Johnson Rallies For Victory At Fontana

Polesitter Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, leads the field at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 as actor and former wrestler Steve Austin waves the green flag at Auto Club Speedway. (CreditBy Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
FONTANA, Calif.— A career came full circle for Jimmie Johnson, who won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in 2002 and on Sunday claimed his fifth victory at the 2-mile track and the 48th of his career — matching the No. 48 on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

After gaining the lead in the Auto Club 500 during a fortunate exchange on pit road, the four-time defending series champion held off Kevin Harvick during a 20 lap green-flag run to the finish. Harvick had narrowed a one-second lead to .311 seconds on Lap 246 of 250 before a brush with the wall slowed his progress.

Jeff Burton ran third, followed by Mark Martin and Joey Logano. Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle completed the top 10.

With the win, Johnson tied Herb Thomas for 12th on the career victory list and showed the rest of the field that he’s back on course after a 35th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.

The key sequence came on Lap 223, when Brad Keselowski spun his Dodge off Turn 4 after contact with David Reutimann’s Toyota and brought out the sixth and final caution of the race. Johnson was on pit road when NASCAR called the caution but beat the pace car to the scoring line at the exit.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet, takes a turn alongside Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500. (Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)When the rest of the lead-lap cars pitted under the yellow, Johnson inherited the lead and held it for a restart on Lap 231.

“They’re really good, but they’re also really, really lucky,” Harvick said. “They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass—there’s no getting around that.”

Johnson acknowledged his good fortune after climbing from his car in victory lane.

“Today, fortune came our way,” Johnson said. “We hit pit road, and the caution came out and gave us track position. We lost the handle in the second half of the race. We were making gains coming back, but a lot of other guys were ahead of us, and I knew it would be tough to pass them.

“I’m not going to lie — the fact that we were on pit road gave us track position, and I drove my butt off. We finally got the car turning — it was just a little too loose. The 29 (Harvick) was coming, but then he hit the wall and let us get it.

“Yes, we were lucky today, but you don’t get lucky and win four championships and 48 races.”

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, comes to the checkered flag to his 48th NASCAR Sprint Cup series win at the Auto Club 500 on Sunday. (Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)Just as intense as Harvick’s pursuit of Johnson was Burton’s battle with Harvick, his Richard Childress Racing teammate and the new Cup points leader through two races.

“I kept running the bottom, because if (Harvick) slipped, I could get the spot,” Burton said. “But me running the bottom, him running the top — we weren’t slowing each other up. Just the way he was running his fastest line, I was running my fastest line.

“I think when we were doing that, we were running (Johnson) down. And then we got a little bit looser. Kevin looked like he got better. When he did, I thought he was going to win the race.”

The brush with the wall, however, ended his prospects for victory. Harvick’s Chevy slid into the barrier after Johnson moved up the track to block the line he was running.

“I caught the wall there just enough to knock the right front fender in,” Harvick said. “You know, if he doesn’t move up, he’s going to get passed pretty easily. He moved up and did what he was supposed to do to take that line away. He was able to drive off. So he did exactly what he had to do.”

Notes: Engine troubles sidelined Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman and Marcos Ambrose. … Despite the good fortune, Johnson’s win was hardly fluke. He led a race-high 101 laps. … Polesitter and Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray finished 17th.

---

Unofficial Race Results for the Auto Club 500 - Sunday, February 21, 2010
Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA - 2 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 500 Miles - Purse: $6,021,218

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 250 195 10 141.8 $332,803 Running 8 101
2 6 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 250 175 5 117.0 $248,376 Running 3 27
3 14 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 250 170 5 119.3 $212,990 Running 3 46
4 10 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 250 165 5 118.0 $151,200 Running 2 5
5 19 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 250 155 85.9 $158,040 Running
6 12 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 250 155 5 95.3 $161,698 Running 1 1
7 20 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 250 146 94.0 $151,926 Running
8 3 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 250 147 5 114.6 $113,375 Running 1 2
9 16 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet 250 138 88.5 $138,398 Running
10 35 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 250 134 90.6 $115,900 Running
11 13 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 250 135 5 74.0 $117,023 Running 1 3
12 23 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 250 132 5 102.1 $134,698 Running 2 5
13 31 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 250 124 82.1 $133,873 Running
14 9 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 250 126 5 97.5 $139,256 Running 1 11
15 11 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 250 118 81.2 $125,506 Running
16 8 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Auto Club Dodge 250 115 74.2 $102,050 Running
17 1 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 250 112 75.7 $138,379 Running
18 36 98 Paul Menard Energizer/Menards Ford 250 109 61.0 $100,750 Running
19 22 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 250 106 59.9 $99,700 Running
20 28 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 250 108 5 86.9 $140,951 Running 1 11
21 21 12 Brad Keselowski AAA Insurance Dodge Dodge 250 100 66.0 $117,160 Running
22 17 36 Mike Bliss Wave Energy Drink Chevrolet 250 97 56.6 $86,300 Running
23 15 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 250 94 61.3 $98,700 Running
24 37 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Ford 249 91 47.2 $96,375 Running
25 29 43 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Ford 249 88 56.3 $125,501 Running
26 41 38 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 249 85 43.1 $105,710 Running
27 33 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 249 82 49.4 $87,250 Running
28 43 13 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 249 79 35.6 $82,650 Running
29 25 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 248 81 5 63.1 $102,250 Running 1 6
30 39 34 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford 248 73 41.5 $86,700 Running
31 38 37 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford 247 70 31.9 $103,073 Running
32 27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy Juice / National Guard Chevrolet 238 67 57.8 $89,800 Running
33 40 7 Robby Gordon Warner Music Nashville Toyota 230 64 35.5 $97,098 Overheating
34 4 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford 221 61 72.7 $123,865 Running
35 26 47 Marcos Ambrose Armor All Toyota 170 58 46.0 $101,223 Overheating
36 18 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 148 55 72.9 $108,629 Engine
37 2 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 140 57 5 89.9 $121,881 Engine 1 29
38 42 26 Boris Said Sacred Power/Southern Pride Trucking Ford 67 49 25.8 $88,525 Rear Gear
39 34 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Toyota 64 46 57.4 $80,405 Engine
40 32 87 Joe Nemechek FrontRowJoe.com Toyota 48 43 31.0 $80,250 Rear Gear
41 5 66 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 43 45 5 38.4 $80,080 Engine 1 3
42 30 55 Michael McDowell Prism Motorsports Toyota 40 37 34.6 $79,990 Engine
43 24 09 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 34 34 30.4 $80,347 Engine