DEI teamwork kept Johnson from victory

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson zoomed past fidgety crew chief Chad Knaus last Sunday, leading the 104th circuit of the prestigious Daytona 500 under threatening skies.

The second rain delay of the afternoon loomed heavy over Daytona International Speedway, but driver and crew chief weren't lighting up the radio frequency with strategy.

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Rather, they were silently praying for the clouds to open up, end the deal and hand them the most coveted race trophy in NASCAR.

Then, Ward Burton cut a right-rear tire and slammed the wall, bringing out the caution flag. Suddenly, Johnson was in a precarious situation.

On the restart, Michael Waltrip was breathing down Johnson's rear bumper. Inside him sat Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had Daytona first-timer Christian Fittipaldi in his rearview mirror.

Johnson knew it was only a matter of time.

"We were in the lead, then the restart with (Earnhardt) starting next to us," Johnson said. "I had a couple options, either jump the start and get ahead of Junior -- but I wasn't sure how that was going to work out. My best option was to try to box Michael (Waltrip) in so Junior and the 15 couldn't get hooked up.

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"(Fittipaldi) had a terrible start and allowed Michael to drop down. When that happened, everything I could do at that point was over and done with."

From there, Johnson hopped in line, content at having lost just two positions in the running order.

Three laps later his prayer was answered -- 10 minutes too late.

Though his bid at victory was dashed, Johnson still enjoyed a fruitful Speedweeks. He finished fourth in his first career International Race of Champions start and third in the 500, continuing his impressive assault on a first-career championship.

A year ago, Johnson became the first rookie in NASCAR history to lead the championship point standings, making him a popular choice for the 2003 title.

	Credit: Autostock

Hence, to leave Daytona unscathed and third in the standings, he's plenty content.

"I'm not upset. You know, of course, I would have loved to race 'til the end," Johnson said. "I felt we had a shot to win the race. We've been here for two weeks. This pays the same amount of points as Rockingham does next week.

"We need to get home and get ready for that. I wish we could have finished under green and been out there. That's kind of a double-edged sword.

"I told Kurt (Busch, second-place finisher) I was going to try to push him for the lead, and we would have been first and second, or maybe 21st and 22nd. To come out of a restrictor-plate race with a race car, top five finish, I'm happy with that."