The third-year driver wins his second straight Coca-Cola 600 by leading 334 of 400 laps.
By BRANT JAMES
Published May 31, 2004
CONCORD, N.C. - Jimmie Johnson didn't need 600 miles to prove he had the dominant car at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Sunday. But the last 20 were good for showing off.
Johnson lost big leads three times because of late-race cautions but blasted back to the front each time, overtaking Jamie McMurray with 17 laps left to win the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest and most grueling race, in consecutive years.
"Usually when you have a car this good, you make a mistake," Johnson said. "It's very satisfying when you have one that good to finish the deal."
After Ryan Newman spun on Lap 368 to bring out the caution, Johnson lost his lead and came out of the pits fifth . He picked off rookie Kasey Kahne, Jeremy Mayfield and Michael Waltrip on consecutive laps, then passed McMurray on the backstretch and pulled away.
Johnson's Turn 4 pass between Kahne and the lapped Robby Gordon on Lap 376 left little traffic ahead and little doubt that Johnson, running on four fresh tires, would run down McMurray, who stayed out to take the lead during the caution.
"I knew the most important thing was to clear (Kahne)," Johnson said. "He was the only one on four tires, and I needed to get by him as fast as I could. I put us all in a bad position and hoped somebody would back off, and I pulled through."
The only drama thereafter was when Newman's No.12 Dodge lost an engine on Lap 393, three laps before the red-flag cutoff. Starting first in a single-file line, Johnson roared away again and crossed the finish line under caution when Bobby Labonte hit the wall on the final lap.
Johnson, who led 334 of 400 laps (501 of the 600 miles), was followed by Waltrip, Matt Kenseth and McMurray.
"He was a lot better than us," Waltrip said.
Though Johnson has won two of his three 600-mile Charlotte races, the event almost had held bad memories for him. He led 263 laps in his first try in 2002, but skidded through his pit stall on his last stop and finished seventh. Last year, he won when the race was shortened to 276 laps because of rain.
"The rain-shortened one last time, there was some controversy there about that, some said we weren't the best car," Johnson said. "And then the mistake I made my first time, this one was special."
Johnson needed no such help on Sunday. His performance was nearly flawless in a race that requires stamina, strategy and engine durability. Johnson made no mistakes that showed, and his nearest miss when a lapped Jimmy Spencer nearly sideswiped him on a restart. Crew chief Chad Knaus kept the No.48 Chevrolet fast and agile on a track that cooled during the race that began in afternoon heat and finished at night.
Pulling it all together allowed Johnson to join Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon as back-to-back 600 winners.
Johnson also knows how to keep a sponsor happy. The company that owns naming rights to the track he has come to dominate also is his sponsor. The win, his second in 12 races this season, followed consecutive runnerup finishes and pulled him within five points of leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was sixth.
The pole-sitting Johnson began blazing away from the field at the first green flag, opening a 20-length lead in the first several laps. Though Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip also separated themselves from the field, they were never a threat to Johnson.
In a race that did not have its first caution until Johnny Sauter lost control and went into the wall on Lap 160, Johnson was able to augment his large lead, picking off struggling cars until just 23 remained on the lead lap after 70 laps on the 1.5-mile track.
Johnson did not appear to be conserving anything, either his energies or his car's setup. He led the first 54 laps, and 16 cars remained on the lead lap at Lap 99. At Lap 105, his average speed of nearly 168 mph was 15 better than the race record. After the second pit cycle, 13 cars remained on the lead lap. Although he had to surrender his margin following the caution, Johnson opened up a three-length lead 15 laps later.
"Credit everybody, the engine department, Chad, everybody," Johnson said. "We found some things, sciencing it out. I'm just the lucky guy who gets to wheel this thing."
