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your place Thursdays in the Chicago Tribune By Jim Peltz Tribune Newspapers LAS driver appreciated the recent changes made to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway more than Jimmie Johnson, who won the NASCAR Nextel Cup race here the last two years. But even with its new paving and higher-banked corners, the 1.5-mile oval has its unique Las Vegas Johnson said. So does its Victory Lane, where Johnson celebrated again Sunday by winning the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 for the third consecutive year before an estimated 156,000. The reigning Cup champion did it the hard way, overcoming a pit-stop penalty that left his No. 48 Chevy deep in the 43-car field midway through the race.

It took him about 100 of the 267 laps to claw his way back, overtake teammate Jeff Gordon and hold the lead for good to capture the 150th Cup victory for Hendrick Motor- sports. get three at the same place is very special, especially when changed the said Johnson, an El Cajon, native. put a lot into it and its nice to get the Johnson, 31, won by nearly three seconds over Gordon on a sunny, windy day, with Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing third and Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing fourth. Most drivers change their negative opinions about the hazards of driving the reconfigured Las Vegas track, and a dozen cars spun out or hit the wall Sunday much as they did in the Busch Series race Saturday. The track was repaved and its corner banking was raised to 20 degrees from 12 in the off-sea- son.

That led to sharply higher speeds, prompting Goodyear to use a harder tire to keep speeds under control. But the new tire made the cars slick and unstable, drivers said, and there were nine accidents Sunday. Gordon called it white-knuckle experience the whole and even Johnson said he had or three instances myself where I lost control of the Both called on NASCAR, the teams and Goodyear to find a solution. sport is too big to be making last-minute Johnson said. win was the 24th of his career, and it was the first time a driver won three consecutive years at the same track since Greg Biffle won at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2004 through 2006.

Johnson was strong early but ran into trouble during a pit stop, when one of his tires rolled too far from his pit stall. That drew a penalty from NASCAR that sent him to 25th place. Then, buckled down and got after said his crew chief, Chad Knaus. Johnson grabbed the lead after passing Gordon and Jeff Burton, whose Chevy was in contention for Richard Childress Racing before an electrical problem shuffled him to 15th. Los Angeles Times Getty Images photo by Harry How Jimmie Johnson performs a burnout Sunday following his victory in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Racetrack changes, result Johnson rallies for Las Vegas three-peat on faster surface In Las Vegas; a-accident, b-engine; start position in parentheses (M-make; C-Chevrolet, F-Ford; D- Dodge; T-Toyota) RK, DRIVERMLEARN 1. (23) Jimmie JohnsonC 267 $415,386 2. (36) Jeff 3. (17) Denny HamlinC 267 212,225 4. (37) Matt 5.

(14) Mark Martin 267 180,783 6. (13) Carl 7. (25) Tony Stewart 267 158,436 8. (39) Ryan 9. (12) Kyle Busch 267 116,250 10.

(33) Jamie 11. (28) Dale Earnhardt Jr.C 267 144,233 12. (26) Martin Truex Jr.C267128,170 13. (42) Bobby LabonteD 267 138,461 14. (3) Elliott 15.

(5) Jeff Burton 267 135,716 16. (18) Greg 17. (38) Robby GordonF 266 96,375 18. (24) J.J. 19.

(27) Tony Raines 266 104,675 20. (2) David 21. (21) David GillilandF 265 119,189 22. (4) Juan P. 23.

(6) Scott Riggs 265 98,725 24. (15) Kenny 25. (29) Jeff Green 265 112,308 26. (10) Kurt 27. (20) Kevin Harvick 265 131,286 28.

(22) Kyle 29. (41) Jon Wood 264 104,064 30. (40) Ricky 31. (7) Reed SorensonD 263 100,533 32. (19) Paul 33.

(43) Dale Jarrett 263 81,425 34. (8) Sterling 35. (1) Kasey Kahne 36. (16) Clint 37. (35) David Ragan 236 115,450 38.

(9) Joe 39. (32) Johnny SauterC 147 79,225 40. (34) Casey 41. (31) Aric Almirola 42. (11) Dave 43.

(30) Ward Burton Time: 3:07:28. avg. speed: 128.183 mph Margin of victory: 2.795 seconds. Caution flags: Nine for 27 laps. Lead changes: 28 among 16 drivers.

STANDINGS (through three races) RK, DRIVERPTSRK, DRIVERPTS 1. Martin 495 6. Harvick 389 2. J. Gordon489 7.

Kyle Busch382 3. J. Burton 453 8. Hamlin 374 4. J.

Johnson406 9. Yeley365 5. Kenseth 397 10. Sadler 342 UAW Chrysler 400 Associated Press INDIAN WELLS, Guillermo Canas snapped Roger 41-match winning streak Sunday, beating the top player 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the Pacific Life Open. was just a normal loss, like had about 100 times on Federer said.

normal to tennis. I have no problems. He played very well. I missed my chances. And I think I was playing poorly at all.

So Federer had arrived at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden hav- ing won seven consecutive tournaments and was considered an odds-on favorite to break the record of 47 straight matches won by Guillermo Vilas 30 years ago. no pressure at all because I take it match by Federer said of the streak to reporters. guys think it takes a win to break the record. concerned about winning my first round (actually second round) match against a lucky loser. It just shows you how tough it is.

Canas, who got into the tournament as a from qualifying when Xavier Malisse withdrew, played more like a man who once was No. 8 in the world. Canas went up 6-5 in the first set with a service break and held to close out the set. Sunday just a grind for me from the Federer said. really felt I missed all the big opportunities, to kind of come back and put the pressure on him.

It just seem to go my During the break Federer removed his shoes and summoned the ATP Tour trainer for the first of two times to attend to an undisclosed problem with his feet. Federer stayed in the match for a while. But after Federer had a second visit from the trainer, Canas won the final three games of the set and threw open the championship of this $3.3 million tournament. Federer said there was no problem with his feet, that he always tapes them from toes to ankles and that the tape not sticking the way supposed to, so I just took it He did say, however, that he was bothered by blisters. had problems with my toe (on right foot), but it was nothing he said.

Canas returned to the tour in September after serving a 15- month drug suspension. Ranked No. 8 in the world in June 2005, he won his seventh title earlier this year and was ranked 60th when this event got under way. He lost to Alexander Waske in the final round of qualifying, though, and was on the way home until Malisse dropped out. Canas me away when he had Federer said.

served well. He give me any unforced errors, and I was playing too poorly in the end to come back. right guy won Federer win streak over hands No. 1-ranked player 1st loss in 42 matches Federer.