NASCAR Jimmie Johnson wins The Winston and $1M

In the Open, Dave Blaney was second to Jeff Burton.
KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
CONCORD, N.C. -- Last year, Jimmie Johnson won the first two segments of The Winston all-star race, but was a disappointing fifth in the all-important third segment. He made up for it Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
The second-year driver was runner-up in the 40-lap first segment and seventh in the 30-lap second segment. He won the 20-lap shootout by 0.888 seconds, good enough for a $1 million payoff.
"I had a great race car and a great crew, the same kind of good car and crew I get every weekend," he said. "I jumped out front there in the last segment and was lucky there wasn't a caution. Things worked out exactly right for us this year."
Final 20 laps
Johnson, in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet, took the lead from teammate Jeff Gordon early in the final 20 laps. He went unchallenged the rest of the way, beating Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Michael Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Gordon, Jeff Burton, Ricky Craven, Ricky Rudd and Sterling Marlin.
The $3.8 million race was for all Winston Cup winners since the 2002 Daytona 500, plus past series champions, winning owners not otherwise eligible and the winner of the Winston Open preliminary.
Tony Stewart won the first 40-lap segment in a runaway. He led laps 13-16, lost it when he made his mandatory stop, then led 22-40. Johnson was second, then Harvick, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Terry Labonte, Marlin, Gordon, Busch and Waltrip.
The next 10 also advanced to the second segment: Kenseth, Nemechek, Craven, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton, Ward Burton and Rudd. Four drivers were eliminated: Rusty Wallace, Jamie McMurray, Elliott Sadler and Johnny Benson.
The only real excitement was Rudd vs. Wallace for 20th. Wallace held him off several times before Rudd made a gutsy high-line pass off Turn 4 to take the transfer spot by a half-length.
"I didn't think there was any way he'd do that," Wallace said. "But he got me and I feel bad about it."
Three accidents trimmed the field from 20 to 13 for the 20-lap shootout. Ward Burton and Newman went out in separate incidents, then Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Martin, Jarrett, T. Labonte and Elliott crashed on the last lap. (Rudd, Gordon and Jeff Burton snaked through).
Busch won the second segment ahead of Bobby Labonte, Harvick, Kenseth, Waltrip, Nemechek, Johnson, Craven, Gordon, Marlin, Jeff Burton and Rudd. Rescue workers took Elliott to a nearby hospital for treatment of a foot injury.
Inverted
As expected, a "fan vote" on NASCAR's web site decreed that the top-10 finishers in the second segment would be inverted for the shootout. That put Gordon and Marlin on the front row, followed by Craven and Johnson, Nemechek and Waltrip, Kenseth and Harvick, and Bobby Labonte and Busch on Row 5.
Jeff Burton led the final 10 laps of the Winston Open, the 30-lap preliminary for drivers not eligible for The Winston. The fairly easy victory put Burton 24th and last on the all-star grid.
Pole-winner Steve Park led the first lap before being black-flagged for jumping the start. Todd Bodine led laps 2-4, Kenny Wallace led 5-9 and Mike Skinner from 10 to the scheduled break after 20 laps.
Only the top 14 finishers at the break advanced. The other 13 were eliminated: Robby Gordon, Jeff Green, Mike Wallace, Larry Foyt, Jeremy Mayfield, Tony Raines, Carl Long, Derrike Cope, Kirk Shelmerdine, Morgan Shepherd, Jason Hedlesky, Hermie Sadler, Kevin LePage and Todd Bodine.
Burton took the lead when Jimmy Spencer and Skinner got together on the restart. Dave Blaney followed Burton through, but clearly was outclassed. Skinner finished third, then Brett Bodine, Greg Biffle, Spencer, K. Wallace, Park, Kyle Petty, Jack Sprague, John Andretti, Casey Mears and Ken Schrader.