By Ryan - Posted on June 23, 2010

A late-race mistake by leader Marcos Ambrose opened the door, and Jimmie Johnson drove through it to win for the first time ever on a road course. It was his fourth victory of the season.

Ambrose, one of the “road course ringers”, had a lead of greater than two seconds when Brad Keselowski brought out the caution on Lap 103. Ambrose began to try to save fuel during the caution laps. In fact, he hit the “kill switch” on the car and stalled it. His car completely lost power, and did not refire immediately. He finally restarted the car, but by that time, six cars had passed him. He restarted seventh, and Johnson inherited the lead. After Johnson took the lead, he pulled away from Robby Gordon, another road course specialist. It was the best finish for Gordon since he finished second at Watkins Glen in 2005.

After the race, Ambrose expressed his disappointment. "I was leading the race and had trouble getting the motor cranked back up a little bit there, and NASCAR made the call. I was trying to save fuel, and the motor shut off. It didn't recrank the way it should. I didn't stop rolling, but it is what it is.”

Following Robby Gordon was Kevin Harvick in 3rd place, Kasey Kahne in 4th, and Jeff Gordon in 5th.  The top ten was rounded out by Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, Boris Said, Tony Stewart, and Juan Montoya.

The win by Jimmie Johnson moved him up four spots in the Spring Cup Chase points standings. He is currently in second place, 140 points behind Kevin Harvick. Johnson leaped over the three drivers ahead of him, all of whom had problems at Infineon. Kurt Busch finished 32nd, Denny Hamlin finished 34th, and Kyle Busch finished 39th. One very popular mover in the point standings was Dale Earnhardt Jr. His 11th place finish at Infineon, right on the heels of a 7th place finish last week at Michigan has him just outside of the Chase.