Jimmie Johnson Wins 9th Race, Takes Point Lead
Boy, when Jimmie Johnson gets on a roll, he must be margarine, because butter melts faster than he does. Johnson won his third race in a row, his ninth of the season, at a time when wins and finishing is critical. Just ask the rest of the chase drivers, most of which don’t even have a shot at winning. Well, they have officially said the last sixth can’t win, but, while Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer all have a mathematical chance of winning, only Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson can help them decide that, as both of them would have to have catastrophic problems the last two races for any of them to really have a chance. I even heard a few of the ESPN guys who said Gordon wasn’t going to win it now that Johnson was in front.
1. +1 Jimmie Johnson 6382 Leader
2. -1 Jeff Gordon 6352 -30
3. — Clint Bowyer 6201 -181
4. +2 Kyle Busch 6043 -339
5. -1 Carl Edwards 6025 -357
6. -1 Tony Stewart 6009 -373
7. +1 Jeff Burton* 5951 -431
8. -1 Kevin Harvick* 5943 -439
9. — Kurt Busch* 5929 -453
10. +1 Matt Kenseth* 5928 -454
11. -1 Denny Hamlin* 5858 -524
12. — Martin Truex Jr.* 5858 -524
* Eliminated from championship contention
What was funny to me today, was that everyone was saying that Johnson was racing to hard for the win against Kenseth and that he probably should’ve just settled in a not taken any chances in wrecking while racing for the lead. That is just nuts, had he not won that race, Johnson would only be 15 points ahead of Gordon after the finish, a deficit that could be wiped out in tenths of seconds on pit road. No, Johnson had to race him hard and had to beat Kenseth for the win, just as both of them should be racing as hard as they can in Phoenix and Homestead, unless, that is, the other takes themselves out of the race or has someone do it for them.
As for the championship and comparisons to Dale Earnhardt Sr., for all you old school guys and ones who don’t like the chase format, this would be Gordon’s 6th Championship season already, as Gordon would’ve already clinched this years title at Texas, just as Carl Edwards did in the Busch series, and he would’ve won it the year Kurt Busch did, at least, under the old points system.
The entire time Johnson was well aware a crash would have taken him right out of the championship battle.
“I feel like I was doing a good job balancing those emotions in the car,” he said. “When I got inside of Matt and tried for a lap or two to get by him and he was crowding me, I actually backed off and let him go. So I just checked those feelings and regrouped and then went back after him.
“But, after seeing the video when I was doing the Victory Lane interview, I was more sideways than I felt like I was,” Johnson added, laughing. “I think I was too focused on the prize and I was pretty crossed up a couple of times.”
Even team owner Rick Hendrick was unnerved by the side-by-side racing.
“We’ve got an awful lot at stake here,” Hendrick said. “You know Jeff was running seventh and I thought, ‘We don’t need to do this.’ But I felt like Jimmie was under control. I was nervous and I was wanting to hit the [radio] button, but I didn’t.” Source: Johnson takes Chase lead en route to third win in row
Jeff Gordon, as always, summed it up with class, saying, “We just flat out got beat [Sunday],” Gordon said. “We just weren’t very good right from the start. There at the end was the best we were all day and night. We made the most of it. It was a disappointing day, but I’m happy for Jimmie and those guys. They did an awesome job.”
How many people finish 7th and are disappointed?
Here is how they finished:
1 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 190/5 334 Running 486,211
2 18 17 Matt Kenseth Ford USG Sheetrock / DEWALT 175/5 334 Running 378,041
3 1 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 170/5 334 Running 262,245
4 17 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 170/10 334 Running 217,400
5 11 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 160/5 334 Running 214,125
6 27 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 150/0 334 Running 192,116
7 2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 151/5 334 Running 184,561
8 6 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 147/5 334 Running 165,783
9 24 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal Special Reserve 138/0 334 Running 134,925
10 4 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 134/0 334 Running 168,261
11 15 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 130/0 334 Running 159,361
12 19 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers Lifetime Powertrain Warranty / UAW 127/0 334 Running 131,620
13 20 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Stanley Proto Tools / Valvoline 124/0 334 Running 118,325
14 12 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 126/5 334 Running 147,058
15 39 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 123/5 334 Running 141,758
16 13 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories 115/0 334 Running 141,561
17 38 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 112/0 333 Running 131,133
18 25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers Lifetime Powertrain Warranty / UAW 109/0 332 Running 146,266
19 29 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 111/5 332 Running 110,425
20 40 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 103/0 332 Running 113,275
21 32 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 100/0 332 Running 127,908
22 36 66 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Best Buy 97/0 332 Running 125,583
23 22 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 94/0 332 Running 101,125
24 14 36 Mike Skinner Toyota 360 OTC 91/0 331 Running 98,575
25 3 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 93/5 331 Running 143,300
26 21 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 85/0 331 Running 108,625
27 42 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet FleetPride / Yellow 82/0 330 Running 100,025
28 34 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 79/0 330 Running 127,039
29 7 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko’s 81/5 324 Running 115,625
30 16 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Moen / Menards 73/0 322 Running 99,425
31 9 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 70/0 302 Running 114,225
32 41 7 Robby Gordon Ford MAPEI / Menards 67/0 300 Running 96,025
33 23 16 Greg Biffle Ford Jackson Hewitt 64/0 295 Oil Cooler 114,775
34 10 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 61/0 278 Running 103,625
35 35 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 58/0 275 Brakes 95,425
36 30 21 Bill Elliott Ford Delimex 55/0 248 Running 114,414
37 33 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA Insurance 52/0 222 Accident 130,825
38 26 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 49/0 217 Accident 94,800
39 5 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 46/0 151 Accident 94,600
40 31 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 43/0 143 Accident 116,558
41 28 40 David Stremme Dodge HomeLife Communities 40/0 136 Accident 94,180
42 37 45 Kyle Petty Dodge National Tire & Battery 37/0 129 Accident 105,638
43 43 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Burger King 34/0 90 Engine 103,608
