Johnson wins the Winston

NASCAR May 17, 2003; Humpy's predication came true -- winner of The Winston was indeed the former off-road racerm Jimmie Johnson. The final segment was run cleanly after the first start was waived off. Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 Chevy ran quietly in the first two segments, as the team was seeing how it would run in traffic, alone, low and high.

"Great race car, great work from the team," said Johnson, tonight's new millionaire. "This is Hendrick Motorpsort, they do good every race. We just ran the way we wanted to, took it easy and brought it home."

Segment one ran caution free as twenty-four cars ran for the top twenty spots. The 2002 Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart ran away to take the checkers. The move in the race segment was Ricky Rudd going high to take the final transfer spot from Rusty Wallace.

Going home early with Wallace was Jamie McMurray, Elliott Sadler and Johnny Benson.

The wild one happened in the second segment with just one lap remaining. And instead of four cars not transfering, six ended up with damage cars: Stewart, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

"We just went into one a bit too wide," commented Stewart on the accident. "And I got into Terry [Labonte], it's a shame since we had such a good car."

The field had just restarted after a red flag due to Ryan Newman's crash, when the 2002 winner, Newman, got loose and backed into the wall and back down to the apron. Newman, thinking he had been nudged was a bit hot.

"I just got loose, either somehting broked or I just lost it," said Newman after being told he had not been hit.

Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch traded the top spot during the entire race, Busch managed to hold off Harvick at the end.

Also out during the race was Ward Burton in an earlier spin. Jeff Gordon was the lucky man as he made the transfer due to the big one, he survived. "I didn't think we were going to be it [talking about the final segment]," stated Gordon.