Cheating is not what won the 48 team four championships in a row; it’s not what has had them competing for a title in each of Johnson’s eight going on nine Cup seasons; and it’s not what put them in victory lane Sunday for the second week in a row and the 49th time overall.
When everyone else opted to take two tires on the final pit stop of Sunday’s Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knaus made the call to take four. It was a typical Knaus move and one that perfectly explains why Johnson perpetually is in a league of his own.
By not running with the pack, the 48 team gives themselves the chance to be ahead of it. Once that decision is made, it’s up to them to perform, and as we’ve seen, they usually do. Knaus made the call Sunday, the pit crew changed the four tires in less than 12 seconds to send their driver back on the track in fourth, and Johnson took care of the rest, passing Jeff Gordon with 18 laps to go.
Afterward, Johnson was asked the question that’s become as routine as him winning: How lucky can one guy get?
“If people are trying to find a way not to accept the quality of this race team, that’s cool,” Johnson said. “We’ll just come back this week and take the trophy again.” Yahoo! Sports
“When you get on the downforce tracks, we get going well, and I’m happy that we’re off to a quick start this year,” Johnson said Sunday. “A few years back, we left this racetrack with our tail between our legs. But today everything went well.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Shelby American at Las Vegas - Race Results
“No bones about it, I don’t feel incredibly confident with the (restrictor) plate racing. I know how to go fast and be in the mix, but it’s just not my specialty to look in the mirror 80 percent of the time and try to figure out how to win the race. I’m used to chasing people down.” FOXNews
A week after parlaying a lucky break on pit road at Fontana, Calif., into his first win of the season, Johnson pulled away to beat Kevin Harvick by 1.874 seconds at the 1.5-mile track. Johnson’s 49th career victory leaves him alone in 12th place on the Cup Series wins list, one behind Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.
“No luck involved in that one,” crew chief Chad Knaus radioed to Johnson after he crossed the finish line at the end of the 400-mile event.
Third-place finisher Jeff Gordon, who came to the pits as the leader, took two tires, and that decision—on which both Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte agreed—gave Johnson the winning edge.
Hendrick driver Mark Martin finished fourth and Matt Kenseth was fifth. Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10. NASCAR
Clint Bowyer, who didn’t pit, restarted as the leader with 34 laps to go and the Hendrick cars immediately split him to move back to the front. Gordon held the top spot for 17 trips around the track, but fretted several times as Johnson looked both inside and out.
“Not much we can do about those four tires,” Gordon told his crew. “We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
“I’m with you,” Letarte replied. “Just do the best you can. Make it hard for him, either way.”
Gordon tried to hold off Johnson, but he finally scooted past with 17 laps to go. He quickly pulled away, and Gordon was unable to hold off Kevin Harvick as he faded to third.
“If we won the race, we’d look like geniuses, Steve would have. The fact that we lost the race, now Chad looks like a genius,” Gordon said. “I talked to Steve briefly after the race. He’s pretty upset obviously. I think he just felt like more people were gonna take two tires. Shoot, we were thinking for a split second to stay out.
“I felt like we needed to come in and get some tires, but I felt like two tires was the right call, too. We just needed (Johnson) to take two. They did the opposite of us. That won the race for them.”
Defending race-winner Kyle Busch was flagged for speeding on pit road and finished 15th. Big brother Kurt, who started from the pole, was caught in an early accident with Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya and finished 35th. The Associated Press
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