UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Results

[irish_blue69]

Maybe the track owner, NASCAR and Goodyear got it right this time.
The debate concerning the changes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will not end, but it was a pleasant surprise that no one was hurt and, at times, there was some good racing at the 1½-mile oval in Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.
Heading into the race at the revamped track, there were dire predictions of carnage as new, higher banking in the corners and a new tire from Goodyear promised record-breaking -- and, some feared, dangerous -- speed in the 400-miler.
"I felt like I was on ice from lap one until the last one," second-place finisher Jeff Gordon said after the race.
But isn't racing supposed to be about being on the edge? Perhaps some teams were pushing the limits and just didn't like the result.
Of course, this isn't the first time track and tire changes have combined to grab the attention of drivers. When Speedway Motor Sports Inc., the company that owns Lowe's Speedway in Charlotte, as well as LVMS, ground down the asphalt in 2005, a new spec tire brought by Goodyear failed many times in the Coca-Cola 600 -- leading to another resurfacing of that track. Now that all was quiet in Charlotte, the company had turned its attention further West.
The preseason testing on the revised track resulted not only in a harder tire compound to reduce speeds, but a smaller fuel cell to force more pit stops, which would slow down the race.
By the time qualifying rolled around, an angry Tony Stewart went ballistic, blaming the tire maker after he had a disappointing 25th on Friday. The chaotic Busch race on Saturday, with a record 12 cautions, seemed to prove him correct.
"If you look at the last 36 hours and look at how many cars we've torn up ... if I were car owners, I would send bills to the race track," Stewart said. "Look at how many good teams and good drivers crashed today. Are they going to say that we forgot how to drive?"
With memories of Charlotte in their heads, anxiety was high as the 43 starters took the green flag on Sunday. Three quick cautions didn't help matters.
NASCAR crew chiefs develop playbooks for all the tracks and when a team has figured out how to win they tend to keep that advantage, so the new banking was like throwing away the playbooks and starting from scratch. As defending Cup champ Jimmie Johnson said: "If we stay on this tire, everybody is going to be smarter and the issue will go away. But when you're thrown this issue on race weekend, you don't have time to prepare for it."
For Johnson, of course, throwing away the playbook was a disadvantage, since he came in having won the last two races in Las Vegas. But both the car and driver were so good that they were able to overcome brushing the wall and a pit stop penalty (for a loose tire) that dropped him to 25th earlier in the race. That made the celebration on Victory Lane even more satisfying.
"We overcame a lot of adversity, we had a couple of different things go wrong," Johnson said.
While the race was far from accident-free, there were fewer cautions than on Saturday. So Bruton Smith -- the leading figure at SMI -- can be content that, this time, history didn't repeat on one of his tracks.
What does this all mean? Don't take anything for granted in NASCAR except that drivers will always react to rules changes. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong.
Most important, the good ones will work out the changes and the good ones will win.
Key moment

There were two turning points for Johnson, and both involved the loose tire. The first time it happened, he was penalized. There was another late-race incident in which the tire was stopped in time and he wasn't penalized.
Hidden star

Although Mark Martin faded from third at the end to fifth, he kept the Cup points lead, which will have everyone continuing to ask if Martin will stick to his original retirement plan to allow rookie Regan Smith take the wheel in Bristol. When asked if his plans changed, he responded: "You keep asking -- no change yet."
Surprise developments

After all the complaints about the track and tires Stewart finished a respectable seventh. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an 11th-place finish, which by itself doesn't look like much, but it's a positive result to kick start his year.
Hot numbers

Johnson's victory was the 24th Nextel Cup win in his career and the 150th for Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon led a race-high 111 laps.
Oops

Earnhardt Jr. was headed for a top-10 finish when Jeff Burton had electrical problems late in the race. When Burton dived into the pits, Earnhardt, whose car was fine, just followed his rival in.


SI.com - Writers - Lewis Franck: Johnson proves talent wins, no matter the circumstances - Monday March 12, 2007 11:44AM

[BloodThirstyWench]

Okay, so I was in Vegas Airport watching the tailend of this race...but I don't remember seeing Kenseth come in 4th. Course I was quite a ways from the TV....or was it that 3rd shot of tequelia? Hmmm...