Critical gaffe leads to road-course win for Johnson By Tom Zulewski June 20, 2010     SONOMA – Jimmie Johnson has his first child on the way within the next month. On Sunday, the future first-time dad got a most unusual and unlikely Father’s Day gift. When Marcos Ambrose made a mistake by shutting off his engine during a late caution period, it was the shot that gave Johnson his first NASCAR Sprint Cup road-course victory at the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway. After Johnson had dominated the early stages of the 110-lap race, Ambrose looked to be in cruise control in search of his first victory. When a Brad Keselowski spin brought out the seventh and last caution flag with six laps to go, it started the events that gave Johnson his 51st career win and first on a road course in 17 starts. “It was a great day and I’m very proud of the entire weekend,” Johnson said. “From the moment we unloaded, we had a plan and stuck to it.” As Ambrose tried to conserve his fuel, he shut off the engine and couldn’t re-fire it as six cars passed him on the track. NASCAR didn’t allow Ambrose to return to the lead position, citing failure to maintain a reasonable speed. Once the field restarted at lap 106, Johnson pulled away and took the checkered flag ahead of runner-up Robby Gordon. “When (Juan Pablo) Montoya and Ambrose stayed out, it’s like ‘we have to do something a little bit different than what they did,’” Gordon said of his finish. “It was going to be edgy to make it from where we did on lap 66 on fuel, but we got enough cautions and were able to save enough fuel.” Points leader Kevin Harvick fell just short of catching Gordon and finished third. With Denny Hamlin (34th) and Kyle Busch (39th) stuck in wrecks that pushed them back in the field, Harvick padded his lead to 140 over Johnson. “We’re fortunate to be where we’re at in the points right now,” he said. “We’re able to race hard every lap and really not have to worry about what’s going on with the points.” NOTES: The race had a 21-minute red flag at lap 66 after a five-car wreck that included Hamlin stacked up the field near the starting line. Smoke wafted back toward the media center building and activated the alarm, along with a sprinkler on the upper level. … There were 12 lead changes in the race, setting a new record. … Pole-sitter Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon completed the top five finishers, and Ambrose came in sixth. … Johnson is the sixth different winner in the last six races at Sonoma.

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