As fate would have it, the #48 would have less time than in a 500-mile event to work its way to the front as the Coca-Cola 600 was called after 414 miles due to rain. But that was just enough time for Johnson to make it to the point, and to give JimmieJohn a clean sweep to the two Charlotte events. And considering Johnson�s penchant for wrecking in the waning laps of races this year, the final downpour was the biggest break of all.

Johnson even survived a weird quirk on Lap 200 when Ricky Rudd ran out of gas attempting to stretch his fuel mileage and ended up making a splashdown in the middle of the LMS infield. The subsequent yellow flag left all of three drivers on the lead lap, with Johnson and subsequent runner up Matt Kenseth not among them. After a jumbled restart, Johnson and Kenseth were able to get their laps back � with eight drivers eventually finishing on the lead lap.

NASCAR (as usual) was ripped from pillar to post after the race was called after the rain stopped at just after 9:30 PM ET. The explanation was that it would had taken three hours to dry the track (based on previous experience) which meant the soonest the race could had ended was 2 AM, and that�s if no more rain occurred in which there was no guarantee. Myself it seemed that the drying could had been done much quicker � maybe as fast as an hour or an hour and a half � that would had still meant a 12:30 AM finish. And you have to remember network television in the equation � affiliates get very squeamish when events run well past their scheduled 10 PM newscasts. It sucks, but that�s the business of TV and sports.

So who benefited and who was hurt by the early night??? Besides the race winner those who should be glad from the rain include�

Matt Kenseth � The 2nd place finisher was as unhappy as anyone by the decision. And I see him working, he had the best car going besides Johsnon � and had the best car late in this race last year but did not make an attempt at wresting the lead from teammate Mark Martin � since Martin had a million dollar bonus in a program that has been thankfully discontinued. But there is a much bigger picture. If you told Kenseth and Robbie Reiser that the #17 would have a 160 point lead one-third into the season and that two prime contenders (Tony Stewart/Ryan Newman) would have dug themselves out of top-twenty camp, the DeWalt team would had taken that scenario faster in half the time they finish a pit stop. Believe me Matt, you will be much better for this than if you had dropped a cylinder at one in the morning. I do have one question though: Why do the crew members always dress like they�re either going on a snowmobile outing or tailgating at a Packer game. Somebody has to tell them at it is above freezing.

Ryan Newman � Although predictably bolting to the early lead, it appeared that Newman was headed for yet another heavy-duty dose of bad luck as a wrapper somehow made it�s way to the grill of the #12, raising the water temperature into the 240 degree range. However the wrapper finally came off as Newman approached the tail-end of the field. As usual, Newman fell back as the race wore on � but rallied late to finish in the top five. Newman seemed well on his way to having the same late-race momentum that he did in his win in Texas, but finishing with the car in one piece and a top finish is much bigger at this point morale wise for this team.

Jimmy Spencer � During the rain delay, Spencer talked about the possibility of grabbing his first win since 1994 (and what would be his first non-plate win). Obviously Spencer didn�t get that chance but a fourth is about as good as it gets for that team and it would had been probably been downhill had the race resumed.

Bobby LaBonte � Including the All-Star race, LaBonte has gone 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd the last five weeks and is as hot as anyone can possibly get right now. Look for Tony Stewart to help out LaBonte in the second half as the #18 is Joe Gibbs title contender this year, as the fortunes of LaBonte and Stewart have completely flip-flopped in 2003.

Michael Waltrip � Mikie doesn�t look for wins outside of the plate tracks, just top-tens and looking to market himself. A sixth place finish keeps Waltrip solidly in seventh in the point standings.

Greg Biffle � He actually needed the rain a little earlier � as was the case in Bristol Biffle was one of the fortunate three still on the lead lap after the Rudd spin. Biffle would fall to 16th after an unscheduled pit-stop for overheating. Had the race resumed, Biffle would had probably been headed to the garage.

Sterling Marlin � Forward momentum continues with a seventh place showing in what has been one of his best tracks in recent years.

Mike Skinner/Jack Sprague - Both fell back in the final results, with Skinner placing 20th and Sprage 22th - but both had tremendous top-five qualifying runs and were factors for most of the evening, giving both teams a precious strong weekend to build from as there are now more than thirty drivers who can come through with a big performance on any given weekend. Now for those who didn�t far so well�

Tony Stewart � Appeared to be one of the top five cars in the early going, but went down a cylinder and went to the garage for 31 laps. Now surpasses Ryan Newman as the most luckless driver going after swallowing finishes of 41st, 41st, and 40th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Coming into Charlotte, Junior had not crapped out since Rockingham way back in February. Now Junior has crapped out in successive weeks after B-B-Q�ing his breaks (shades of Jeff Gordon back in '95) after getting loose in Turn 4 and eventually swallowing a 41st.

Elliott Sadler � Gets caught up in Ricky Craven�s oil and gets collected right before the final rain � ruining a strong run all day and relegating Sadler to a 36th place finish.

Kevin Harvick (13th), Kurt Busch (15th), Robby Gordon (17th), Jeff Burton (18th) � These are all drivers who recoved from various misfortunes during the course of the evening and all had chances to work their ways into the top ten had the proceedings not been haltee.

The LaBontes finally get some respect in my latest top twenty rankings, as well as Joe Nemechek who is suddenly knocking heads among the elite...

1. (1) Kenseth, 2. (6) B. LaBonte (+6), 3. (5) Johnson (+2), 4. (4) Busch, 5. (3) J. Gordon (-2), 6. (2) Dale Jr. (-4), 7. (9) Marlin (+6), 8. (7) Waltrip (+3), 9. (8) Harvick, 10. (11) Nemechek (+10), 11. (16) Sadler (-4), 12. (10) R. Wallace (+4), 13. (20) Stewart (-7), 14. (13) Martin (-2), 15. (12) R. Gordon (+4), 16. (24) Newman (-2), 17. (17) T. LaBonte (NR), 18. (15) Craven (-8), 19. (14) J. Burton (-2), 20. (18) Jarrett (-5)

The Johnson win did not come without some controversy. Crew chief Chad Knaus, who tinkers with unapproved parts with the best of them � was busted not just once, but in both Charlotte weekends for violating rules �12-4-A� and �12-4-Q� respectively. At least that is the chapter and verse given in the NASCAR rule book with is not available to the general public. If JAYSKI can�t get a copy of the thing good luck on anyone else trying to run off with one.

There is a viewpoint from some that the #48 should have had it�s all-star win stripped away as well as a having some points docked for last week�s infraction, which was a refrigerant that went around his fuel cell. The infraction at the Winston was for an �Illegal air-directional device� � anything to get an edge. Who knows what else Knaus is getting away with these days. The company line from NASCAR is that both infractions occurred in tech inspection before qualifying, and not in the actual race (as was the case with Mark Martin�s illegal spring at Rockingham). However Rusty Wallace got docked 25 points last year for an illegal spoiler at Talladega, before that car ever hit the track that weekend. Some have brought up the dreaded �C� word again, which recently had been reserved for Dale Jr. due to the fact that this was the Lowe�s Car at Lowe�s Motor Speedway. Not to mention the race got called with the Lowe�s car in front.

It�s not like Ward Burton (21st in points) or Kenny Wallace (29th) were going great guns anyway � but both the #22 and #23 cars take an additional hit this week as Dodge basically ex-communicates Bill Davis Racing as they terminate their contract with BDR effective immediately � due to a material �breach of agreement�. At issue (Dodge will not comment) is that Bill Davis had allegedly been in discussions with Toyota which enters the Truck series next year and may get in Cup/Busch racing in 2005 or �06.

What this means is that although Burton and Wallace will still be driving Inteprids, Davis will now have to pay for all equipment. Even more damaging is that BDR is now cut off from all the vital information sharing and technology that goes on between other Dodge teams representing Penske South, Chip Ganassi, Ray Evernham and Petty Enterprises. Davis also loses access to Dodge�s Michigan Wind Tunnel (a huge expense). Penske, Ganassi, Evernham, and Petty remain as official Dodge teams along with Ultra Motorsports (Jimmy Spencer). BAM Racing (Ken Schrader) is not an official member and likewise has to pay for their equipment.

Obviously, I don�t need to tell you that Johnson won both races here last year, with the second win culminating with Crew Chief Chad Knaus proclaiming on live TV �WE�RE FUCKING GOING FOR IT��, referring to an unlikely Cup Championship for a rookie. And of course there was Dale Jr.�s memorable post-9/11 win complete with a post-race Ricky Rudd/Rusty Wallace shoving match. And then there was the 20-car first lap wreck in this race back in 1995 when the concrete foundation was first installed at the track. Talk about angry drivers being loaded into ambulances and bitchin� to the TV interviewers � that was classic. But besides the Johnson sweep you have to look long and hard to find trends involving drivers here.

But that won�t stop me from trying: Besides Johnson, drivers scoring top-tens in both races last year included Jeff Burton (3rd-6th), Ryan Newman (4th-8th), Dale Jarrett (5th-3rd), and Ricky Craven (7th-9th). Jarrett should be a nice play for the next three weeks with Pocono and Michigan following. I would say the same for Bill Elliott (2nd in this race last year) except he has the bum foot to contend with. Tony Stewart has finished 11th or better in all eight races in his career here. Bobby LaBonte is a tough call this week � he has crapped out the last two years at this venue but also had 10 top-fives in 12 races between 1995-2000. Matt Kenseth should be decent with four top-six showings in eight career starts. Jeff Gordon has scored top-tens in 13 of 20 races here, but his greatest success was back in 1995-96 where Gordon had three of his four career wins at the track. Rusty Wallace also has had success in the distant past, scoring three straight wins from 1993-94 (pre-concrete), but only has one top-ten in his past seven starts. However Rusty will qualify well here, with three poles and five top-five starts during that same span. Mark Martin has scored top tens in nine of ten races between 1996-2001 while Jeff Burton is 7-18 in top tens in his career. Terry LaBonte appears to be the best bet to crap out, he has DNF�d in 13 of 48 career races, the polar opposite of Texas where�s he�s completed every lap except for one.

I flat out nailed my Charlotte predictions last week, as in this column I had Johnson finishing first, followed by Bobby LaBonte with Matt Kenseth finishing fourth. I then revised my picks for the THATSRACIN.COM game, putting my top three as Johnson, Kenseth, LaBonte - CHA-CHING!!! If I rack up any more bonus points I will get to drive that Petty car and instantly become Kenseth and Reiser's worst nightmare as I take the throne as the biggest menace driver ever to bolt out of Wisky...