Johnson wins NASCAR Banking 500 in Charlotte

By James Bennett
Morning News
jbennett@florencenews.com

CONCORD, N.C. — Everyone seemed ready to hand Jimmie Johnson his fourth-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championship Saturday night.

Everyone, that is, except Johnson himself and his Hendrick Motorsports team.

Johnson took control of the Chase for the Championship with his victory in the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway outside Charlotte. Johnson has won three of the last four races in the Chase.

"We're only halfway through this thing," Johnson said. "There's going to be a lot of bumping and banging with double-file restarts. There's no reason for anyone to get excited yet. There's a lot of danger out there."

Johnson extended his lead in the Sprint Cup standings to 90 points over Mark Martin. He was only 12 points ahead of Martin, the Southern 500 winner at Darlington Raceway, coming into the race.

“What a fantastic effort by Jimmie,” Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus said, noting the No. 48 Chevrolet claimed the pole, was the fastest in practice and won the race. “Someone said, when you have a perfect weekend like this, you should retire.”

Johnson shot back: "You're not going anywhere!"

Matt Kenseth finished 2.3 seconds behind Johnson. Kasey Kahne was third, Jeff Gordon fourth and Joey Logano fifth.

“Jimmie’s the guy to beat. Obviously, I’m not in a position to stop him," Kahne said.

Hardly anyone is in a position to challenge Johnson. He's 135 points ahead of third-place Gordon, 155 ahead of fourth-place Tony Stewart and 177 ahead of fifth-place Kurt Busch in the standings. Kahne is ninth, 331 points behind.

"I'd rather be this far ahead than this far behind," team owner Rick Hendrick said. "I don't think you can have enough points. We're just too early in the Chase."

Johnson seemed unstoppable Saturday night in his historic push for a fourth-straight Sprint Cup. Gordon passed Johnson for the lead on a late restart, but Johnson rose to the challenge and quickly overtook his Hendrick teammate.

“He got by me, and I was pretty nervous,” said Johnson, who won for the sixth time this season and for the sixth time in his Sprint Cup career at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "That last restart, I had my hands full."

Saturday night’s race was the halfway point in the Chase. It started with 40-degree temperatures and showers lingering over the track.

It ended with the other 11 drivers in the Chase knowing it would be nearly impossible to catch Johnson in the final five races of the season.

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

Martin fell out of contention early Saturday night. He qualified second but quickly faded, finishing 17th.

Four Chase drivers, Johnson, Kahne, Gordon and Kurt Busch (10th), finished in the top 10.

Four Chase drivers, Brian Vickers (34th), Juan Pablo Montoya (35th), Carl Edwards (39th) and Denny Hamlin (42nd), finished outside the top 30.

The Chase puts the top 12 drivers after 26 races into a 10-race, championship shootout at the end of the season.

“What sucks about this points system is you can run your tail off for 26 weeks, and you have one bad week in the final 10, and you’re done. Your season’s over,” Hamlin said.

Edwards’ night ended after 299 laps of the scheduled 334 laps. The runner-up finisher to Johnson in last year’s Chase failed to finish for only the second time this season.

“That’s a mercy killing there,” Edwards said after he pulled his No. 99 Ford off the track. “You’re gonna have nights like this.”

Montoya lost three spots in the standings, tumbling to sixth and 195 points behind.

As the race started, Johnson told his crew: “We've got a special opportunity tonight. Let's support each other and take advantage of it.”

He did.

The race was the last at the track under the sponsorship of Lowe’s, Johnson’s primary sponsor.

“That’s was special for all of us,” said Johnson, who moves into a tie for 13th on the all-time Sprint Cup wins list with Buck Baker.

The Sprint Cup series goes to Martinsville, Va. (Oct. 25); Talladega, Ala. (Nov. 2); Fort Worth, Texas (Nov. 9); Phoenix (Nov. 16) and Homestead, Fla. (Nov. 23) for the final five races of the season.

"One flat tire, one mechanical problem or a major problem at Talladega, and a 90-point lead can disappear," Johnson said. "The unknowns are what we cannot control. We're trying to keep our guard up."

NASCAR notes

-- Dale Earnhardt Jr. told the Charlotte Observer says he's ready for the season to end.

Earnhardt had transmission problems and finished 30 laps behind in Saturday night’s race.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver failed to make the 12-driver Chase and finds himself 22nd in the standings after his 39th-place finish.

“It’s really encouraging one day and then the next day it’s equally discouraging. That’s getting really old,” Earnhardt told the newspaper. “I’m at the end of my rope.

“I’ve been riding it out, but there comes a point where you don’t want to ride it out any more. I’ve just had enough. It’s been a long year.”

-- Kevin Harvick hinted during a television interview last week he’s planning to leave Richard Childress’ Sprint Cup program when his contract expires at the end of next year.

Childress said he hasn't seen the interview but he's concentrating on moving forward no matter what the former Daytona 500 winner.

Childress added he's still trying to get full-season funding for the No. 07 Chevrolet driven by Casey Mears and will make a decision by the season finale in Homestead next month.

RCR has struggled this season, with all four cars missing the Chase for the Championship.

-- Richard Petty, Teresa Earnhardt, Brian France and Junior Johnson gave the pre-race command of "Start Your Engines." Former drivers and car owners Petty and Johnson were selected for the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday. France is the son and grandson of Hall of Fame inductees Bill France Jr. and Bill France Sr. Earnhardt is the wife of the late Dale Earnhardt, also chosen for the inaugural class of 2010.

-- Saturday’s race was Brad Keselowski’s last in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Keselowski will be running full time next season for Penske Racing and the No. 12 Dodge

Contact Regional Editor James Bennett at (843) 317-9250.

Includes information from The Associated Press.