NASCAR 02 - Johnson dominates AAA Texas 500

The speed in Jimmie Johnson's No. forty eight Chevrolet was completely jaw-dropping.

Able to regress from his pursuers with apparent ease, Johnson finished 3 positions previous Matt Kenseth in Sunday's AAA American state five hundred, breaking a tie for the lead within the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. however create no mistake -- Johnson's performance amounted to a brutal bludgeoning of Kenseth and therefore the remainder of the opposition.

Kenseth hurt his own cause with a pit road rushing penalty, however not even an ideal day on pit road probably would have overcome the dominance of the five-time champion, UN agency light-emitting diode 255 of 334 laps on the way to his third conclusion at American state Motor Speedway, his sixth of the season and therefore the 66th of his career.

With 2 races left within the Chase, Johnson heads to next Sunday's event at Phoenix with a seven-point lead over Kenseth, UN agency rallied from the rushing penalty he incurred on Lap 173 to end fourth.

Similarly, Johnson left American state last year with a seven-point lead over Brad Keselowski -- and lost the title. however the emphatic nature of Johnson's win on Sunday sent AN clear message.

"We came here ANd tested and did an awing job of understanding what I required within the automobile and what was planning to produce speed," Johnson aforementioned once the race. "We came back and had a really swish qualifying session and apply sessions, and simply unbroken golf shot a lot of and a lot of speed within the automobile.

"It paid off these days. Obviously, we'd like lots of speed within the automobile and a win to urge any points as a result of Matt is there within the prime 5. Nice to realize simply a number of points on him. however simply a dominant day for this Lowe's team."

Despite the emphatic whipping he administered to the remainder of the sphere, Johnson is something however cocksure.

"I've been observance lots of MMA fighting latterly, and you will be a rhythm and suppose that someone has the fight won, and it does not finish that means," he said. "That's however this is often planning to be. Matt did not have perhaps the most effective day and still finished fourth. This issue goes to travel to the last lap at Homestead, and it's planning to return right down to mistakes.

"I'm terribly excited concerning our performance and what we tend to did here. We'll get pleasure from this, however there's still period of time of terribly laborious athletics previous North American country."

Dale Earnhardt son. ran second, 4.390 seconds behind his Hendrick Motorsports mate. Joey Logano came home third.

Neither Earnhardt nor Logano, however, had a prayer of beating Johnson, and that they knew it.

"The forty eight was in another category, and no-one had something for him," Earnhardt aforementioned. "He was simply super sensible at some point of apply and therefore the race."

"Overall, we won't be unsuccessful with a finish," Logano additional. "Just the forty eight automobile was laughably quick."

Johnson is that the initial succeeding winner of the autumn race at American state since the race became a part of the Chase in 2005. Johnson additionally tied Carl Edwards for many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories at the one.5-mile track.

Kasey Kahne finished fifth, followed by Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer. Harvick climbed to 3rd within the series standings, however at forty points behind Johnson and thirty three behind Kenseth, it'll take a miracle to place him back to the championship image.

The race was a disaster for Jeff Gordon, UN agency entered the event third within the standings however blew a tire, hit the wall on Lap seventy four, finished thirty eighth and saw his hopes for a potential fifth title diminish. Gordon fell to sixth in points, sixty nine behind Johnson.

NASCAR 01

Former Central Florida football player adapts to new life on NASCAR pit crew. Kevin Harris played for Winter Springs and Seminole High, and Wake Forest.

First at Winter Springs and Seminole high schools, then at Wake Forest, Kevin Harris was a battering ram of a fullback.

The battering ram gave out.
"Football is way too big, way too tough, way too hard on the body,'' Harris said. "By the end of college, I think I was pretty much done.''

So he did the only thing he thought was right. He walked away.
Video of Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer playing flag football with kids
Harris was 24.
That realization came while Harris was in training camp last fall with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League.
The pounding became too much, but unlike a vast number of players who give up football, Harris — a double major in communications and sociology — had other options.

Harris was offered the opportunity during Tuskers camp to try out for a NASCAR pit crew with Hendrick Motorsports, arguably the top team in the sport.

"I said, 'Sign me up, brother,' '' Harris said.

He will be in the pits for the first time in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday at the Kobalt Tools 400 in Las Vegas.
"I'm not nervous in the way you might think,'' Harris said. "It's more like a nervousness to perform. It's not a nervous, 'Oh my god, what's going to happen to me? Am I going to get hit by a car?' ''

Didn't grow up a racing fan
Harris got introduced to the pits early.
His friend, Kevin Comerer, was celebrating his 10th or 11th birthday at the then-Daytona USA theme park, and both boys were chosen as volunteer pit-crew members.

"Our stop ended up being 19 seconds, which was one side of the car,'' Comerer said. "Now they probably do the whole car in 13 seconds.''

Other than that, Harris did not grow up a NASCAR fan. He attended race-watching parties at the Comerers' house, but he was more interested in the hooplah than the horsepower.

"We're kind of a NASCAR-deficient family,'' said Mick Harris, Kevin's father and his high school football coach. "We're getting introduced to it.''
Kevin had not been to a Sprint Cup race until last year in Concord, N.C. Sunday's race will be his fourth — but from a decidely different vantage point.
He worked in the pits for ARCA and Nationwide Series races during Speedweeks and Daytona. He mainly has pitted during Nationwide races as a rear tire carrier, including for Donnie Neuenberger during Saturday's Sam's Town 300.


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