(By Greg Engle)
Posted: Monday,November 16th, 2009
(By Sarah Farlee, CupScene.com Senior Staff Writer)
Avondale, AZ - Jimmie Johnson makes winning races, and championships, look easy.
Johnson gave Hendrick Motorsports its sixth win in a row at the Phoenix International Raceway in Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, and did it in dominating fashion.
“What a great car, what a great race team,” said Johnson, who won his third consecutive fall race at PIR. “These guys have bounced back and we’ve always been good at it.”
“Dominating this race says a lot,” Johnson added.
AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 15: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2009 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
The dominating performance by the 48 team gives Johnson a 108 point lead over teammate Mark Martin going into the season finale at Homestead. Johnson will need a 25th place finish or better to clinch his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship – an unprecedented feat in NASCAR history.
“We wanted to come in here and attack,” said crew chief Chad Knaus.
Attack they did. Johnson led 76 percent of the race, leaving everyone else to battle for second on back. Jeff Burton had his best finish of the season finishing second, while Denny Hamlin finished third for the fourth time at PIR.
Polesitter Martin Truex, Jr. capped of a solid weekend with a fifth place finish. It is his only top-five finish of the year.
“We had a good race, nothing bad happened and we didn’t have bad luck,” Truex said.
The race had few caution periods, only four. Two cautions for debris and two incidents involving several cars brought out the yellow, which allowed the double file restart to make its debut at PIR.
Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Results–>>
On the lap 119 restart Erik Darnell was rear ended and that started the melee toward the back of the field that involved Robby Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, John Andretti, Casey Mears and David Ragan - who all had moderate damage and Michael Waltrip, who had significant damage and had to be towed from the scene.
“Tricky,” said Waltrip. “I was slowed down and didn’t have any power steering and two people passed me to get in the wreck.”
Jeff Gordon seemed to struggle on restarts and said he had a ninth place day, which is were the four-time champion finished the day. Gordon added he was excited with the way they started the race, but at the end the car got away from them.
“The 48 did what they needed to do, which is no surprise,” said Gordon, who will be eliminated from the championship picture when Johnson starts the race at Homestead.
It was also not a surprise that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had issues as his 2009 woes continue. On lap 169 Earnhardt spun in front of the pack and a mess broke out that involved Scott Speed, Casey Mears, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte and Chase drivers Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers. Labonte and Vickers were the only two that did not return to the track following the incident.
Earnhardt returned 53 laps down after the crew repaired a severed oil line believed to have been the cause of the spin. He would finish 35th.
Stewart, Newman and Vickers would all finish outside the top-20. Newman finished 20th, Stewart 25th and Vickers 38th.
As the circuit heads to the season finale the rest of the Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers are just hoping to get the best finish they can. Kurt Busch, who finished sixth in the race, is hoping to break up the Hendrick Motorsports party at the top of the Chase.
“Sixth place, we’ll take it,” said Busch. “Last week was a win. We’re gaining points and we’re still doing a good job. (Jeff) Gordon is within distance going into Homestead for third place overall.”
Hamlin also is looking at the final point’s standings as motivation.
“We are trying to crawl back up in the points just as high as we can,” said Hamlin, who is currently eighth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings. “We wanted to get back to the top five in points — I highly doubt that’s going to happen, but you never know, we’re making steps.”
Martin finished fourth and remains the only legitimate contender to battle Johnson for the Sprint Cup.
“We gave it everything we had,” said Martin.
The remaining Chase field had top-15 finishes in Phoenix. Juan Pablo Montoya finished eighth, Greg Biffle finished 14th, Kasey Kahne finished 15th and Carl Edwards finished 16th.
As Johnson heads to Homestead he is quick to remind himself that anything can happen.
“We finished 38th last week so I can’t let my guard down,” said Johnson.
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