CUP: Johnson Wins Phoenix Showdown

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Wins Phoenix Showdown

Jimmie Johnson prevailed under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday night, winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Tom Jensen | Posted April 12, 2008 Phoenix,Az.

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Jimmie Johnson won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 and scored back-to-back victories in Phoenix.(Robert Laberge/Getty Images Photo)

Jimmie Johnson prevailed under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday night, winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

It was his first win of the season and the first for Hendrick Motorsports, and he did it by staying out and gambling on fuel while all the other leaders had to pit late. He was followed by Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin.

Ryan Newman took the lead at the start, with Edwards quickly moving up to second place ahead of Elliott Sadler, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Johnson.

It took just 12 laps until the first caution came out, this one for debris in Turns 1 and 2. Busch grabbed second on Lap 22 by going high, while Johnson went to the apron to battle Edwards for third, a position Johnson snatched one lap later. By Lap 27, he took over second from Busch and set off after leader Newman.

It didn’t take long, as on Lap 31, the Hendrick Chevrolet assumed the point ahead of Newman, Edwards, Busch and Martin.

Johnson’s lead at the 100-lap mark was 0.393 seconds over Edwards, with Earnhardt 3.334 seconds in arrears. Then came Stewart, Biffle, Hamlin, Truex, Martin, Kahne and Ragan. Biffle took over fourth on Lap 104, the one-third point of the race.

Then the caution came out on Lap 115 for Joe Nemechek, who crashed in Turn 1. After the ensuing round of pit stops, the order out was Johnson, Earnhardt, Martin, Kahne, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Sadler, Ragan and Newman. Edwards was 33rd and Jeff Gordon 28th, both one lap down.

The track went green on Lap 122. On Lap 133, pole-sitter Newman lost his power steering fluid, triggering a big crash that began at the end of the backstretch and continued through Turn 4. The wreck also snared points leader Burton, who spun but kept it off the wall, plus Kenseth, Reed Sorenson, Johnny Sauter, J.J. Yeley.

The power steering fluid dumped by Newman led to NASCAR throwing a red flag for 9 minutes and 47 seconds to clean it up. The track went green on Lap 141, but Sorenson crashed again on Lap 148. Jeff Gordon got the Lucky Dog to become the 21st and final car on the lead lap, with the order when the track went green on Lap 154.

But Sadler, who was third, lost his engine to bring out a caution No. 6 on Lap 163. Under yellow, Martin led over Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch, the top three eschewing pit stops. Then it was Truex, Earnhardt, Harvick, Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Biffle, Johnson and Gordon. Edwards crucially got the Lucky Dog this time.

Lap 168 saw the track go green again. Four laps later, Truex was up into second, with Earnhardt third and then Harvick fourth. Martin quickly opened a margin of nearly three seconds, which was wiped out when the yellow flew again on Lap 201 for Ragan’s backstretch spin.

The leaders headed down pit road, with Earnhardt taking over the point ahead of Martin, Truex, Hamlin, Harvick, Biffle, Kyle Busch, Gordon, Bowyer and Burton. The green came out on Lap 205 and stayed out for 25 laps, until Kahne hit the frontstretch wall and then the Turn 1 wall.

The leaders all pitted under caution, with Earnhardt and Martin hanging on to the top two spots, followed by Hamlin, Harvick, Busch, Truex, Johnson, Biffle, Gordon and Bowyer.

The green flag came out again on Lap 234, with Hamlin wheeling around Martin on the outside to take over second place, but Martin reclaimed the position a lap later. Soon, he began running Earnhardt down and on Lap 241 got right on his bumper.

But Earnhardt started to ease away again, opening his lead to 0.401 seconds at Lap 250. Hamlin was 2.232 seconds back in third, followed by Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Truex, Biffle, Edwards and Gordon. Johnson moved by Harvick to take fourth on Lap 266.

Earnhardt couldn’t hold the top spot though, as Martin got underneath him at the exit of Turn 2 with 40 laps to go. Earnhardt started to fade, as Hamlin took over second on Lap 277 and Johnson got third one circuit later.

With 15 laps to go, the top three were within .700 seconds of each other. Hamlin stopped on Lap 297 for fuel and two tires, the first of the front-runners to stop. He was out in 7.1 seconds.

Truex was next, pitting on Lap 299, followed by Stewart on Lap 300. But Stewart stalled and had a 14.5-second stop. Earnhardt came in on Lap 302, taking two tires, with Martin taking two tires and fuel in 7.8 seconds on Lap 303.

That put Johnson in the lead ahead of Edwards, Busch and Harvick. Edwards pitted on Lap 304 for fuel only, a 2-second stop. Harvick came in on Lap 306, out of gas. He stalled on pit road.

Johnson now led by 10 seconds over Bowyer and Burton. He immediately went into fuel saving mode and coasted to his first victory of the season.

SUBWAY FRESH FIT 500 RESULTS

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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