DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Given the litany of problems that beset Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team in Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway, a 13th-place was hardly a disaster -- especially since Johnson gained one position to sixth in the series standings.
To compound an alternator problem that plagued him throughout the race, Johnson scraped the wall twice in the early going, throwing off the handling just enough to keep the Lowe's Chevy from challenging for the lead.
Instead, Kyle Busch picked up his third victory of the season in dominating fashion, beating Carl Edwards, another three-time winner, to the finish line by 3.115 seconds. Jeff Gordon ran fourth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Ragan. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton completed the top 10.
Johnson started third, having qualified in a backup car after crashing his primary chassis in practice on Saturday. Johnson didn't have time to get a feel for his car before a crash in turn 1 involving Elliott Sadler and Tony Stewart brought out the first caution on lap 2.
"I haven't really sailed it off on entry yet, but on throttle it's really loose," was the way Johnson described the handling to crew chief Chad Knaus under caution on lap 4.
"You may want to dial some front brake into it," Knaus suggested.
"OK, tighten 'em up," spotter Stevie Reeves radioed on lap 5. "Coming to green here."
After Sam Hornish Jr. slammed into the turn 4 wall to cause the second caution of the race on lap 11, Johnson told Knaus, "It still needs rear grip, but it was better after that restart."
"On a scale of one to 10, how loose is it?" Knaus asked on lap 34.
"When I try to turn back down the hill, it's edgy loose in the center of (turn) 3 and a little off (turn) 4," Johnson replied.
"We'll get you hooked up," Knaus promised.
"My loose is getting worse in 1 and 2, and getting earlier," the driver reported under green on lap 40. "Better in 3 and 4."
"They're all bitching about being tight," Knaus chuckled after Johnson regained third position from Kurt Busch on lap 45. "You're loose and moving up."
"I just started to get a little tight myself," Johnson interjected.
"And I just figured out this master plan on how to tighten you up," Knaus deadpanned.
On lap 59, Knaus ordered the Lowe's Chevy to the pits for a green-flag stop.
"What have you got there, Jimmie?" Knaus asked on lap 65, after Johnson had fallen to seventh in the running order during the cycle of pit stops.
"Not bad at all," Johnson reported. "Just a little tight in traffic, but much better."
"We'll get you fixed up, buddy," Knaus said. "Next pit stop."
"Still a little on the loose side right now," Johnson radioed on lap 72. One lap later he told Knaus, "I've gotten into the fence," after a scrape with the wall.
"Just settle in there, bud," Knaus replied.
"I'm freaking sideways," Johnson answered.
"Then slow the heck down," Knaus suggested. "It's simple."
On lap 81, Johnson was making progress, passing Burton for the sixth position.
"I think the 38 (David Gilliland) behind you is on new tires, so just be aware," Reeves warned on lap 82.
"How much do you think that helped you?" Knaus asked on lap 86, referencing the adjustments made on the lap 59 pit stop.
"It helped for a couple of laps," Johnson said. "Then it felt like it didn't really do anything."
"Bumped the wall!" Johnson radioed on lap 88 after hitting the turn 4 wall with the right rear of his car.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd quit doing that," Knaus replied.
After the brush with the wall, Johnson lost sixth to Martin Truex Jr. on lap 93. "What you got there, bud?" Knaus asked.
"It's OK through (turns) 1 and 2, a little tight through 3 and 4," Johnson replied.
"Then why'd you hit the wall?" Knaus asked.
"I ran out of racetrack," Johnson said. Then, on lap 100, he reported, "Getting tighter."
On lap 107, the Lowe's Chevy lost seventh position to Kvapil. "What you got there, bud?" Knaus asked again.
"Getting real tight now," Johnson answered.
A green-flag pit stop on lap 118 came just in time. "The right front tire was going down," Knaus told his driver after the service. Shortly thereafter, Johnson battery warning light began to flash, indicating a drop in voltage.
"I want you to find a groove there and turn off one of your batteries," Knaus told Johnson.
"It is off," Johnson replied.
On lap 139, NASCAR called the third caution of the race for debris.
"Tight, tight, tight, by the way," Johnson said of his handling. Then the discussion turned to the two batteries.
"On the first battery, it's just under 12 (volts), flashing red," Johnson told Knaus. "On the second one, it's just over 12 and blue (in the comfort zone)."
"After a pit stop under caution, Johnson told Knaus on lap 144, "I just did a burnout and it started flashing red."
"Caution's out," Reeves warned on lap 148 after Johnson had restarted eighth on lap 145. "Bumper bar on the backstretch."
The caution came a lap after Kevin Harvick's Chevy tagged the wall in turn 2. "What Kevin's car did there was what mine was trying to do," Johnson said under caution. "But the car's driving good now. We'll be back in this thing."
"We'll just have to smart with our battery usage," Knaus added. "Bud, you're going to have to be disciplined with your AC (air conditioning) unit, OK?"
"Disciplined means off?" Johnson asked.
"I'm afraid so," Knaus replied. "We can probably keep it on under caution, but under green flag, you'll have to keep it off. Everything off, dude."
Johnson restarted sixth on lap 152 and worked his way up to fifth by lap 164. "It's getting tighter," he reported.
"Just settle in there," Knaus encouraged. "Find that rhythm."
"Good job, man," Knaus radioed on lap 181, with Johnson running sixth. "Switch over to your other ignition box, please."
On lap 194, race leader Greg Biffle came to the pits with a loose rear wheel.
"The leader had a flat," Knaus told Johnson. "That's why he pitted early." Two laps later, Knaus added, "Keep digging, buddy."
"Jimmie, two more good ones (laps)," Knaus exhorted his driver on lap 201.
"A lot of guys are starting to pit," Reeves added from the spotter's stand. "Look for hand signals."
Knaus ordered wholesale adjustments during the green-flag stop on lap 202.
On lap 215, Johnson reported on his handling, "In (turns) 1 and 2 it's really loose before I turn back down the hill the second time."
Debris on the frontstretch brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 235. "What you got there?" Knaus asked.
"Tight, tight, tight, tight, tight," Johnson replied. "The first eight laps or so are loose."
"So when does it run good?" Knaus asked. "When did that happen?"
"Before I hit the wall and messed it up," Johnson answered.
"How you doing inside there, Jimmie?" Knaus asked as the cars rolled under caution before pitting.
"Definitely warm," Johnson replied.
The Lowe's Chevy restarted sixth on lap 241. Seven laps later Johnson had another brush with the wall.
"I rubbed the wall on the frontstretch, and it sucked me into it like I had a puncture, so we may have an issue with the fender again," Johnson said after NASCAR called another caution for debris.
"I don't think we're going to pit this time," Knaus said. "Ten-four," Johnson replied.
"Stevie, get a look at it as he comes by," Knaus continued, referring to the fender.
"All the paint's rubbed off the tires, but they don't look slick or anything," Reeves said.
In a play for track position, Knaus told Johnson not to pit under the yellow.
"Stay out," he ordered. "We're within a half a lap of making it (to the finish) on one more stop. It would be nice to get five bonus points (for leading a lap)."
Johnson restarted third on lap 253 but soon fell into the clutches of cars with fresher tires.
The 99 (Edwards), the 2 (Kurt Busch), the 11 (Hamlin) and the 1 (Truex) are coming up behind you, about three tenths (of a second) faster," Knaus radioed on lap 265. "See if you can get something figured out."
By lap 274, the Lowe's Chevy had dropped to eighth. "Tight, tight, tight," Johnson reported.
On lap 279, caution flew again for debris on the backstretch, and Knaus called for major adjustments on the ensuing pit stop.
"What battery have you been running on?" Knaus asked after the stop on lap 282.
"One, all the time," Johnson replied.
"Switch over to No, 2 and see what it does," Knaus suggested.
"It's right at 12, but it's still red," Johnson said.
Fourteen laps after Johnson restarted 10th on lap 285, Knaus asked, "What you got there?"
"Tight in (turns) 3 and 4, good in 1 and 2," Johnson answered.
The final caution of the race came on lap 301 when Hamlin and Truex got together in turn 4.
"Let's get a good one here," Knaus exhorted the Lowe's crew in preparation for a pit stop on lap 303. Then, to Johnson, "Don't get too close to the wall with the left side."
"If you think your car's bad, you should see how beat up that 18 (leader Kyle Busch) is," Knaus quipped before Johnson took the restart in eighth position on lap 308.
"Go get 'em, man," Knaus said after the green flag. "All those guys ahead of you are spots."
But Johnson began to fade over the final 60 laps as the race went green to the finish.
"Way to hang in there tonight, everybody," Reeves summed up the effort after the checkered flag on lap 367
"I don't have much to say," Johnson said after the race. "It was one of those nights. We had an alternator problem that hurt us through most of the night. We had to turn all our fans off and everything so that was kind of frustrating certainly; I was warm in the car without any air circulating around. And I barely made it in. It was sputtering coming to the finishing. It was just out of juice. The alternator died.
"We weren't the fastest car, but we should have been a little better. I got in the wall early, and that hurt us."
