NASCAR NEXCUP: J Johnson Wins Southern 500 as Championship Race Tightens

DARLINGTON, S.C. November 14, 2004; Mike Harris writing for the AP reported that Jimmie Johnson took advantage of a pit mistake by Jeff Gordon's team and won the final Southern 500 on Sunday, making the tightest championship chase in NASCAR history even closer with one race remaining.

Kurt Busch, who fought an ill-handling car after his Ford was damaged early in the race, somehow overcame adversity again to post a sixth-place finish and retain the points lead going into next Sunday's finale at Homestead.

"My guys' last two pits stops got me off pit road first and that was the key," said Johnson, who had to overtake rookie Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray. They stayed out when the other leaders pitted for tires during the last of eight caution periods.

The race restarted with 18 to go in the 367-lap event and Johnson, in third, passed Kahne for second place on lap 352 and took the lead from McMurray on 359. Then he pulled away to his series-leading eighth victory of the year and fourth in the last five races.

Johnson, who beat Mark Martin to the finish line by 0.959-seconds -- about 6 car-lengths -- also won the race in March on Darlington's tough 1.366-mile oval. Gordon led a race-high 155 laps. Johnson led 124.

Johnson's teammate Gordon, a six-time Darlington winner, appeared on the way to an easy victory, dominating the second half of the race until he pitted on lap 337 during another caution period. His car came down on an air hose, costing him precious time and the four-time series champion, leading coming entering pit road, came out sixth.

He charged to the end but couldn't catch Johnson or Martin. McMurray finished fourth, followed by Kahne, Busch and rookie Carl Edwards.

"If we're going to win this championship, we can't make these kind of mistakes," Gordon said. "We made a mistake and it cost the win and a lot of momentum going to Homestead."

Heading to the finale, Busch, who came into Sunday's race leading Gordon by 41 points, now leads Johnson by 18 and Gordon by 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had to pit late in the race to change a battery, finished 11th and now trails by 72 points, with Martin 82 behind.

The day began with the top five separated by 104 points.

At one point during Sunday's race, Busch had slipped to third place in the points. But his strong finish kept him in the lead he has had since the third race of the 10-race Chase. Busch, who has now finished in the top 10 in eight of the last nine races, was proud of his team's effort on Sunday.

"We feel like we dodged a bullet today," Busch said. "We can smile about the way it finished, but we didn't race very well. It was an evil race car. But the kind of effort my team put in on pit road today is what is the key to winning a championship."

The Southern 500, traditionally run on Labor Day weekend, was moved to November when NASCAR gave the holiday date to the newer, bigger California Speedway. Darlington, which holds only about 60,000 spectators, will lose the second event to Texas Motor Speedway next year and will have only a May race.

For the first time, the race began in sunshine and finished under Darlington's new lights, challenging all the drivers with constantly changing conditions.