Notebook: Four-tire call didn’t work for Johnson

Notebook: Four-tire call didn’t work for Johnson

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 May 15, 2011)

DOVER, Del.—Jimmie Johnson thought the late four-tire call was the way to go—until he saw how many cars had taken two tires ahead of him.

 Johnson and Carl Edwards had dominated Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway, leading a combined 324 of 400 laps (Johnson 207, Edwards 117). But a late caution and a mix of pit strategies scrambled the field for a restart with 34 laps to go.

 When Mark Martin stayed on the track under caution, and seven cars took two tires, Johnson restarted 11th and gained only two positions before the checkered flag. Matt Kenseth, who took right-side tires only on the final stop, won the race.

 “I guess in our minds we didn’t think that would take place—so many guys taking two tires,” Johnson said. “It was certainly the call. I knew basically, from the numbers, we were in trouble when we left pit road and there were so many guys in front of us.

 “It’s just the way it is. We had a great racecar all day. Led a lot of laps but, unfortunately, not the one at the end that counted.”

Kyle Busch salvages strong finish

 After blowing an engine in practice, then pounding the outside wall in the second session, Kyle Busch had a mountain to climb in Sunday’s race. Forced to start from the tail end of the field because of an engine change, Busch rode a late surge to a fourth-place finish.

 Key to Busch’s success was the positions he gained after taking four tires on his final pit stop on Lap 363. With other drivers on new rubber struggling to gain positions, Busch made a series of breathtaking passes to the outside and quickly drove from 12th on the restart to third. He dropped one spot, to Marcos Ambrose, before the finish.

 “It was a rough weekend—it started out rough,” Busch said. “The guys just did an awesome job getting what I could get, anyways. We took four tires on that last stop, and we kind of worked our way up and passed most of those guys on the restart.

 “Fortunately for me, I was in the right lane, and I could do that. I made the outside work.”

 That he did, and Busch held third in the Sprint Cup standings, 37 points behind Edwards, the leader after 11 races.

Injured KHI crewman returning home

 Glen Wheeler, a mechanic for Kevin Harvick Inc. injured by a flying rear spring during Saturday’s last lap wreck in the Nationwide Series race at Dover, returned home with the team on Sunday, team owner Kevin Harvick said.

 Wheeler was on pit road when Joey Logano spun under hard racing with race winner Carl Edwards. KHI driver Clint Bowyer was collected in the wreck and slammed the wall separating pit road from the racing surface.

 Wheeler, whose left leg was injured by the debris from the wreck, was kept overnight in a local hospital with severe swelling in the leg.

 “We’ll take him home with us today, and we’ll have him evaluated,” Harvick said Sunday before the Sprint Cup Series race. “It’s really sore.”

Ganassi gets honorary degree

 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi wasn’t at Dover on Sunday—and for good reason. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Ganassi’s home town, presented the winner of last year’s Daytona 500 and Indy 500 with an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology degree during its commencement ceremonies.

 The school noted Ganassi has been a fixture in auto racing for more than 25 years as one of the most successful and innovative owners in motorsports.