It took Jimmie Johnson 270 laps to get to the front Sunday, but that was soon enough.
Johnson took advantage of a late-race caution flag, catching and passing Matt Kenseth in a 2-lap overtime sprint to the finish Sunday at the NASCAR Nextel Cup UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in Las Vegas.
Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet surged past Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford on the outside after the two sped side-by-side through the third and fourth turns on the 1.5-mile oval for the final time. The winner crossed the line 0.115 of a second – about half a car-length – ahead as he led a lap for the only time in the race.
Johnson said he sympathized with Kenseth for getting beat that way, noting he lost to Carl Edwards on the same kind of move last spring in Atlanta and then edged Bobby Labonte with an outside pass on the last lap last May at Charlotte.
“I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution,” Johnson said. “I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow.
“I thought long and hard about what I would do if I was protecting the lead. I knew I wanted to be on the outside. I faked kind of to the bottom and he kind of bought it.”
Asked if he thought about trying to block Johnson’s move to the outside, Kenseth said, “I was running in the groove where my car was the fastest. If I had to redo it right now, I don’t think there was anything I could have done different.”
Johnson is off to a great start in 2006, winning the Daytona 500 and finishing second two weeks ago in California before taking his 20th career win Sunday. And he’s doing it without crew chief Chad Knaus, banned by NASCAR for the first four races of the season after making unapproved modifications to Johnson’s car in Daytona qualifying.
With lead engineer Darian Grubb stepping in for Knaus, Johnson will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week with a 52-point lead over Kenseth in the standings.
It was Johnson’s second straight win in Las Vegas, but this one was a lot harder than 2005 when he led 107 laps.
Kyle Busch, who ran second to Johnson last year, was third, followed by Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.
Reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart became angry at Kyle Busch late in the race, reaching out the window and shaking his fist at the younger driver and bumping the rear of Busch’s car at one point.
The 20-year-old Busch, who was criticized by Stewart at Daytona for being too aggressive on the racetrack, said he didn’t feel he was doing anything wrong.
“With about 40 laps to go, it’s time to race and time to get after it and that’s what I was doing,” last year’s top rookie said. “If I did something and aggravated Stewart, well, I’m sorry.”
Formula One: Defending series champion Fernando Alonso of Renault almost collided with one Ferrari and held off the challenge of the other to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.
Alonso’s close call came in the eighth lap when Felipe Massa skidded in front of him, almost crashing into the 24-year-old Spaniard. The incident forced Massa into the pit, leaving Alonso with only seven-time former champion Michael Schumacher to worry about.
A well-planned pit strategy helped Alonso hold off the German, who finished second. Kimi Raikkonen finished third despite starting last on the grid, followed in order by Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Nextel Cup/glance
Keys to victory: Matt Kenseth led a race-high 146 laps and was out front and almost assured of victory before a collision between rookie Denny Hamlin and Kenny Wallace brought out the last of seven caution flags on lap 264 of the race scheduled to go 267 laps. A dejected Kenseth told his crew by radio his engine didn’t feel strong for the restart, and he was unable to hold off Jimmie Johnson in the final lap.
What you might have missed: Two-time and reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart had his second straight disappointing finish. He led 54 laps and stayed in the top five until the last few laps, when he had a tire rubbing and fell back into the pack. He finished 21st.
Back on track: Sunday, Golden Corral 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway, 11 a.m., Fox
