finished 22nd after leading a race-high 146 laps.
"That's my fault," Knaus radioed to Johnson as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon took the top two spots.
If you're going to fault Knaus for that one, you have to give him credit for re-establishing Johnson as the favorite to win another championship.
With apologies to points leader Tony Stewart, who has had an amazing run in his first year as the driver/owner at Stewart-Haas Racing, the No. 48 team remains the team to beat.
Johnson has led the most laps in two of the past three races, at Dover and Michigan. He also had arguably the best car at Pocono before getting trapped entering pit road when the caution flag came out.
That he won only one of them puts him in the hard-luck category of Kyle Busch, who has lost more races that he's dominated in NASCAR's top three series this season than some drivers do in a career.
But the important thing to remember is that Johnson was in position to win each of those races. That's the formula he's used to win the past three titles, and when the 10-race Chase begins that will make him the favorite to become the first driver to win four straight.
"I am disappointed about the fuel," said Johnson, who remained third in points behind Stewart and Gordon. "The 48 car, myself, whatever it is, but we don't get the best fuel mileage and we are always fast. So I will take being fast and lose some every now and then to fuel mileage."
This one appeared in the bag. The way Knaus communicated with his driver he felt confident there was enough fuel in the tank to make it to the finish.
"Sounded like we were pretty good," Johnson said. "So I was a little shocked that we ran out. ... I'm trying to look at the bright side of things because we had such a dominant car and we passed second and third and we went up to get the lead."
Johnson has had a dominant car since he left Charlotte in late May. He's led 475 laps in the past three races, by far more than any other driver.
He's led 794 on the season, second only to Busch at 798.
Stewart, by the way, has led only 99 laps.
Johnson also has shown the ability to pass top cars for the lead, something that's proved difficult for most others with the new car that often pulls away in clean air.
Add all that together with his proven history in the Chase and there's no reason to pick anybody else at this point.
"I'm real happy with the performance we had, and we really closed the gap on these guys here at Michigan, but unfortunately we didn't win," Johnson said. "It's part of it.
"We'll just have to take our lumps and go on. We really have to look at the bright side of things and how strong we were, how many laps we led and how fast we were, and we'll be fine."
No doubt.
Nationwide Series: Keselowski lurking behind Cup regulars
Most of the attention remains on Cup drivers Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards for the title, but don't count out Brad Keselowski.
The JR Motorsports driver quietly has made himself a contender after a disastrous start to the season that saw him finish 22nd or worse in the first three races.
His third-place finish in Saturday night's race at Kentucky moved him up a spot to third, 208 behind Busch and 71 behind Edwards. He's finished in the top three in the past three races and has seven top-5s in the past 10.
His only finish outside the top 10 during that stretch was 11th at Darlington.
With a little luck perhaps he can end the three-year stranglehold Cup drivers have had on the Nationwide title.
Camping World Truck Series: Benson on the mend
Defending series champion Johnny Benson did not drive in Saturday's race at Michigan due to a lack of sponsorship, but he remains the focus after his accident in a Supermodified event at his home track in Marne, Mich.
Benson's condition has been upgraded to stable. According to a post by his sister on a message board, the injuries ranged from a broken rib to a punctured lung, a bruised wrist and minor burns.
Track owner Mike Blackmer and media relations director Kevin Striegle addressed the crash on Sunday and speculation that the safety crew was slow getting to the track.
"These are cars driving at 150 miles an hour and obviously human speed is slower," Striegle said. "The cars had barely stopped and the guys were already out putting out the flames. Of course it's intense. It's just a whirlwind. To see an accident like that, no matter who it is, is a traumatic experience."
Said Blackmer, "They had to be very careful going out because the other ISMA cars were going by. When something happens, everyone wants to run down from the pits to see what's going on. We have some new people and this is my first year, and it made me proud of my crew to see them in action last night."
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
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Racing Resources Says …
Sprint Cup Series
Martin
- Mark Martin won the Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
- Martin scored his third victory in 2009, tying Kyle Busch for the most wins. Martin started 32nd.
- There have been nine different winners in 15 races this season: Mark Martin (three), Kyle Busch (three), Jimmie Johnson (two), Matt Kenseth (two) plus Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and David Reutimann have one win apiece this season.
- Martin scored his 38th career win in his 737th start. He moved into sole possession of 17th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. It was his fifth victory in 47 races at Michigan. The last time Martin won at Michigan was June 14, 1998. Martin has scored 29 top-10 finishes in his 47 races at Michigan.
- This is the 181st victory for Hendrick Motorsports. HMS has won five races at Michigan. It has won two of the past three races at Michigan.
- Martin led only the final lap -- the fewest laps led by a race winner at Michigan. This is the second race in 2009 that the race winner has led only one lap (Keselowski at Talladega).
- This was the sixth last-lap pass at Michigan. The last was in June 2001 when Gordon passed Ricky Rudd on the white-flag lap.
- Jimmie Johnson was the leader at the halfway point. Johnson led 146 of the 200 laps. The leader of the most laps at Michigan has won four of the past six races. Ironically Johnson led the most laps in June 2008 and again today and failed to win either race. The leader at halfway has won just two of the past 16 races at Michigan.
- Jeff Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr. and Joe Nemechek all dropped to the rear for engine changes. Jeff Gordon (second) was the only of the three drivers to score a top-10 finish.
- Tony Stewart (seventh) has scored top-10 finishes in eight of his past 10 races.
- Johnson (22nd) has led in 13 of the 15 races this season, more than any other driver.
- Joey Logano (25th) was the highest-finishing rookie of the three in the race. Logano has been the highest-finishing rookie in 12 of the 15 races in 2009, including the last six.
- This was the eighth victory for Chevrolet in 2009. Toyota has four wins, Ford has two and Dodge has one.
- The top 10 consisted of five Chevrolets, two Toyotas, two Fords and one Dodge.
Logano
- Joey Logano won the Meijer 300 presented by RITZ Crackers at Kentucky Speedway. Logano won from the pole. He scored his second series win in his 12 starts this season.
- Logano is the third driver to score multiple wins in 2009, joining Kyle Busch (four) and Greg Biffle (two).
- Logano scored his third career victory in his 31st race. He posted his second victory at Kentucky in his second race and became the first repeat race winner in nine Kentucky races. He also won this race from the pole one year ago.
- Logano's last win came at Nashviile last April.
- It was Joe Gibbs Racing's 34th victory and third by Logano and sixth in 2009. This marked the fourth 1-2 finish for JGR in 2009.
- Logano led two times for 20 laps, including the final 10.
- Kyle Busch, the points leader entering by 65 over Carl Edwards, finished second. Edwards finished 20th. Busch now leads the points by 137 over Edwards.
- Busch has led the most laps in the past seven races, extending a streak that began at Talladega in April. He led six times for 162 laps Saturday night. Busch has led 1,406 laps this season, the most by any driver. He has led the most laps in three of the last four Kentucky races without a victory.
- Brad Keselowski (third) extended a streak of 10 consecutive top-15 finishes that began at Bristol. Keselowski finished 22nd, 27th and 27th in the first three races of the season before posting his first top-15 finish of the season at Bristol (12th). Keselowski has been running at the finish in the last 46 races, the longest current streak.
- Brendan Gaughan (fourth) posted his second career top-5 finish. He climbed from 10th to seventh in the standings. He was the highest-finishing rookie of the year contender.
- Rookie Justin Allgaier (fifth) has scored top-15 finishes in his past five races, extending a streak that began at Darlington. He climbed from eighth to sixth in the point standings.
- Jason Leffler (sixth) has finished in the top 10 in the past nine races, extending a streak that began at Nashville in April. This is the longest current streak. Leffler has scored 13 straight top-15 finishes, extending a streak that began at race No. 2 in California in February.
- Toyota posted its sixth win in 14 races in 2009. Chevrolet has four and Ford has four, while Dodge has none.
- Carl Edwards (20th) ended a five-race streak of top-10 finishes that began at Richmond.
- The top 10 consisted of three Chevrolets, one Fords, five Toyotas and one Dodge.
Braun
- Colin Braun won the Michigan 200 at the Michigan International Speedway. Braun scored his first career win in his 35th start. He is the second first-time winner in 2009, joining Brian Scott, who won at Dover.
- This is the 50th series win for Roush Fenway, most of all teams. Braun is the 11th different driver to score a win for Roush Fenway.
- Crew Chief Mike Beam scored his 11th series win -- six with Mark Martin and four with Travis Kvapil.
- Braun is the seventh different winner in the nine races in 2009. Kyle Busch and Todd Bodine are the only repeat winners this season. Braun led twice for 26 laps, including the final 24.
- Ford scored its fifth win at Michigan, all by Roush.
- It is the first win of 2009 for Ford.
- Kyle Busch finished second, leading 62 of the 100 laps. It is the fifth time the driver who led the most laps failed to win the race, fourth straight at Michigan.
- Pole-sitter Brian Ickler finished third, the best of the seven rookie of the year contenders. It is Ickler's best career finish.
- Matt Crafton, who finished fourth, continues to lead the standings by 39 points over Ron Hornaday. The top four are within 100 points.
- Taylor Malsam, who finished sixth, posted his fourth top-10 of 2009 and seventh straight top-15 finish. Malsam jumped from 11th to eighth in the standings.
- Ron Hornaday, who was seventh, made a green-flag pit stop on Lap 22 for a right front flat tire. Hornaday was later involved in an accident on Lap 27. Hornaday received the free pass during the third caution and was able to recover for a top-10 finish.
- There were just 19 trucks running at the finish, the fewest ever at Michigan.
- The top 10 consisted of six Toyotas, three Chevrolets and one Ford. The highest-finishing Dodge was Jason White in 14th.