Tulsa World: Johnson cruises to win at Lowe's

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Johnson cruises to win at Lowe's

Jimmie Johnson raises the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. AP PHOTO

By JENNA FRYER Associated Press
Published: 10/18/2009 2:34 AM
Last Modified: 10/18/2009 9:29 AM

CONCORD, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson completed the perfect weekend with a win at Lowe's Motor Speedway to take control of the championship standings.

The three-time defending series champion raced to his third victory in the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Saturday night, extending his lead to 90 points over teammate Mark Martin.

Seeking a NASCAR-record fourth consecutive Cup championship, Johnson led every practice session and won the pole to complete yet another dominating run at Lowe's. He has been the driver to beat at the suburban Charlotte track since early in his career, and the victory was the Lowe's-sponsored driver's sixth on the 1.5-mile oval.

"Man, we pulled off a perfect weekend and we've always wanted to do that," Johnson said in his first Victory Lane visit at the track since 2005.

Matt Kenseth was second, followed by Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.

Martin, who started the race 12 points behind his teammate in the standings, finished 17th in part because of front-end damage received when he ran into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya on an early restart.

It was that kind of night for several title contenders, as eight of the 12 finished outside the top 10 in a rare off night for the Chase drivers.

Montoya dropped to sixth and is now 195 points out. Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards both blew motors, Greg Biffle was in a late spin and Tony Stewart never contended.

Cup standings

1. J.Johnson --

2. M.Martin -90

3. J.Gordon -135

4. T.Stewart -155

5. Ku.Busch -177

6. J.Montoya -195

7. G.Biffle -268

8. R.Newman -288

9. K.Kahne -331

10. C.Edwards -341

11. D.Hamlin -372

12. B.Vickers -485

NASCAR Banking 500

Concord, N.C.

Lap Length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

Car maker abbreviations: C=Chevrolet, D=Dodge, F=Ford, T=Toyota

1. (1) J. Johnson, C, 334 laps, 139.1 rating, 195 points.

2. (4) M. Kenseth, F, 334, 122.3, 175.

3. (3) K. Kahne, D, 334, 125.6, 170.

4. (9) J. Gordon, C, 334, 115.1, 165.

5. (12) J. Logano, T, 334, 96, 155.

6. (11) C. Bowyer, C, 334, 106.2, 150.

7. (42) C. Mears, C, 334, 88.2, 146.

8. (10) Ky. Busch, T, 334, 101.5, 142.

9. (25) M. Truex Jr., C, 334, 95.6, 138.

10. (15) Ku. Busch, D, 334, 97.6, 139.

11. (6) R. Newman, C, 334, 93.1, 130.

12. (8) Bra. Keselowski, C, 334, 80.3, 127.

13. (5) T. Stewart, C, 334, 85.3, 124.

14. (34) J. Burton, C, 334, 80.1, 121.

15. (21) D. Reutimann, T, 334, 84.6, 118.

16. (23) G. Biffle, F, 334, 77.4, 115.

17. (2) M. Martin, C, 334, 86.3, 117.

18. (32) K. Harvick, C, 334, 74.2, 109.

19. (27) D. Stremme, D, 334, 64.8, 106.

20. (29) D. Ragan, F, 334, 67.7, 103.

21. (37) R. Sorenson, D, 334, 57.1, 100.

22. (13) M. Ambrose, T, 333, 64.6, 97.

23. (26) A. Allmendinger, D, 333, 61.5, 94.

24. (7) M. Bliss, C, 333, 63.5, 91.

25. (14) D. Gilliland, T, 333, 56.1, 88.

26. (38) E. Sadler, D, 332, 51.4, 85.

27. (31) P. Menard, F, 332, 43.4, 82.

28. (16) S. Speed, T, 332, 50.5, 79.

29. (36) B. Elliott, F, 332, 42.4, 76.

30. (19) R. Gordon, T, 332, 53.1, 73.

31. (24) B. Labonte, F, 331, 45, 70.

32. (33) M. Waltrip, T, 331, 40.1, 72.

33. (20) J. McMurray, F, 331, 46.4, 64.

34. (30) B. Vickers, T, 330, 58.2, 61.

35. (18) J. Pablo Montoya, C, 330, 66.2, 58.

36. (41) J. Andretti, C, 330, 29, 55.

37. (43) T. Labonte, T, 329, 31.9, 57.

38. (39) D. Earnhardt Jr., C, 304, 44.3, 49.

39. (28) C. Edwards, F, engine, 299, 35.6, 46.

40. (22) S. Hornish Jr., D, 298, 27.1, 43.

41. (40) M. Papis, T, engine, 286, 27.8, 40.

42. (17) D. Hamlin, T, engine, 192, 100.5, 42.

43. (35) J. Nemechek, T, rear end, 26, 27, 34.

Remaining schedule

Oct. 25: Tums Fast Relief 500, Martinsville, Va.

Nov. 1: Amp Energy 500, Talladega, Ala.

Nov. 8: Dickies 500, Fort Worth, Texas.

Nov. 15: Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Avondale, Ariz.

Nov. 22: Ford 400, Homestead, Fla. By JENNA FRYER Associated Press

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