Two NASCAR stars compete in Triathlon

Five time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports Racing teammate Kasey Kahne were dueling at Daytona Saturday night, and then competing in their first Triathlon on Sunday morning.

Along with the over 300 people signed up for the race, the Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series played host to the two NASCAR stars and several of their crew members who were working on very little rest.

"I always wanted to do a tri. I've enjoyed swimming running and biking through the years and went online looking and saw there was an event that worked out with our cup schedule, relatively speaking," said Johnson. "I signed up, talked about 15 buddies into doing it...crew members fellow drivers...and here we are. I'm glad we did it. I didn't get much sleep last night especially after racing and all but it was the perfect time to do it, and it was a lot of fun."

Kasey Kahne who finished the event fourth in his age group agreed.

"He's the one who started it all and being his teammate and stuff  this season I said, man I've got to do it. At least train as much as I can I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun," said Kahne. "Three hours of sleep, probably not ideal, but it worked out. I'll definitely do more."

Jimmy Johnson was the first to hit the water, his group taking off at 7:17 a.m. for a 600 yard swim followed by a 12 mile bike ride and then the clincher, a 3.1 mile run before reaching the finish line. Johnson finished at one hour, 11 minutes and 57 seconds...just a couple of minutes shy of his goal.

"Hydration caught up with me on the run. I started to cramp and lost some time there," he said. "The swim and bike felt great and certainly a lot of fun and I'll do more of this."

Kasey Kahne hit the water with his age division a short time after Johnson. Running was the easy part for Kasey but the swimming proved to be a test. He still finished 27 seconds faster than Johnson and the finish line was a welcome site.

"Our finish line, you're happy to see it when you're first and other than that you want to keep the race going and today I was far from first and very happy to see the finish line."


Story from Nascar.com and http://www.abcnews4.com/story/18974442/nascar-stars-compete-in-triathalon-on-james-island