Johnson powers away – for knockout punch?

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Jimmie Johnson did more than win a race Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

In capturing the NASCAR Banking 500, Johnson also solidified his bid to win a record fourth straight Sprint Cup championship, taking the checkered flag on a night when some of his nearest challengers took serious hits to their chances.

It was Johnson’s third win in five Chase races, a heavy-footed reminder of how good he’s been since the 10-race playoff scenario began. In five Chase races, Johnson has an average finish of 3.2 and he’s halfway to making history.

Though his victory came as no surprise, it didn’t come easily for Johnson, who started from the pole. On a restart on Lap 322, Johnson surrendered the lead to teammate Jeff Gordon, his car getting loose in the fourth turn at one point.

But after several laps of side by side racing, Johnson pulled free with 12 laps remaining and ended the suspense.

“I was pretty nervous,” Johnson said. “I really had to work for it.”

Matt Kenseth finished second followed by Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano.

In the five years of the Chase, the winner of the October race here has never won the championship. Johnson seems likely to change that this year.

“Those guys are on an incredible roll,” Gordon said.

With Mark Martin finishing 17th, Johnson now has a 90-point lead over his second place teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon jumped from fifth to third in points but is still 135 points behind.

Johnson called a “perfect weekend,” something his crew chief Chad Knaus has always wanted to do. The No. 48 car was fastest in every practice session, took the pole and won the race. Despite his perceived dominance at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, it was Johnson’s first win at the track since he won the October race in 2005.

“The car wasn’t where it needed to be and we had to work it out,” Knaus said. “It was an absolutely fantastic effort.”

Kahne took the lead from Matt Kenseth on Lap 225 and led until a caution flag came out on Lap 291 when Max Papis spun.

In the critical pit stop, both Johnson and Kahne took four fresh tires and Johnson won the race off pit road by a fraction of a second. It cleared the way for Johnson to put his Chevrolet into clean racing air and he showed why he’s leading the points race.

Getting an outstanding jump on the restart, Johnson quickly moved 10 car lengths in front of Kahne as the laps clicked away.

A series of cautions interrupted the final 50 laps but each time Johnson roared away on the restart, pulling away from Gordon every time but the last one.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who started the race in third place, just 58 points behind Johnson, may have seen his championship hopes crushed by a series of issues Saturday night. He finished 35th.

In a ragged restart on Lap 125, Montoya’s car suffered damage to the right rear when he was bumped from behind by Mark Martin. The contact wrinkled the Chevrolet body and it gradually made driving the car more difficult.

Montoya finally spun onto pit road, falling two laps behind. His crew did some patchwork surgery on the body, putting on quarter-panel but it didn’t last long, eventually flying off in traffic, bringing out another caution flag.

Martin’s night was spoiled by his contact with Montoya. He fell one lap behind for a time but worked his way through traffic over the closing laps to finish 17th.

After leading early, Johnson settled in behind the leaders as the race settled into a series of long caution-free runs. Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon took turns leading the race over its first half, usually running free of traffic with Johnson five seconds behind.

Hamlin’s night was ruined, however, by a broken valve after his car had been among the quickest in the field.

A week earlier, Hamlin was leading at Fontana when he misjudged a pass and wrecked, dropping him to ninth in the Chase. It didn’t get any better Saturday night as he finished 41st.

“It’s unbelievable how nothing can stay together,” Hamlin said over his radio, heading to the garage.

A tough season and a difficult weekend got worse for Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the race reached its midpoint. Earnhardt, who said Friday he had “reached the end of my rope,” developed transmission problems that dropped him well off the pace before he went to the garage.

By the time Earnhardt returned to the track, he was 29 laps behind and headed for another poor finish.

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