Jimmie Johnson is getting used to kissing these bricks.
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Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Photo by Action Sports Photography.
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Johnson led the final 24 laps and held off teammate Mark Martin to win
the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was Johnson's second
straight win here and third victory at the Brickyard in the past four
years.
Johnson started 16th and was second behind Martin on the final restart
of the race on lap 138. Johnson was on the outside for the restart and
took the lead coming out of Turn 2. He held off Martin for the final 24
laps to claim his third win of the season.
"That was unbelievable," Johnson said before joining his teammates for
the traditional kissing of the line of bricks at the start/finish line.
"I hope the fans enjoyed that race. I can't say enough about this race
team and all of Hendrick Motorsports."
Martin closed to Johnson's bumper several times in the closing laps but
couldn't work his way around the three-time series champion.
"Damn is he fast," Johnson said. "For an old guy, he had me pretty
worried. It's great to work with him and work with (Martin's crew chief)
Allan (Gustafson) and all of my teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. Those
last 15-20 laps, we had to drive it so hard to stay ahead of the 5. I
was better in (turns) 3 and 4 then he was and he had me beat in 1 and 2.
It was kind of a give-and-take thing that was going on. Luckily we held
him off."
Johnson said that getting out front of his teammate on the last restart
was the key to his win.
"Clean air was everything," Johnson said. "You can only get so close to
the car in front of you. You had a few laps on new tires to really take
advantage. I got that restart and put on a great show for the fans. I
hope they enjoyed it."
Martin sat on the pole and led the first four laps before surrendering
the lead to Juan Pablo Montoya. He raced with the leaders throughout the
day but couldn't get past his teammate in the closing laps.
"He was better than we were off of (turn) 4 and we were better off of
2," Martin said. "So I knew I had to make it happen off of 2. Both of us
were driving for all we were worth and we couldn't get him."
Montoya led for most of the first half of the race but fell back late in
the race after getting a pit road speeding penalty on lap 126 and ended
up with an 11th place finish.
"I thought I was under speed," said Montoya, who led a race-high 116
laps. "It is what it is. Once it happens, you can't change it. It was
pretty frustrating. I was cruising - the car was stupid fast."
Tony Stewart is the only driver other than Johnson to win here in the
past five years. He started seventh and brought home a third place
finish.
"I think we were pretty consistent today," Stewart said. "We weren't
fast enough to run with Mark and Jimmie. We were just a little bit too
tight in the center. Our Chevy was awesome and I'm really proud of our
organization. It's awesome to be able to come here for the first time
and finish in the top three like this."
Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers rounded out the top five.
"In the big picture it was a good day," said Vickers who was
disappointed to not race for the win after dealing with his left rear
tire going down late in the race. "We couldn't risk ruining a good
points day to go chase the brick but man it would be so nice to win."
Johnson moved past teammate Jeff Gordon to second in the standings, 192
points behind leader Stewart.
Kyle Busch blew a front tire on lap 58 and crashed heavily into the
wall. He finished 38th and slipped to 14th in the standings with six
races remaining before the Chase to the Championship cut off.
