Hendrick Motorsports News #5, #24, #25, #48

[Realtree]

Gordon riled at Johnson's maneuvers to block him

By RICK MINTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/02/07
 
Martinsville, Va. ? The awkward aspect of multicar NASCAR teams came to the forefront at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday as Jimmie Johnson resorted to some serious blocking to defeat Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon in the Goody's Cool Orange 500.

Afterward, Gordon struggled to suppress his displeasure. But from all indications, he wasn't happy with Johnson, whom he helped get a job at Hendrick. And Gordon said he wouldn't forget the finish.

"There's going to be some interesting racing going forward," he said. "[Johnson] blocked me pretty bad. I thought I had a chance at him a couple of times, but he shut the door pretty good."

Gordon added that Johnson was lucky to have a teammate racing him at the finish.

"Anybody else in second place but me, he would not have won the race," Gordon said.

It's unlikely that Gordon will wreck Johnson as payback, but he'll likely use similar blocking tactics if he finds himself leading Johnson with a race on the line.

"If the roles are reversed, I'm going to do what I have to do to protect that position," Gordon said.

Johnson said there was little doubt in his mind that his teammate and mentor wanted to pass him.

"The bumps kept getting progressively stronger, and the last few may have set off the air bag in a street car," Johnson said. "The last one just moved me clean up the track."

But he said it was just good short-track racing, and he's not worried about any lingering ill will on Gordon's part.

"He has the utmost respect for me. I do for him," Johnson said. "It's certainly something we'll work out. ... The reason he's upset is [because] he's a competitor. He wanted to win. He had a better car, but he couldn't get by me."

Both drivers said one factor kept the situation from getting really ugly: The front and rear bumpers of the Car of Tomorrow line up, making it more difficult to nudge a slower driver aside than it was with the older cars.

"With last year's car, I would have been wrecked if he had hit me that hard," Johnson said. "The cars are more forgiving now to contact."

The scenario of Hendrick drivers battling each other for race victories could happen again and often, based on the results of the past four races, all of which have been won by Hendrick drivers ? three by Johnson, one by Kyle Busch.

"I hope we can maintain the momentum," team owner Rick Hendrick said, quickly pointing out that Tony Stewart and others have had dominant cars but suffered setbacks that kept them from winning.

"We've got to be thankful that we got the breaks and were good enough to be up front."

Johnson grabbed the lead after a red flag for rain on lap 357. When racing resumed, Johnson stopped for fresh tires while the rest of the leaders stayed on the track. Then when the rest of the leaders made pit stops 20 laps later, Johnson moved to second place, quickly dispatched Busch and took a lead that he never relinquished.

Denny Hamlin finished third, ahead of Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Stewart was seventh.

[Outdoors Junkie]

Why the heck should Johnson let someone else pass him?  Even if it is a teammate.  I would of blocked him too!

[rchaze60]

always a whinner....... yeah he might be a good driver and all but come on ....... if you gonna whine about it then you should take your a$$  and go race soap box derby  :ROTFLMAO: I would of done the same thing if I was Jimmie hell its not like Jeff is in 11th place

[Woody]

I too don't blame Jimmie one bit for not letting Jeffy pass.  Why should he?  Just because Jeffy is part owner-whoopdeedoo!  As they say-may the better man win-and apparently he did.  (at least of the 2)   ::)

They alway say...you have friends up until the last lap-then it's everyone for yourselves!  (Yes, that's what is said at Superspeedways-but why should it be any different anywhere else?) 

[Realtree]

I agree completely guys. With 5 laps to go or less, all bets are off and it's every man for himself...teammates or not. We all know that Jeff would have (and has) done the same thing had the roles been reversed this weekend. He still came home 2nd and the car he owns won, so what is the loss? 

[Realtree]

Johnson, HMS continue to dominate COT, in 2007
Reigning champ wins first at Richmond, fourth of year
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
May 6, 2007
05:51 PM EDT
   
RICHMOND, Va. -- Jimmie Johnson led teammate Kyle Busch to a 1-2 finish at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, the third consecutive victory for Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick has won seven of the past eight Nextel Cup races and swept all four races in which NASCAR has used its new Car of Tomorrow.

It looked as if Hendrick would finish 1-2-3 for the final 100 laps of the race, as Johnson, Busch and polesitter Jeff Gordon battled for the lead. But Gordon faded over the final 15 laps and gave up third place to Denny Hamlin.

Gordon, who won the past two weeks, settled for fourth as Chevrolets took the top four spots in the race that began briefly Saturday night with 12 laps run under caution before it was halted because of rain. It started fresh on Sunday.

Johnson, the defending Nextel Cup champion, won for the fourth time this season but first at RIR. The .75-mile track has been among the worst on his resume, with Johnson having scored only one top 10 finish in 15 previous visits.

"This means the world to me to win here," Johnson said. "We haven't been that strong here. It reminds me of Indy last year, and we beat a track that's been tough on us. We looked at it as a new opportunity for the team and myself to learn the right setup and for me to learn the right rhythm of the track and had some awesome racing with my teammate."

In this year of Hendrick Motorsports, everything is clicking and the competition is admittedly frustrated.

"You can argue that Hendrick has all the best drivers," Hamlin said. "It's tough to beat them when they've got four very, very good teams. We've got three good teams, but when you've got four like they have -- all competitive and all running up front every week, the information that they exchange is going to be better."

Only Casey Mears, the fourth driver in the Hendrick stable, is struggling. He was wrecked early and finished 18th.

Busch said the entire organization is the class of the NASCAR right now."We've got great race teams and I'd say probably four of the best 10 or 12 drivers out there," he said. "It's hard to beat the best drivers with the best equipment and the best teams. You just have everything all pieced together correctly."

Only Kevin Harvick had a car that could challenge the Hendrick crew, and the Daytona 500 winner led 106 laps midway through the race. He was out front when the sixth caution of the race sent the field into the pits, but as Harvick pulled out, he clipped rookie David Ragan, who was heading into his stall.

It caused considerable damage to the front of Harvick's car and forced him to stop for repairs. He was in 17th, with heavy black tape around the nose of his Chevrolet, when the race resumed and never challenged again. He rallied to finish seventh.

"We just didn't communicate," Harvick said.

Kurt Busch finished fifth and was followed by his Penske Racing teammate, Ryan Newman, in sixth. Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.

After Harvick's pit-road error, Kurt Busch briefly moved to the front, but his stay was brief. David Gilliland wrecked to bring out a caution and Kurt Busch ducked onto pit road for service. But the leaders didn't follow him, and Busch shuffled back to ninth on the restart.

It put the three Hendrick cars out front, as Johnson, Kyle Busch and Gordon were 1-2-3 when the race resumed. Jeff Green then hit Dale Earnhardt Jr. to cause Earnhardt to spin and bring out the eighth caution of the day.

It didn't change the running order, though, as the three Hendrick cars stayed out front until a debris caution with 82 laps to go. Dave Blaney broke up the Hendrick party with a two-tire pit stop that saw Johnson and Gordon come out in first and second, Blaney third and Kyle Busch fourth with 78 laps to go.

Busch quickly passed him to reclaim third place, then wasted little time getting past Gordon for second.

He got by Johnson with 44 to go, passing his teammate just as Greg Biffle brought out the 12th caution of the race. Kyle Busch stayed out front through a series of late cautions, but lost it to Johnson on a restart with 20 laps to go.

Johnson drove away and the closest Busch got to him again was when he visited him in Victory Lane to spray him with Gatorade.

[Realtree]

I am hearing that the details are being worked out to put Mark Martin in the driver's seat of the #24 Dupont Finishes Chevy to sub for Jeff Gordon when his baby girl is born in the coming weeks. Jeff's wife Ingrid is due the week of June 24th when the Cup Series will be at Sonoma, California for the Toyota / Save Mart 350.

Gordon has not missed a Cup race since starting his career in Nov of 1992 at Atlanta in the 29th race of 1992 season; a string of 484 consecutive Cup starts. Gordon's first Cup race was also the final Cup race of "The King" Richard Petty.