LAS VEGAS, NV. -- Defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is back in the winner's circle.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver drove away from teammate Jeff Gordon down the stretch Sunday to win the exciting UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Johnson survived a brush with the wall and battled back to the front in a race that changed direction so many times, a capacity crowd had no idea who would win it until the final laps.
Gordon, at one point, seemed to have the winning car. So did Jeff Burton, knocked from contention with mechanical woes late in the race.
Denny Hamlin finished third after spending most of the day in the middle of the pack. And Mr. Consistency himself, Mark Martin, wound up with a fifth-place finish.
Rounding out the top 10 were Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, who has been off everyone's radar for a while, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 10th.
The race had plenty of fireworks right from the get-go. Rookie David Ragan spun out and hit the wall before the 43-car field completed a lap.
Several laps later, Robby Gordon tried to go three-wide in turn one and hit Ward Burton, who then slammed into Casey Mears.
Living up to pre-race expectations as a potential crash fest, on lap 17, three cars were involved in another accident, sending Dave Blaney to the garage, as well as Joe Nemechek. Clint Bowyer was also involved but continued in the race.
The 1.5-mile track posed particular problems this time around for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams. It was repaved over last winter. Tire wear was an issue during January testing and Goodyear, in the interest of safety, brought a harder tire for the race than previously used.
Many of the teams struggled with a proper setup in qualifying and practice.
Aric Almirola spun as did Kyle Busch, who also spun in Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race while battling Jeff Burton to the finish line.
At the halfway point, Gordon led, followed by Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, J.J. Yeley, Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.
