SCHOOL'S IN SESSION; Jimmie Johnson puts on a racing clinic in California.(Competitions of car racing)

Byline: PETE LYONS

Only 14 years have passed since Jimmie Johnson graduated from high school in El Cajon, California, and teachers there remember him well. So when he stopped by a few days before the California Speedway Nextel Cup race, they told stories about a boy who had trouble doing homework.

"It doesn't matter,'' cocky Jimmie would explain, "'cause I'm gonna be a professional race-car driver.''

Indeed, Johnson proved it right from opening practice. The defending Cup champion was fast, and he was fast right at the end of the race, when it mattered.

Johnson thought he had the pole when he qualified at 39.475 seconds. But Kurt Busch snatched it away with a 39.474. That wasn't so bad. No pole sitter had won any of Fontana's 14 Cup races.

The track record is 188.247 mph, set in 2005 by younger Busch brother Kyle. But in conditions even hotter than usual (air 107 degrees, track a greasy 141), Kurt's speed was only 182.398 mph compared with Johnson's 182.394. Race-day conditions were even hotter, and that must have accounted for many of the empty seats in the 92,100-capacity grandstands.

The missing fans missed a good show. With 20 laps to go, there were already a record number of leaders, 16, who exchanged the lead a record 30 times. Fans saw a record-tying 11 cautions, but finally, the last round of pit stops was done, and Johnson led the pack. Early leader Kurt Busch faded with a handling problem, but Kyle was up from fifth on the grid and hanging with teammate Johnson, despite a tail-happy chassis and damaged bodywork. Carl Edwards, hero of Bristol ("Chase Takes Shape,'' AW, Sept. 3), fought up from his 10th-row start and an early pit-lane collision, running strong in third.