Gas-n-Go

Monday, April 29, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Kurt Busch may have spent the first 21 years of his life in Las Vegas, but Southern California native Jimmie Johnson gave Busch a lesson in gambling Sunday afternoon at California Speedway.

Johnson and his crew elected not to take on tires during the final pit stop and held off Busch for his first career NASCAR Winston Cup victory in the NAPA Auto Parts 500.

Busch, who led 102 of the 250 laps, was running in front when the final caution flag came out on lap 230. Busch came in for two tires and fuel while Johnson, who was running second, opted just to top off the gas tank.

Johnson came out of the pits in second place behind Bill Elliott (who did not pit), while Busch got back on the track in fourth, behind Ricky Rudd. Johnson passed Elliott on the first lap of green and held off Busch for the victory before a crowd estimated at 115,000.

Johnson, 26, may have been more surprised than Busch when the Chevy driver stopped only for fuel.

"The thought never crossed my mind to take gas only," Johnson said. "I remembered a pit stop earlier in the race when a few cars had done that and it worked out great for them.

"When (crew chief Chad Knaus) made the decision, I smiled because I knew what it was going to do for us; it was going to get us out in front. I was just hoping that Kurt wasn't going to do the same thing."

He didn't, and the rookie Johnson cruised to his first Winston Cup win in only his 13th start.

Busch, who had to settle for second place, now stands second in Winston Cup points and trails Sterling Marlin by 143 points. But that was little consolation for the 23-year-old Las Vegas native.

"We had a dominant car but we just didn't have a lucky enough pit strategy at the end," Busch said. "I never would have thought I'd have gotten beaten by gas only, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

"It's damn tough to swallow because of the win we (should have) had."

Busch said he and crew chief Jimmy Fennig discussed the advantages of taking two or four tires on the final pit stop, but never stopping only for fuel.

"With our car, it didn't seem to matter; if you put four or two (tires) on it, it was still going to be decent. Jimmy wanted four and that was something we discussed on the radio.

"I said we needed two but we never did think of the factor of taking fuel only. I hate it that we lost the race like that."

Johnson, who drives for co-owners Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, admitted to being surprised by his relatively quick success on the Winston Cup circuit.

"I'm just blown away," said Johnson, who has a win, two poles and seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts this season. "To be this competitive in Winston Cup racing has been a dream of mine and I just can't believe it came true."

Johnson, who grew up about 120 miles south of California Speedway in El Cajon, said he couldn't have picked a better place to win his first race.

"It's just so special to win in my own home state and in front of all my friends and family," he said.

Rudd, who had to use a provisional to make the race and started 37th, said he was pleased to leave California with a third-place finish. It was Rudd's fourth straight top-10 finish.

"We had a terrible weekend when we got here -- we qualified terrible," Rudd said. "We haven't been good until the last three or four races. We're respectable now but we're still not great.

"Anytime you can come back and click off a top five until you get your act together, that's pretty good."

Elliott finished fourth and Mark Martin was fifth. Dale Jarrett, Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Dave Blaney and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top 10.

Pole-sitter Ryan Newman finished 14th, one lap off the pace.

Johnson's margin of victory over Busch was .620 seconds. The average speed of the race was 150.088 mph and was slowed by five caution periods for 24 laps. There were 20 lead changes among eight drivers.