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Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Ron Hornaday each won for the fourth time in their respective series.

Defending series champs have victorious weekend

Johnson, Edwards win at RIR; Hornaday wins at Gateway

By NASCAR.COM
September 8, 2008
03:26 PM EDT

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A recap of the Saturday matinee at Gateway and the Sunday day-night double-dip at Richmond:

Figuratively speaking

104 -- Laps David Reutimann led in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Richmond. In his previous 52 Cup races, Reutimann led nine laps.

Cup Series

Pit Crew of the Week

No 48. Chevrolet: Who else? Crew chief Chad Knaus called for a two-tire stop and air-pressure adjustment on Lap 200 and the 48 car was first out of the pits, marking a 12-spot improvement. Jimmie Johnson led his first laps of the race and from there coasted to the title.

Tip of the Week

Radiators are often ignored. Yet keeping engines cool and running in the right temperature range is critical to taking the heat off your engine.

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Race
Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• Jimmie Johnson is entering the Chase this year the same way he did last year, on the heels of back-to-back wins. Johnson won his second consecutive Chevy Rock & Roll 400 by holding off a furious challenge from Tony Stewart. Clint Bowyer clinched the 12th and final spot in the Chase with a 12th-place finish, but will begin the playoff seeded fifth. Johnson secured the third seed in the Chase with four victories. In a bit of turnabout, Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped Kyle Busch in an incident that raised eyebrows and had the majority of the crowd standing and applauding.
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Qualifying
• With Tropical Storm Hanna bearing down, qualifying was washed out and the lineup set according to the NASCAR rule book. Fearing for the safety of more than 100,000 fans expected at Richmond for Saturday night, NASCAR officials elected to postpone the start of the race until 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Kyle Busch started on the pole. Johnson started third.
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Also check out ...
• Menzer: Richmond precursor of Chase to come
• Who's In: With berth, Bowyer eyes bigger prize
• Who's Out: For Ragan, gutsy effort comes short
• Harvick the best understated driver in Chase

Nationwide Series

Race
Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• Clint Bowyer led 190 of the 250 laps at Richmond, but his car lost its domination late in the race and that was all Carl Edwards needed to get by and pull away for the victory. Scott Wimmer also was able to pass Bowyer to finish second.
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Qualifying
• Rain canceled the session and gave Joey Logano, he of 11 previous Nationwide starts, the pole in Joe Gibbs Racing's owner points-leading 20 car, per the NASCAR rule book. The threat of Tropical Storm Hanna also postponed the regularly scheduled Friday night race until 7 p.m. ET Sunday.
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Truck Series

Race

Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• Ron Hornaday won for the first time at Gateway and did so in convincing fashion, leading 113 of 160 laps, but he didn't gain much ground on series points-leader Johnny Benson, who finished third. Second-place Hornaday trails Benson by 94 points. Dennis Setzer finished second.
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Qualifying
• Setzer got the better of Hornaday in qualifying, posting a speed of 132.638 mph (33.927 seconds) for his first pole of the season and just the fourth of his career. Hornaday clocked in at 132.400 mph (33.988) to gain the outside position on front row. Marc Davis, the Joe Gibbs development driver, qualified 12th in his series debut in the Randy Moss-owned truck. Benson started 14th.

Survey says ...

Following Jimmie Johnson's second consecutive victory and fourth of the season, NASCAR.COM asked: Which Chase driver with more than one victory this season will have the best Chase?

Answer	Votes	Pct.

Kyle Busch	7,259	19%
Carl Edwards	8,224	22%
Jimmie Johnson	22,610	59%

Off the Marx

Bill Marx of Sporting News Wire Service weighs in with his top 10:

Pos.	Driver	Need to know ...

1a.	Jimmie Johnson	When you win two races in a row, how can you be anything but No. 1?
1b.	Kyle Busch	Gets the nod over Edwards.
1c.	Carl Edwards	Did you know that the past nine Cup races have been won by Johnson, Busch and Edwards? Each has won three.
4.	Denny Hamlin	Hamlin has finished third in each of the past three races. If he finishes third in all 10 Chase races, I predict he'll win the championship.
5.	Kevin Harvick	Harvick runs his top-10 streak to six, tops in the series.
6.	Tony Stewart	Smoke has finished second three times in the past six races.
7.	Greg Biffle	Since finishing 43rd at Daytona in July and being 11th in points, 10 out of 13th, Biffle has only one finish outside the top 15 (Watkins Glen) in eight races (9.6 average finish).
8.	Clint Bowyer	With the pressure on, he closed the regular season with finishes of seventh, 10th and 12th.
9.	David Reutimann	Reutimann led 104 laps Sunday, 95 more than he had in his previous 52 races, and finished ninth for the second consecutive week.
10.	Matt Kenseth	Kenseth ends stellar run with 39th in Richmond. Slate is clean beginning in New Hampshire.