Auto Racing | Johnson finds being NASCAR champ relieves pressure
HAMPTON, Ga. - A year ago, the pressure was almost unbearable for Jimmie Johnson as he prepared for the fall race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
This time is different.
“I’m in a much better place and I’m actually enjoying this year and this championship battle,” said Johnson, who is second in the standings, 53 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, heading into today’s Pep Boys Auto 500.
Johnson flirted with a championship in each of his first four seasons in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series, never finishing worse than fifth and twice winding up second. He broke through to win last year and said he is a more confident driver.
“I feel that you can try too hard, and I’ve tried too hard in the past to win races, to win poles and even to win championships,” he said. “And, this year, I feel a lot like after my first win, that coming back for the second win it’s a little bit more of a clear picture that you’re looking at instead of just red in the eyes and intense and trying to do whatever it takes to get it.”
Reutimann captures
Busch Series event
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - David Reutimann failed to qualify for the Nextel Cup event at Atlanta, so he soothed his feelings with his first NASCAR Busch Series win.
Reutimann avoided trouble to capture the caution-filled Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park. The 37-year-old Toyota driver endured a green-white-checker finish in his 63rd Busch Series start. It also was owner Michael Waltrip’s first victory for the manufacturer. Reutimann kept his slim championship hopes alive.
Series leader Carl Edwards, who needed at least an eighth-place finish to claim the title with three races remaining in the season, was 25th.
The race had a season-high 25 cautions, which surpassed the record of 16 for the Memphis race.
After Bobby Hamilton Jr. was taken out in an early accident, he said, “That’s what happens when you are in the back of all those idiots.”
The yellows were one short of the Busch Series record of 26 set in 1992 in Hickory, N.C.
One of the wrecks involved Edwards.
The event was the first Busch race for reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. The 34-year-old IndyCar Series champ, who plans to run a full NASCAR season next year, got into the back of Brandon Miller’s car on Lap 192.
Franchitti was held a lap for aggressive driving after the incident, would eventually be involved in another brush and finished 32nd of 43.
Note
• Kyle Busch pulled away from Ron Hornaday Jr. to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch passed Hornaday on a restart with eight laps to go in the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 and posted his fifth truck victory. He led a race-high 65 laps.