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Turning Left: NASCAR
By Charlie O. Mallonee October 18, 2009 |
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NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson Chasing the Champion and Immorality No NASCAR driver/team has ever won four consecutive Sprint Cups. After Saturday night, Jimmie Johnson may well be on the way to winning his fourth consecutive championship and making history. Johnson held off Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano to win under the lights at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Johnson’s margin of victory was mere 2.303-seconds. The win was Johnson’s sixth victory of the year and his 46th career win in 286 races. The win also propelled Johnson’s lead over Mark Martin to 90 points with five races remaining. This was also Johnson’s sixth win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Johnson may want to drop the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana as his home track and adopt Lowe’s as his track. The race featured 22 lead changes shared among nine drivers. There were 10 caution periods for total of 42 laps. The race was not kind to several of “Chase for the Sprint Cup” drivers. Denny Hamlin’s (42nd) bid for a top-10 finish ended when he blew an engine on Lap 192. Carl Edwards (39th) was collected in an accident and returned to track to accumulate points. He also blew engine. Brian Vickers just had a poor run and finished 34th. Juan Pablo Montoya was rear-ended on a restart and posted a 35th place finish. Johnson’s win does not guarantee him the championship. One ‘Did Not Finish (DNF)’ could change everything in the Chase standings. Johnson has one DNF this season. Chase for the Sprint Cup Standings Pos Driver Points Ldr Nxt Starts Poles Wins T5s T10 DNFs Money Won 1 Jimmie Johnson 5923 0 0 31 3 6 13 20 1 $6,403,604 2 Mark Martin 5833 -90 -90 31 7 5 12 18 3 $4,686,053 3 Jeff Gordon 5788 -135 -45 31 0 1 15 22 1 $5,800,730 4 Tony Stewart 5768 -155 -20 31 0 4 15 21 0 $6,285,056 5 Kurt Busch 5746 -177 -22 31 0 1 8 18 2 $4,092,634 6 Juan Pablo Montoya 5728 -195 -18 31 2 0 6 16 0 $4,660,480 7 Greg Biffle 5655 -268 -73 31 0 0 9 14 2 $4,242,284 8 Ryan Newman 5635 -288 -20 31 1 0 5 14 0 $4,433,337 9 Kasey Kahne 5592 -331 -43 31 0 2 6 13 2 $5,063,196 10 Carl Edwards 5582 -341 -10 31 0 0 7 13 2 $4,928,949 11 Denny Hamlin 5551 -372 -31 31 1 2 11 16 3 $4,327,764 12 Brian Vickers 5438 -485 -113 31 6 1 4 13 4 $4,179,030 |
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