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Indy Pole Barely Eases Johnson's Frustration

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By TONY FABRIZIO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 27, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS - Jimmie Johnson has won 34 races and two championships and he's only 32 years old.

He doesn't have much to beat himself up over, but he's stewing over finishing second to Kyle Busch two weeks ago at Chicago.

"I apologized to my team over and over," Johnson said Saturday after winning the pole for today's Allstate 400. "They're tired of hearing it, but we should have had that trophy."

Johnson had run down Busch and passed him late in the race. A caution flag gave Busch new life, and he passed Johnson on the outside on the restart.

"I didn't get the restart right. And Kyle timed it just perfect," Johnson said. "He got into the back of me just as I went on the gas, which was a great move. I couldn't hook up the rear tires."

Asked if Saturday's pole eased his pain, Johnson said, "Every time you're on track kind of eases what went on before. But God, I hope roles are reversed at the end of this thing."

Johnson, the 2006 Brickyard winner, won the pole with a one-lap speed of 181.763 mph.

MARTIN ON TARGET: Mark Martin practically predicted a Brickyard win last month at Pocono, and he hasn't done anything yet to indicate it isn't possible.

He took the outside pole in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 8 Chevy with a speed of 181.393 mph and posted the sixth-fastest speed in "happy hour" practice.

"When I made that statement, I didn't feel like Babe Ruth pointing at where he was going to knock it out," Martin said. "But I did mean that we were going to come here and be strong. I feel that no matter what happens, I can halfway save face on that because we were top 10 in both practices and qualified second."

TOYOTA UPSET: Toyota boss Lee White said a NASCAR rule change this week designed to cut the horsepower of Toyota's Nationwide Series engines already is hurting some teams' efforts to land sponsors.

"I have received letters from teams unnamed that were looking at potential sponsors for a few races that basically said we'll withdraw our consideration," White said Saturday.

Toyota had won 14 of 21 Nationwide races going into Saturday night's race at nearby O'Reilly Raceway Park, but 13 of the victories were secured by Joe Gibbs Racing, which builds its own engines.

The other Toyota teams use engines built by Triad Racing Development. Those teams, including Michael Waltrip Racing (Zephyrhills' David Reutimann), haven't been dominant but still will be impacted by the rule change.

The rule change didn't figure to hurt the Toyotas in Saturday night's race because it was on a short track. But it will likely impact the Toyotas on the larger tracks.

Tony Fabrizio

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