Johnson wins All...

Johnson wins All-Star race

Keselowski takes 2d at Charlotte

By Jenna Fryer

Associated Press / May 20, 2012

CONCORD, N.C. - It’s not often a race car driver intentionally cruises slowly at the back of the field.

Jimmie Johnson did it for roughly 60 laps Saturday night, and it earned him a cool $1 million payday.

Johnson used a calculated strategy - he drove hard for the first and last segments, and coasted for the three in between - to join Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon as the only three-
time winners of NASCAR’s All-Star race.

The five-time champion won the first 20-lap segment of the Sprint All-Star race, then deliberately faded to the back for the next three 20-lap segments at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His plan was to keep the No. 48 Chevrolet out of trouble, then make his play for the win in the fifth and final segment.

“We did a strategy that we thought was best for our team,’’ he said.

It certainly was, even if it was the antithesis of what race car drivers do for a living.

But it worked for this year’s new format, which guaranteed the winners of the first four segments would be the first four drivers down pit road for a mandatory stop before the 10-lap sprint to the finish. Johnson’s win in the first segment meant he was guaranteed to be the first driver down pit road, and he had the first stall - the reward for his Hendrick Motorsports team winning Thursday night’s Pit Crew Competition.

His race, after winning that first segment, was simply to beat everyone else off pit road. Johnson raced Matt Kenseth down the lane, and edged him across the line. Kenseth finished third.

Johnson then needed a clean and quick restart, which he executed to perfection, to pull away for the win. This victory comes a week after his Darlington Raceway victory gave Hendrick Motorsports its 200th Cup win.

“Man, I don’t want this week to end,’’ Johnson said.

He celebrated by picking up team owner Rick Hendrick, who climbed halfway through the window of the Chevrolet for Johnson’s celebratory lap. It was Hendrick’s seventh All-Star race win.

“He said come pick me up, and once I got to him, he didn’t want the ride,’’ Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘No, no, I came to get you, Get on the car.’ It was great to take him around.’’

Brad Keselowski, winner of the third segment, had no chance to catch Johnson over the closing 10 laps and finished second. The final segment was the shortest by 10 laps, but Keselowski didn’t think it mattered.

“I don’t think it was going to make a difference if it was a hundred laps at the end; Jimmie was just that fast,’’ Keselowski said. “You can’t really steal any of his thunder on that. I was doing all I could to get by, but wasn’t meant to be.’’