MOTORSPORTS: Dominant drive: Near-perfect race at Fontana ignites Johnson's pursuit of Cup
By RICK HOFF - Staff Writer | ∞
There may be no such thing as the perfect race, but Jimmie Johnson came pretty close on Sunday.
Driving what he called the most dominant car he has ever negotiated around a racetrack, the El Cajon driver had no peer in the NASCAR Pepsi 500. The Lowe's Chevrolet Impala rolled over the two-mile oval at Auto Club Speedway as if it were jet-powered.
"I think this is the most dominant car and victory that we've had," Johnson said after his third Sprint Cup series win of the season, which has only 11 races remaining.
From a numbers standpoint, Johnson racked up some good ones. He led for a track-record 228 laps out of 250. Runner-up finisher Greg Biffle led for 12 laps, and no other driver led for more than three. With his 36th career victory, Johnson became the first driver to win from the pole in 17 Nextel/Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway. It was also his third win at the Fontana track, tying him with Jeff Gordon for the most victories there.
By the race's midway point, Johnson had built a lead of more than eight seconds, almost an eternity in stock-car parlance. From a visual standpoint, that's the equivalent of being ahead of the next car by the length of seven football fields.
"More than anything, I was happy to close the deal," Johnson said. "It's very, very rare to have a car that dominant. In most cases, you end up doing something stupid, and I'm guilty in the past, so it was nice to close the deal and lead all those laps and win the race."
Car owner Rick Hendrick, whose team won just its fourth race this season after dominating last year, agreed with Johnson's assessment.
"Usually when you're that good, you wait for something to happen," Hendrick said. "And when you have a car that good, it's hard to capitalize every race, especially a 500-mile race here.
"Hopefully we can take this momentum into the Chase."
The Lowe's 48 team knows a little something about having momentum in the Chase for the Cup, which involves the final 10 races of the season to decide the season champion. Last year Johnson won four straight races during the Chase to secure his second straight Cup championship. Johnson joined an impressive list of drivers who have won back-to-back titles, including Richard Petty, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt. But only one driver, Cale Yarborough, has won three straight season championships (1976-78).
"The weak spot for us has been the 1 1/2-mile and two-mile tracks, and the Chase is full of those tracks," Johnson said. "Our results at the start of the season and early summer, there were some flashes of hope in there, but we weren't where we needed to be."
The team found itself where it needed to be on Sunday ---- Victory Lane.
"I'm happy to win on a big track because the bulk of the races are on these big down-force tracks," Johnson said. "I feel like we're doing the right things to have a fighting chance at the championship, and that's really all we can ask for."
Early in the season, it appeared that Kyle Busch might run away from the pack in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. By Aug.10, Busch had already won eight times en route to a sizable lead in the drivers' standings.
But Carl Edwards won three of four races in August in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford and now has six wins to close within 208 points of Busch. Johnson is not far behind in third place going into the final race of the regular season, on the short track at Richmond on Saturday. After that, the top 12 drivers will be seeded and the points re-set for the 10-race Chase that begins Sept. 14 at New Hampshire.
"Moving forward into this Chase and where those guys are at, they have been out there winning the races," Johnson said. "Kyle has eight and Carl has six. Man, they deserve all the props. They are out there earning it. We have three now so we are halfway to Carl.
"I'm happy to see people are considering us as a realistic chance for the Chase and a championship contender because our results have shown that. We have been chipping away at it and getting closer to those guys. They have set the world on fire. Between the two of them, they have dominated the first half of the season. I recognize that and give them the respect that they deserve for that. I don't like it and I want to be that guy myself."
With a few more results like the one on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Johnson could very well be that guy by himself.
Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com.
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