Jimmy Johnson had a great homecoming and won the Nextel Cup race at Fontana, California. This was his fifth win of 2007. This capped off a week where Jimmy Johnson Johnson visited his old High School and had a successful Jimmy Johnson Foundation Golf Tournament. Not only did his old High School enter Jimmy in their Hall of Fame, but Lowes supported his effort with tools donated to the school’s shop programs. The Jimmy Johnson Foundation was also on the side of the #48 Lowes Chevrolet.
The #48 stayed upfront most of the race, mostly when the sun went down, battling with Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton, who finished 9th, 5th, and 4th respectively. Junior gained on 12th place, now Kevin Harvick, 128 points behind. Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr gained one spot each in the points. Dale Jr ran an excellent race, starting out on the first lap, and finally leading a lap on pitroad. I’ve written before about Junior’s problems this year with blown engines and other DEI related issues.
Ricky Rudd was injured in a crash, possible shoulder injury. No news on further condition.
Jeff Burton finished 4th in the Cup race and won the Busch race the night before. He won the Busch race in the #29 Holiday Inn car. In Cup, he is still running the #31 car without AT&T logos. The appeals are still on-going. Richard Childress told ESPN that he won’t siew NASCAR, but may siew Sprint.
Brad Keselowski was in a huge, fiery crash in the Busch race Saturday night. He was driving the #88 Navy Chevrolet owned by JR Motorsports. He hit the wall after being clipped by the 42 car. He was taken to a hospital by air flight for an apparant leg injury. He was released later after a CT Scan and X-Rays found nothing.
Dale Earnhardt Jr says he’ll announce soon his number and sponsor package for the 2008 season at Hendrick Motorsports. The number will probably be #81 with AMP Energy Drink or even National Guard, according to ESPN’s Marty Smith. Basically something in the PepsiCo brands.
An announcement is expected Wednesday according to ESPN on Joe Gibbs Racing switching to Toyota. Kyle Busch gave it away some what on Friday night.
California Speedway had extreme heat both Saturday and Sunday evening. Temps reached 109 degree air temps and 140 degree track temps. What is too hot for NASCAR? Who was helping fans with all the heat. Maybe a cooling station setups at tracks where heat is an issue.
Next week is Richmond. Dale Earnhardt Jr has 3 wins there. The first Chase race is NHIS in two weeks. Checkout www.infieldparking.com/8racingfan1 for pictures from Loudon. Check back at this blog for a race story also.
