FONTANA, CA -- On a night where track temperature hit 147 degrees and ambient temperature reached 109 degrees on the call to ‘start your engines,’ Jimmie Johnson and the Hendrick team laid claim as the team to beat with victory in the Sharp Aquos 500. Johnson’s fifth win of the season guarantees a share of the lead with teammate Jeff Gordon when the points are reset for Chase to the Nextel Cup following next week’s race in Richmond.

Johnson spoke about the team’s ability to adapt being a key tonight; “It was really just a solid effort through the whole night. In the middle part of the race, we were quick on short runs. As the track changed, we made small changes, and we got better and better.”

Trailing Johnson was Carl Edwards, last week's Bristol winner, and Kyle Busch, who dominated the early portions of the race and finished up the night leading the most laps (97). Jeff Burton was fourth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr was fifth.

Multiple cautions littered the start of the race, which included a fiery early exit for Michael Waltrip #55 NAPA Toyota Camry and a front stretch wreck which retired the #88 Generation Max Ford Fusion of Ricky Rudd. Rudd was celebrating his 900th start in NASCAR, ranking him second all time to Richard Petty. Waltrip was released from the infield care center, but Rudd was taken to a nearby hospital complaining of shoulder pains.

After an early race collision with Juan Pablo Montoya, Carl Edwards spoke about the incident and his team’s rebounded to finish second.

“I was really looking forward to this race. We were so fast in Happy Hour. The stuff Bob’s (crew chief Bob Osborne) been doing has been really great. The on the first pit stop, when they dropped the jack, the 42 (Montoya) was coming in the pit stall in front of me, and I pulled right out in front of him and wrecked the car up just a little bit. We fought back from that all day.”

The race entertained with a California Speedway record for leaders (16) as well as lead changes (30), which included fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr taking the lead early on in the race. Even with aggressive pit strategies and a seemingly ‘at all cost’ driving style, the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet could not catch the leaders.

The good news for #8 fans is that Earnhardt's finish cut the points distance from 13th to 12th down to 128 points with Kevin Harvick holding the bubble position going into next week's race at Richmond. The top 12 drivers in points after Richmond qualify for The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch are already locked into the championship chase.

Pole sitter Kurt Busch showed early dominance, but as the sun set, the team struggled to hold on to a top-10 finish (9th). His finish moved him up to 11th in Nextel Cup Point Standings and took his struggles throughout the evening right in stride;

“We changed everything under the sun to make the Miller Lite Dodge better, but all in all we’ll take the finish in the top 10. That’s what consistency is all about.”

While Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton celebrated victories this weekend, California Speedway assisted this weekend in efforts that raised an estimated $900,000.00 with proceeds going to the NASCAR Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and over 70 other local non-profit groups. California Speedway president Gillian Zucker thanked the fans generosity.

“We had some wonderful racing on the track and at the same time we also did some wonderful things in the community,” said Zucker, “I cannot state how grateful we are to our loyal fans who are so instrumental in helping us raise funds for so many great causes.”

Results

* Denotes Rookie

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