Drivers battle jet lag after Rolex 24-Vegas schedule (cont'd)

Johnson's No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the first car on the racetrack, at 9:05 a.m., and he made a 10-lap run to start. He ended the shortened first morning session 15th on the chart.

Johnson has expressed his enjoyment of the Rolex 24 as well as his desire to win it, so coming off another second-place finish (the other was in 2005), he wasn't disappointed to fall just a little more than two laps behind the winning team, which also included Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

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A tradition was born in 1962 when Daytona Beach native Fireball Roberts became the first NASCAR driver to compete in the sports-car sprint that has evolved into the Rolex 24.

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"I don't feel frustration," Johnson said. "I'm sure the team may feel a little frustrated and disappointed, but from my standpoint, just finishing that thing -- I've raced it four times now and only finished two of them -- so it's a tough, tough event."

Johnson has run two consecutive Rolex races after he took the year off in 2006 and buddy Casey Mears won. Johnson's already looking forward to the next time.

"I was a little disappointed that we broke the transmission, but we still got a good finish," Johnson said. "I definitely feel satisfied and I'm excited to go back next year.

"I keep learning how to drive those cars and figuring out how to be more competitive. I keep learning more and more how to deal with that race and the challenges that you have during the course of the evening -- how to take care of your stuff. It's a big educational process running those endurance races and I'm going through that now."

Along with most of the rest of the garage denizens, he was also adjusting to the first westward trip of the season.

"I was so distorted on what time it was, I stayed up all the way out [Sunday] night and went to bed about 8 o'clock [11 p.m. ET]," Johnson said. "I woke up this morning at 7 and off we go. I think it's better to stay up until whatever time zone you're in and try to get back to the cycle that way. So I got a good night's sleep and I'm ready to go."

"I fell asleep on the plane last night," Busch said of his early evening arrival. "When I woke up this morning, it was 5 o'clock here but it felt like it was 8 o'clock back East, so I'm ready to go.

"My body feels good after a run like that and being at home, everything's comfortable and the surroundings are familiar. But it's a new car, it's a different style track for these cars so again, this year is going to be a lot of learning and getting up to speed, because you just can't hit the racetrack running full-out, like you used to. The new [Cup] car is going to take some respect."

Franchitti and Montoya flew on the same airplane and were delayed in Dallas after making a fuel stop. They arrived in Las Vegas late Sunday evening.

Busch had the benefit of being back in familiar territory, even if the previous race weekend hadn't been.

"I had a blast," said Busch, who was 31st in Monday's morning session at Las Vegas. "As different as it was it felt comfortable to me and just getting in the car and going through my stints, each time I went out I learned some things. I'm frustrated, I'm thrilled about the experience and I'm ready to do it again.

"The excitement was top notch, with the thrill of being in the hunt for the win at the 24 hours. We still have some work to do [but] with Ganassi running so strong for the last few years and the [Gainsco] car won the most races last year, so if we can finish third to those two cars, that's something pretty special, the first time out."

Busch said he wasn't sure what the team's plans would be for next year's Rolex 24 -- or even any other Rolex Series races later this season.

"The key would be if it was a conjunction weekend, like Watkins Glen or Daytona, but I haven't made any calls, obviously with it being so fresh," Busch said. "But I do enjoy driving those cars. I think they're a blast [because] they turn, they stop, they accelerate and they shift great -- all of the things our Cup cars don't do.

"So if the opportunity comes up, yeah, we might try it. But my wife says we race 38 times a year and there's no more racing I can do outside of my 38 Cup races."