DOVER, DEL. -- Call it a sneaking suspicion, but driver Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus knew the Roush Fenway Racing Fords might give them trouble in Sunday's Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Sure enough, Greg Biffle led a 1-2-3 Roush sweep of the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, with teammates Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards finishing second and third, respectively.
Capitalizing on a daring mid-race call by Knaus, Johnson ran fifth behind fourth-place finisher Mark Martin, as the two-time defending Cup champion, Edwards and Biffle began to separate themselves from the rest of the competition. Edwards leads the Chase standings after two races, but Johnson and Biffle both are a mere 10 points behind. Fourth-place Jeff Burton is 82 points back.
"Something from practice yesterday," Knaus told Johnson after the command to start engines on Sunday. "I can barely hear you when you're in speed -- a lot of engine noise.
"We just need a solid run today, no dramatics. Just get out of here with a top-five finish and everybody will be happy."
"Thanks for everything," Johnson replied. "As Chad was saying, let's just put in a good day's work and get out of here with a strong finish."
"Big thumbs up here," rejoined Knaus. "Let's have some fun today, Johnson."
"OK, coming to green," added spotter Stevie Reeves. "Tighten 'em up and have a good one. Pace car's down. Ready ... green flag!"
The race wasn't two laps old when David Gilliland's Ford slid up the track into Kurt Busch's Dodge in turn 1, with both cars hitting the outside wall.
"A lot of cars slipping and sliding around out there," Johnson noted.
Having started the race in 20th position, Johnson gained two spots at the expense of Busch and Gilliland and restarted 18th on lap 6.
On lap 12, Johnson narrowly avoided the spinning car of Patrick Carpentier as caution flew for the second time.
"The right rear tires were on top of the track," Johnson said of his handling, indicating a tendency of the rear end to "skate" because of a lack of rear grip.
"That's the same comment you had going from practice to race in the spring," Knaus recalled.
"I thought there was going to be more rubber out here (on the track), but for some reason, it's gone," Johnson told his crew chief.
"Don't worry, dude," Knaus replied. "Those couple laps you were in clean air, you were faster than the leader (polesitter Jeff Gordon)."
"It's tight at the second apex through (turn) 4, and the back is still on top of the track," Johnson reported under green on lap 43.
"You and the 99 (Edwards) are probably the two fastest cars right now," Knaus told him.
By lap 50, Johnson had passed Clint Bowyer for the ninth position.
Lap 64 brought the third caution of the race, for Joe Nemechek's spin in turn 3. "Talk to me, bud," Knaus said.
"I'm tight into (turns) 1 and 2, tight in the second apex through 3 and 4 but not as bad as 1 and 2, and the back end's still up on the track," the driver replied.
"You drove right up through there into the top 10," Knaus said on lap 68. "You're seventh now."
Indeed, the Lowe's Chevrolet restarted seventh on lap 70, but during a long green-flag run, Johnson surrendered the position to Biffle on lap 100.
"Good job, man," Knaus radioed on lap 111. "Get that rhythm back."
"Go get 'em, man," Knaus urged on lap 130. "We're going to pit you in about 15 laps. Tell me about your car when you get a chance."
"We've got the comfort back a little bit," Johnson replied.
"I feel like the car is a little more comfortable, but I don't want to mislead you -- I am tight," Johnson added on lap 140.
"Like we said, we're about 3-10ths (of a second) off where we need to be," Knaus said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s spin off turn 4 on lap 143 gave the Lowe's Chevy team a chance to pit under caution. After the stop, Johnson restarted seventh on lap 149, but a temporary problem with the car was a source of concern as Johnson fell back to 10th.
"I don't know if my right rear is flat or what," Johnson said on lap 151. Moments later he reassured Knaus, "I think we're OK."
"I don't know what the problem was starting off there, but I was loose in!" Johnson told his crew chief under caution for oil on the track on lap 158.
"Is it OK now?" Knaus asked.
"It was coming to me," Johnson replied.
"Well, we're about a second a lap off where we need to be," Knaus said.
"It's not going to be a lot of fun for you here, with all these guys lining up on new tires," Knaus told his driver before a restart on lap 161, with a number of cars at the back of the lead lap having returned to the pits for fresh rubber and fuel.
Johnson restarted 10th, but caution flew for the fifth time when Robby Gordon's Dodge knocked Jamie McMurray's Ford into the turn 4 wall on lap 162.
On lap 170, Sam Hornish Jr. hit the outside wall to bring out another rapid-fire caution.
"There's no respect for anyone out here," Johnson said of the carnage on the track.
"Even the leaders," Knaus added. "They were sideways at the start/finish line."
"What are you feeling that you're not liking right now?" Knaus asked.
"I start off a little free," Johnson replied. "Then, when the freeness goes away and those guys (the cars ahead of the Lowe's Chevy) lose the magic they have, I can hustle the car around the way I want to. I'm just a little unsure."
On lap 184, Hornish scraped the wall again to cause the eighth caution of the race.
"I think we ought to go back to the setup we had before," Johnson suggested to his crew chief.
At that juncture, Knaus decided to keep the Lowe's Chevy on the track, a potentially dangerous strategy depending on the way future caution flags might fall.
But the move got the Lowe's Chevy in front for a restart on lap 191, and Johnson earned five bonus points for leading a lap. Once in the lead in clean air, Johnson held the top spot until he pitted under green on lap 240.
"Need forward bite," Johnson radioed on lap 252 as he quickly began working his way back toward the front. By the time the entire field cycled through pit stops, Johnson was out front again on lap 272.
"You're leading now by six seconds," Knaus told him.
On two new right-side tires, Edwards began to gain on Johnson, trimming the margin to just over three seconds by lap 285.
"Getting a little tight," Johnson reported.
"Doing good, bud," Knaus said. "That's second place in your mirror now -- the 99 (Edwards)."
Debris in turn 3 caused the ninth caution on lap 291.
"Medium-good to start, tight at the end (of a run)," Johnson reported.
"Worked out good," Knaus said of the opportune yellow flag.
"You'll have to stop one more time," Knaus told Johnson, who restarted in the lead on lap 299. "We didn't quite get into the window."
By lap 302, however, all three Roush cars had passed Johnson, who then surrendered the fourth position to Martin.
"That's OK, buddy," Knaus said. "Those guys have been a little faster than us all day. You're faster than all the guys behind you."
On lap 337, Johnson told Knaus that the Lowe's Chevy had tightened up. Thirteen laps later, Montoya's scrape with the turn 3 wall brought out the final caution.
"Started off free, everywhere on throttle," Johnson reported. "Then it ended up snug everywhere on throttle."
Knaus called for adjustments during what turned out to be the final pit stop, and Johnson restarted fifth on lap 357.
"Drive the heck out of it, Johnson," Knaus urged before the green flag. "The 99 took two tires, from what it looks like."
But the Lowe's Chevy couldn't improve on its fifth position the rest of the way.
"Good work, guys. A good day," Johnson said after the race.
"Sorry your car wasn't any better," Knaus told his driver.
"That's OK," Johnson replied. "We've got eight more. Eight more good ones."
