By Ryan - Posted on October 14, 2009
When the red flag appeared with six laps to go in Sunday’s race, NASCAR News agencies reported that Jimmie Johnson was a bit on edge, worried that perhaps he didn’t have quite enough car left to hold off Jeff Gordon. But Gordon, the eventual runner-up and Johnson’s teammate, did not share in this doubt. He simply knew that today, in this place, Johnson was just too good.
"What else can you say? They're the best out there," Gordon said after Johnson distanced himself from the field to win the Pepsi 500 and take over the top spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings. "They've won the last three championships. They're going to be hard to beat for this one. Really, unless they make a mistake, I don't see how they lose it."
Gordon may be on to something. With Sunday’s win in his home state of California, Jimmie Johnson inched closer to a record fourth consecutive championship, leap- frogging previous Chase leader and teammate Mark Martin for a 12 point lead in the NASCAR point standings.
But if everyone else is convinced of his invincibility, Johnson, who now has four Cup championships at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, is being a little more cautious about his championship chances.
"Today we did a good job of it, but there are still six more times to stub our toes," Johnson said. "So we'll have to stay on top of things and do what we've been able to do in the past once again."
One of those “toe stubbing” races came last week at Kansas, where a frustrated Johnson and his No. 48 team managed only a ninth place finish in what was arguably the best car. But as Dorothy would say, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Johnson demonstrated his fondness for the California track by overcoming a couple of shaky early pit stops, which cost him track position. Never panicking, he took advantage of a late restart following a red flag to cruise to an easy and impressive win at the Pepsi 500.
"It's such a long straightaway, and the draft is so important that the guy who is in the second row really controls who's in the lead going into Turn 1," Johnson said, reflecting on the final few laps. "You almost have to get a bad restart to allow the guy behind you to hit your bumper and push you along.
"I was doing it wrong, and finally on that last restart, I got it right. We had such a good car that, if somebody did pass me, I could get back by them in a couple of laps."
Other top finishers included Juan Pablo Montoya who ran third, his fourth straight top-five finish. Montoya remained third overall in the Chase standings. Mark Martin followed in fourth place, slipping to second in the standings, while last week’s winner Tony Stewart rounded out the top five to remain in fourth place.
