Hendrick Motorsports in COT driver's seat
By: RICK HOFF - Staff Writer | ∞
Looking back at the early-season results, NASCAR may as well have named its Car of Tomorrow the Car of Hendrick Motorsports.
Among the pluses (safety, cost-saving measures) and minuses (Dale Earnhardt Jr. says it drives like a tank) attributed to the COT, there no argument that the boxy car has been a real winner for the Hendrick drivers, including El Cajon's Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson took his fourth checkered flag of the season in 10 Nextel Cup races when he finally conquered Richmond International Raceway to win the Jim Stewart 400 on Sunday.
"It means the world to win here," Johnson told reporters after his first-ever win at Richmond and 27th career victory. "We haven't been that strong here. This reminds me of Indy last year, when we beat a track that's been tough on us."
Richmond's three-quarter-mile oval hosted the fourth COT race of the season. Hendrick Motorsports cars have won all four races, including two by Johnson.
Hendrick had three cars in the top 10, including first and third places, at the COT debut March 25 at Bristol, Tenn. The following week, at Martinsville, Va., Johnson led the way as Hendrick took first, second and fourth.
At Phoenix on April 21, Hendrick placed first, fourth and seventh as Jeff Gordon won from the pole, his third pole position in four COT races.
Johnson is currently is second place in the Nextel Cup points standings, 211 points behind Gordon.
"In some ways, I'm surprised that we've been able to win as many races this year as we have," Johnson said. "We've had a lot of great competition from other teams, but we've put a lot into the current car and the Car of Tomorrow. I'm surprised to see at the end of the day, Hendrick's still at the front."
Johnson and Gordon both drive Chevrolets for Hendrick Motorsports, and Chevys have won nine of the 10 Cup races so far. That includes the new Impalas, which replaced Monte Carlos for the COT races.
The only non-Chevy winner has been Matt Kenseth, who piloted the Jack Roush/Fenway Racing Ford to victory in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway on Feb. 25.
"We've got a long ways to go with these cars," Kenseth said after a 10th-place finish at Richmond. "I don't know, we just can't keep up."
Other teams cite Hendrick Motorsports' lucrative war chest as a reason for its domination thus far.
Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, says it all comes down to teamwork.
"I think if you look at the timing and scoring over the last few Impala COT races, it shows that the level of competition right now is very, very close," Knaus said after the Richmond race. "I told Jimmie that at one point (in the Richmond race), first through 15th were all running within a 10th of a second of lap time.
"So where that makes a difference now is that you've got to make sure you've got the best team around you possible. And that's not just pit crews. That's the guys preparing the cars and the guys calling race strategy and spotting, and then obviously our quarterback with the driver."
The four Car of Tomorrow races thus far were all on shorter tracks. Bristol and Martinsville are both slightly more than a half-mile, Richmond is a three-quarter-miler, and Phoenix is a 1-mile oval.
The next COT race will be on a longer (1.366 miles) and arguably more demanding track when the Nextel Cup shifts to Darlington, S.C., this weekend for the Dodge Avenger 500.
On Monday, Earnhardt again voiced his concerns about the COT.
"I think it will be hard not to hit the wall," Earnhardt told reporters of driving the Car of Tomorrow at Darlington. "And slow, real slow. And very, very frustrating."
Frustrating only for the drivers not associated with Hendrick Motorsports.
-- Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com.
NEXTEL CUP
Dodge Avenger 500
Site: Darlington, S.C.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, noon; Saturday, race (FOX, 4 p.m.).
At a glance: Jimmie Johnson's victory last week pulled him into second place in the standings, where he now trails Jeff Gordon by 211 points. ... This will be the fifth COT event. The first four featured margins of victory of less than 1 second.
BUSCH
Diamond Hill Plywood 200
Site: Darlington, S.C.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 2 p.m., race (ESPN2, 5 p.m.).
At a glance: Mark Martin has a series-best eight wins and eight poles at Darlington. ... Jason Keller is returning to the series this weekend with CJM Racing. Keller is Busch's all-time earnings leader with more than $10 million and one of only two drivers with 400 starts.
FORMULA ONE
Spanish Grand Prix
Site: Barcelona
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 5 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 4:30 a.m.).
At a glance: Lewis Hamilton, double world champion Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher replacement Kimi Raikkonen all have 22 points after three races. Alonso and Raikkonen are technically ahead, with each having a victory.
-- Associated Press
NASCAR
Nextel Cup
1. Jeff Gordon, 1,691
2. Jimmie Johnson, 1,480
3. Matt Kenseth, 1,431
4. Denny Hamlin, 1,359
5. Jeff Burton, 1,352
6. Kyle Busch, 1,229
7. Tony Stewart, 1,225
8. Kevin Harvick, 1,203
9. Kurt Busch, 1,198
10. Clint Bowyer, 1,159
11. Carl Edwards, 1,131
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1,118
13. Jamie McMurray, 1,099
14. Mark Martin, 1,038
15. Greg Biffle, 1,037
16. Elliott Sadler, 1,022
17. David Stremme, 1,009
18. Bobby Labonte, 1,001
19. Ryan Newman, 998
20. Martin Truex Jr., 987
Busch Series
1. Carl Edwards, 1,793
2. Kevin Harvick, 1,391
3. Dave Blaney, 1,283
4. David Reutimann, 1,268
5. Matt Kenseth, 1,223
6. Kyle Busch, 1,171
7. Bobby Hamilton, Jr., 1,149
8. David Ragan, 1,146
9. Juan Pablo Montoya, 1,109
10. Regan Smith, 1,106
11. Marcos Ambrose, 1,094
12. Greg Biffle, 1,068
13. Mike Wallace, 1,049
14. Stephen Leicht, 1,036
15. Clint Bowyer, 1,029
16. J.J. Yeley, 1,017
17. Jeff Burton, 1,015
18. Shane Huffman, 1,013
19. Casey Mears, 994
20. Jon Wood, 963
Craftsman Trucks
1. Mike Skinner, 905
2. Todd Bodine, 797
3. Rick Crawford, 777
4. Ron Hornaday Jr., 751
5. Jack Sprague, 734
6. Ted Musgrave, 727
7. Johnny Benson, 703
8. Matt Crafton, 683
9. Travis Kvapil, 653
10. Erik Darnell, 651
11. Aaron Fike, 644
12. Stacy Compton, 575
13. Brendan Gaughan, 573
14. Dennis Setzer, 567
15. David Starr, 527
16. Terry Cook, 523
17. Willie Allen, 503
18. Chad McCumbee, 498
19. Bill Lester, 476
20. Tyler Walker, 467
NHRA
Top Fuel
1. Rod Fuller, 499
2. Brandon Bernstein, 476
3. J.R. Todd, 408
4. Larry Dixon, 396
5. Melanie Troxel, 392
Funny Car
1. Ron Capps, 645
2. Robert Hight, 524
3. Tony Pedregon, 404
4. Mike Ashley, 385
(tie) Gary Scelzi, 385
Pro Stock
1. Greg Anderson, 680
2. Dave Connolly, 479
3. Jeg Coughlin, 466
4. Jason Line, 427
5. Warren Johnson, 351
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Matt Smith, 367
2. Karen Stoffer, 314
3. Angelle Sampey, 309
4. Chip Ellis, 222
5. Craig Treble, 216
IRL
1. Dan Wheldon, 171
2. Scott Dixon, 144
3. Helio Castroneves, 136
4. Dario Franchitti, 131
5. Tony Kanaan, 130
6. Sam Hornish Jr., 119
7. Tomas Scheckter, 104
8. Danica Patrick, 85
9. Vitor Meira, 83
10. Scott Sharp, 82
11. Jeff Simmons, 73
12. Darren Manning, 72
13. Buddy Rice, 72
14. Marco Andretti, 70
15. A.J. Foyt IV, 68
(tie) Sarah Fisher, 68
(tie) Ed Carpenter, 68
18. Kosuke Matsuura, 51
19. Marty Roth, 27
20. Alex Barron, 26
Champ
1. Sebastien Bourdais, 74
2. Will Power, 69
3. Robert Doornbos, 61
4. Alex Tagliani, 57
5. Bruno Junqueira, 53
6. Oriol Servia, 51
7. Graham Rahal, 46
8. Justin Wilson, 41
9. Tristan Gommendy, 39
10. Simon Pagenaud, 38
11. Ryan Dalziel, 38
12. Mario Dominguez, 36
13. Katherine Legge, 35
14. Neel Jani, 34
15. Paul Tracy, 26
16. Alex Figge, 21
17. Dan Clarke, 19
18. Matt Halliday, 18
19. Roberto Moreno, 9
Formula One
1. Fernando Alonso, Spain, McLaren-Mercedes, 22
(tie) Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 22
(tie) Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren-Mercedes, 22
4. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 17
5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW-Sauber, 15
6. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Renault, 8
7. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 4
8. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW-Sauber, 3
9. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 2
10. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Toyota, 1
(tie) Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Renault, 1
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