Johnson bests Busch for first Bristol win

Jimmie Johnson attained a couple of milestones Sunday, claiming his 50th career NASCAR Cup victory and first-ever win at east Tennessee’s Thunder Valley, the tight pint-sized half-mile oval know as Bristol Motor Speedway.

In truth, Johnson’s car was probably the second-best racecar on the track during the twice rain-delayed afternoon, with Kurt Busch dominating much of the race, steaming 278 times around the track ahead of everybody else in the 500-lap Food City 500.

The race turned on the restart following the 10th and final caution of the day. With 10 laps to go, both Johnson and Busch settled in side-by-side in the third row of the double-file restart. Johnson caught the break, as Greg Biffle, restarting first on the outside, got a tremendous start and pulled Tony Stewart and Johnson behind him well past the inside row led by Matt Kenseth. Busch was boxed in, with no place to go. Stewart then ducked down to the inside to pass Biffle and Johnson went with him. Once the 48 car was clear of Biffle, Johnson took off to the outside and blew past Stewart with seven laps remaining. He was never headed.

Busch could only shake his head, as the luck of the draw—which of the two double-file restart lanes would move the best—did not play out for the Penske driver, who would’ve made it two straight victories had he taken the checkered flag, after annexing the race in Atlanta two weeks ago.

ROADSIDE RANTS & RAVES: Race commentators praised the wide-open spaces in the turns that occasionally made for three-wide racing, but in reality Bristol Motor Speedway is still the same old sardine tin, with 43 cars crammed into it. Once, early on, Johnson was neck-and-neck with Busch, when they came upon backmarker Bobby Labonte. With Busch on the inside and Labonte on the outside, Johnson stayed frozen behind the 71 car for four laps before Busch finally produced enough room on the inside for JJ to duck down inside Labonte. The three-wide may briefly look good in the turns, but there simply is no passing room at Bristol if you get caught in traffic. Later on, with 125 laps to go, the same thing happened to Tony Stewart, caught behind the slower-moving tandem of Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth. Stewart couldn’t move for five laps, as Burton and Kenseth played the equivalent role of two 18-wheelers locking up both lanes of interstate traffic…Mark Martin was racy and had a competitive car until he and Greg Biffle hooked up on Lap 342 with Martin hitting the wall, precipitating a 13-car wreck…The much-talked-about spoiler makes its NASCAR debut this coming Sunday at Martinsville. The 64.5-inch by 4-inch blade replaces the controversial rear wing that has been speculated to be the underlying cause behind the airborne crashes of Carl Edwards at Talladega in 2009 and Brad Keselowski at Atlanta several weeks ago. The new spoiler has already undergone testing at Talladega with another full two-day test scheduled for Charlotte this week.

Alan Ross is the author of 32 books and a regular contributor to American Profile. E-mail: alanross_sports@yahoo.com
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