| By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
August 10, 2006
09:53 AM EDT (13:53 GMT)
Jimmie Johnson's victory celebration continued long after NBC went off the air Sunday at Indianapolis. This Sunday, during the pre-race show for the AMD at The Glen (1 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC), you'll be seeing a lot more of it.  |  | | Jimmie Johnson led 33 laps and was able to kiss the bricks at Indianapolis. Credit: Autostock |
| |
| Allstate 400 |
| Official Results |
| Pos. |
Driver |
Make |
| 1. |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevy |
| 2. |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
| 3. |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevy |
| 4. |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevy |
| 5. |
Mark Martin |
Ford |
| 6. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevy |
| 7. |
Kyle Busch |
Chevy |
| 8. |
Tony Stewart |
Chevy |
| 9. |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
| 10. |
Denny Hamlin |
Chevy |
|
 |
"This experience has been much different. I don't understand exactly all of it yet," Johnson said. "I sat around at the track until probably around 9 or 10 o'clock drinking that wonderful tasting cheap champagne from Victory Lane with my wife and some high school friends -- just sitting outside the bus still in my driving suit sitting on the asphalt leaning up against my bus just enjoying the moment. "I came home and woke up and hit the road and ran four miles and then organized my garage. I just sat there with the biggest smile on my face -- loving every minute of it -- just proud and ready to go to the next one." "The next one" in this case, is Watkins Glen, where the Nextel Cup points leader has had a bit of an up-and-down existance. He was 16th in 2002, fourth in 2003, 40th in 2004after an engine failure, and fifth last year. Johnson leads the series standings by 107 over Matt Kenseth heading into Sunday's action, so a top finish is more of a luxury than a necessity. That's not to say the No. 48 team is looking past Sunday. "I love road-course racing," he said. "I love The Glen and think it's a great track for our cars. I'm really going to be working on myself this weekend. I have a very similar set-up to Jeff's. I had a little bit different car and set-up in Sonoma and it really didn't work out for us. So this week it's in my hands. "I've just really got to understand what I'm doing and how to road course race a little bit better so I can eventually get a win." In the meantime, Johnson is still enjoying the moment. "I'm so proud of what we've accomplished and the fact that we were able to come back and really beat something that's beaten us," Johnson said. "So the emotions that go with that have been a whole different set of emotions than the victory at the Daytona 500 or the excitement from winning at Las Vegas or Talladega. "It's such a gratifying moment to come back and beat something that's beaten us so many times. So I'm just enjoying the moment and smiling deep down inside." Actress Kristin Chenoweth, who's perhaps best known as Annabeth Schott in The West Wing, will guest in Wally's World during Sunday's pre-race show. Matt Kenseth, Boris Said and Max Papis are among the guests scheduled for Trackside from Watkins Glen (7 p.m. Friday, SPEED). For those going to The Glen, the show will be taped at 4:30 p.m. ET on the SPEED stage outside of Turn 10. In this week's edition of "Ask Wally and Benny," Melanie in Bowling Green, Ky. writes: During the end of the Atlanta race, I noticed a digital sign above the flagman with 1878 registered. Were those minutes of the race, number of cars passing the finish line, or number of Bud Lights consumed in the stands? Joking aside, a bunch of us would like to know. Benny Parsons takes this one. "That number is for the scorers," he said. "NASCAR, today, uses electronic scoring. Each car has a transponder and as they pass the start/finish line, it registers as a transponder unique to that car. As each car crosses, they know who it is and therefore it keeps up with the scoring and where that car is running in relationship to the other 42 cars, but they have a manual backup. "They have 43 people in a scorer's box/scorer's stand and they score the cars. Each time the cars go by, when that race starts, that number theoretically would be at four zeroes and it clicks every second. In Atlanta, it takes about 30 seconds for each car to run a lap, so when a car goes by the first time, the scorer writes down 0030; the next time 0060, and they do that for the number of laps for 500 miles at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But those numbers are positioned there for the scorers." On to this weekend's busy schedule: Nextel Cup Series: AMD at The Glen Track: Watkins Glen International
• 2.45-mile road course Race length: 90 laps/220 miles TV schedule: (All times ET)
• NASCAR Live: 2, 6 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 3 p.m. Fri. TNT
• Trackside: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Final practice: 10 a.m. Sat.., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 1:30 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR Raceday: 11 a.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 1 p.m. Sun., NBC
• Race: 1:30 p.m. Sun., NBC One year ago, the only time Tony Stewart wasn't leading the Sirius at the Glen was when he had to stop for tires and fuel. Otherwise, the Nextel Cup points leader dominated and captured his fifth win of the season. The most recent checkered flag went to Jimmie Johnson, who overcame a tire problem and past disappointments to get his first Brickyard victory. Keep an eye on Boris Said. Said, who finished third last season at the Glen and ninth earlier this year at Infineon Raceway, will be joined by another road-course specialist -- Ron Fellows (No. 32 Tide Chevrolet), who will attempt to qualify for Sunday's race. Busch Series: Zippo 200 Track: Watkins Glen International
• 2.45-mile road course Race length: 82 laps/200.9 miles TV schedule: (All times ET) • Qualifying: 11 a.m. Sat., SPEED
• Race: 2 p.m. Sat., NBC One year ago, Ryan Newman got one of six Busch Series victories he achieved in 2005. The most recent checkered flag went to Kevin Harvick, who expanded his huge Busch Series points lead with another victory at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Keep an eye on Paul Menard, Menard, whose sixth-place ranking in the standings makes him the highest-rated Busch Series regular, finished eighth in this event one year ago. But he had been on the 2.45-mile course in advance of the series' 2005 return to Watkins Glen International following a three-year hiatus. He made his Nextel Cup Series debut at the track in 2003 -- driving for Andy Petree, qualifying 43rd, but finishing a respectable 29th. Craftsman Truck Series: Toyota Tundra 200 Track: Nashville Superspeedway
• 1.333-mile concrete oval
• 14-degree banking in turns
• 9-degree banking on frontstretch
• 6-degree banking on backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 2,494 feet
• Length of backstretch: 2,203 feet Race distance: 150 laps/200 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • Race: 5 p.m. Sat., SPEED One year ago, David Reutimann scored his first career Craftsman Truck Series victory. The most recent checkered flag went to Rick Crawford, who held off defending race winner Dennis Setzer and restart master Ron Hornaday in the final four laps to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 on Friday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park. It was Crawford's first Truck Series victory since last September. Keep an eye on Crawford. He's gone from 14th in the standings to third on the strength of his win at Indianapolis. | 
