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Great All-Star Moment No. 8: Jimmie Johnson, 2003
Written by: Tom Jensen   
04/24/2008
Harrisburg, N.C.
 
Johnson has five points race victories at LMS, and he's claimed the All-Star race twice, including his first victory in 2003. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

There's a reason pundits refer to Lowe's Motor Speedway as "The House That Jimmie Built." In the entire history of NASCAR, few men have dominated a single track the way the two-time defending Sprint Cup champ has dominated the 1.5-mile oval in Concord, N.C., just north of Charlotte.

Since he entered the Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2002, Johnson has five points race victories at LMS, and he's claimed the All-Star race twice, including his first victory in 2003. And he earned that first victory the hard way, by learning from his mistakes as rookie the previous season.

In his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star race in 2002, Johnson dominated the proceedings early on, easily capturing the first two segments. But after the field was inverted for the third and final segment, the El Cajon, Calif., native lost the lead and finished a distant fifth.

There would be no such strategic mistakes in 2003.

That said, there would be some interesting moments leading up to the race. LMS President and General Manager H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler picked Johnson to win the event, a pick that would prove correct for the ninth time in 15 tries. "I'm going to ruffle some feathers on this," said Wheeler in announcing Johnson as the pre-race favorite. "These picks are not pulled out of some black hat. During the recent test session, I watched guys run into the corners and studied where they got back on the throttle. Most any idiot can run down a straightaway. ... There are guys that can get in and out of the turns fast by themselves and are good qualifiers but don't do so hot when the big-toothed dogs are bitin' at 'em."

And in a moment of absurdity oddly apropos of the circus-like atmosphere of the event, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley stuffed one of Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets into the backstretch wall during an exhibition run eight days before the event. He was chagrined but uninjured.

When it finally came time to forget the pre-race hype and go racing, Johnson was all business. And he saved his best for money time.

Tony Stewart won the first segment and the $50,000 bonus that went with it, while Kurt Busch took the second segment, a stretch marred by two accidents. First, defending winner Ryan Newman crashed, with what he believed was an assist from Stewart. After that wreck was cleared away, Stewart tapped Terry Labonte, triggering another accident that knocked both of them out, along with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Bill Elliott.

Johnson, meanwhile, played possum, finishing seventh in the second segment. With the top 10 inverted for the final 20-lap dash, and only 12 of 24 starters left in the field, Johnson made easy work of it, passing teammate Jeff Gordon and leading the rest of the way. In the process, Johnson became the 13th different All-Star winner and the first to win more than $1 million, pocketing a record purse of $1,017,604. Busch passed nine cars in the final segment to finish second ahead of Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek and Michael Waltrip.

"We're all here for Humpy, so this is for you Humpy," Johnson said afterwards. "To come out and win on our home track and win $1 million is great."

"I think they should give out money for passing cars and we would have ended up with a lot of cash tonight," second-place Busch lamented.

Eight days later, Johnson would win the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's kicking off a streak that would see him win
five of the next six races at The House That Jimmie Built.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.
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