Chicago Sun-Times: Johnson earns victory in Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- With a $30,000 bonus inside his pocket, Jimmie Johnson headed to the casinos to celebrate his latest victory. If he can run the tables the same way he's running the Nextel Cup series, he just might break the bank.

Johnson ended the Roush Racing stranglehold at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, spoiling what could have been a banner day for hometown boys Kurt and Kyle Busch by beating them both to win the UAW- DaimlerChrysler 400.

Johnson, who won for the 15th time in his career, has won five of the last nine Nextel Cup races, dating to last season. He hasn't finished worse than sixth since October, and this victory put him on top of the points standings.

"I can have a little fun at the blackjack table tonight," Johnson said, referring to the bonus that comes with earning the points lead. "But I'm not concerned about the points lead yet."

Johnson won a series-high eight races last season, only to fall eight points shy of winning the series title. But he has come charging out of the gate this season, with a fifth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a runner-up finish in Fontana, Calif.

Roush Racing had won five of the first seven races at the track. But with Johnson winning and Hendrick teammates Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon finishing second and fourth, respectively, the Roush dominance is over. Kurt Busch carried the Roush flag with a third- place finish.

After the race, NASCAR said that the roof of Johnson's Chevrolet was too low and that Kyle Busch had a car that came in too high on the rear quarter panel. NASCAR did not announce immediate penalties, but it could dock points from both drivers this week. If Johnson loses any points, Kurt Busch would take over the lead in the standings.

Johnson was strong the entire way, leading a race-high 107 laps as he seemed to coast toward the victory. The only trouble he had was passing a lapped car with fewer than 20 laps to go. That allowed Kyle Busch, a 19-year-old rookie, to close the gap, while big brother Kurt, the reigning series champion, also moved within striking distance.

But lapped traffic soon got in the way of the Busch brothers, preventing them from challenging Johnson down the stretch. Johnson cruised to victory, beating Kyle Busch to the finish line by 1.66 seconds.

"It was a great performance for the Hendricks," Johnson said. "Right now, both the Hendrick cars and the Roush cars, you can see the hard work they put in over the winter. They've got one win, and we've got [two]."

Gordon won the season-opening Daytona 500, and Roush driver Greg Biffle won in Fontana.

As Johnson was driving his car to victory lane, Kyle Busch was treasuring his second-place finish.

"This is as good as a win as far as I'm concerned," he said. I had a bunch of guys put money on me [at 60-1 odds], so it would have been cool to have Jimmie pull over and let us win. Next year, I'll probably have a lot lower odds."

Kevin Harvick, who had to start in 42nd place because his team admitted cheating in qualifying, battled back to finish fifth.