NASCAR Title Up For Grabs After Johnson Victory in Atlanta

Johnson said he will donate his winnings from Sunday's race to the American Red Cross for the fire relief effort in his native California.

Photo courtesy: atlantamotorspeedway.com

HAMPTON, Ga. - A two-tire stop for Jimmie Johnson paid off with a victory Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, turning the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship into a virtual dead heat between the reigning champion and teammate Jeff Gordon.

Johnson and Gordon, who came into the Pep Boys Auto 500 separated by 53 points, both struggled during most of the race before winding up first and seventh, leaving four-time champion Gordon with a nine-point lead with three remaining.

With all the leaders concerned about running out of gas, rookie Johnny Sauter's blown tire brought out the 11th of a track-record 12 caution flags on the 318th of a scheduled 325 laps on the 1.5-mile oval.

Denny Hamlin, who had been running sixth, was the only leader who stayed on track, taking the lead. The others pitted and Johnson jumped from fifth to second as crew chief Chad Knaus made a late decision to change only two tires.

The race restarted on Lap 323, but Hamlin ran out of gas on the restart and cars began dodging everywhere to try to miss him and each other. Martin Truex Jr., who had one of the best cars all day, wound up slamming into the rear of Hamlin and the caution waved again.

That left Johnson, who barely dodged Hamlin's slow car, in the lead, with Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. right behind and set up a two-lap overtime.

The race resumed on Lap 328 and, before the leaders got through the first turn, something snapped in the rear of Earnhardt's car, sending him spinning into the wall. He collected Jamie McMurray, who had been running fifth, and the race ended under yellow with Johnson picking up his eighth win of the season and second in a row.

"[Sunday] wasn't the best day for our car," said Johnson, who swept both Atlanta races this season. "Circumstances at the end really worked out for us. When I left pit road and there were five or six cars behind us and two tires, I knew we were probably in great shape.

Gordon, who saw his lead almost disappear, said the pressure is on even more heading into next Sunday's race at Texas.

"I feel like we've got the team and the equipment to do it, but those guys are tough and they're showing it every weekend. All I'm focusing right now is trying not to have the bad day and, for a while, it looked like [Sunday] was going to be the bad day.

"We struggled there for a while and, to come back and finish seventh, it was a great day, even though Jimmie won.''

Johnson said he will donate his winnings from Sunday's race to the American Red Cross for the fire relief effort in his native California.

In Victory Lane, the winner said he was amazed to be there, considering how the day had gone.

"At the end Chad got aggressive on some adjustments on the car and got us into contention, to run in the top five and maybe get a third-place finish," Johnson said. "But, with the pit strategy at the end, we were able to capitalize on a good pit call.

"We need to make the most of every race because I know it's going to be a shootout to the end."

With the melee behind Hamlin on the penultimate restart and the Earnhardt-McMurray crash at the end, the finishing order was shuffled big time.

Edwards, who had not been a factor most of the race, wound up second and kept alive his slim hopes of a championship. He came into the race fifth, 285 points behind Gordon and heads for Texas fourth, 261 back.

He was followed by Reed Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, who remained third in the 12-man Chase, but still trails Gordon by 111 points, four less than when the race began.

Kyle Busch was, along with Truex, dominant most of the day. But the 22-year-old Busch lost the lead and fell out of contention when his jackman messed up on his final stop. He also got caught up in Hamlin's accident, spun through the infield grass and wound up 17th.

Pep Boys Auto 500 Race Results:

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS

1. 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 190/5 327 Running
2. 16 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 170/0 327 Running
3. 32 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target / Breast Cancer Awareness 165/0 327 Running
4. 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT NANO Technology 160/0 327 Running
5. 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 155/0 327 Running
6. 26 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 150/0 327 Running
7. 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Nicorette Cinnamon Surge / DuPont 146/0 327 Running
8. 2 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 147/5 327 Running
9. 4 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 143/5 327 Running
10. 14 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 134/0 327 Running
11. 24 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 130/0 327 Running
12. 15 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 127/0 327 Running
13. 39 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 129/5 327 Running
14. 10 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 121/0 327 Running
15. 34 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 123/5 327 Running
16. 31 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 120/5 327 Running
17. 19 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 117/5 327 Running
18. 38 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers Halloween 109/0 327 Running
19. 43 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 106/0 327 Running
20. 3 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota The UPS Store / Toys for Tots 103/0 327 Running
21. 33 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 100/0 326 Running
22. 1 16 Greg Biffle Ford Lumber Liquidators 102/5 326 Running
23. 40 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 94/0 326 Running
24. 18 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 96/5 326 Off Track
25. 5 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 88/0 326 Off Track
26. 25 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 85/0 326 Running
27. 36 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 87/5 325 Running
28. 29 49 John Andretti Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 79/0 325 Running
29. 27 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Sears Auto Center / Valvoline / Stanley 76/0 325 Running
30. 30 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 73/0 321 Running
31. 20 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 80/10 322 Off Track
32. 35 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Radioactive Energy Drink 67/0 319 Running
33. 37 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 64/0 318 Running
34. 21 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 61/0 281 Running
35. 22 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 58/0 273 Running
36. 23 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 55/0 268 Running
37. 9 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 52/0 267 Running
38. 42 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 49/0 261 Running
39. 7 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light / St. Jude Hospital 46/0 250 Off Track
40. 41 66 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Best Buy 43/0 248 Off Track
41. 11 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 40/0 236 Running
42. 13 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's Halloween 37/0 64 Out of Race
43. 12 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 34/0 64 Out of Race

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