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29th
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Jimmie Johnson did what he had to do; winning from the pole at Martinsville he took the Sprint Cup points lead.
"I'm ecstatic about the win today. I'm ecstatic about the points lead," Johnson said. "But this is no cakewalk.”
While Johnson was celebrating his 59th career win, fourth of the year, Brad Keselowski's comeback from 32nd to sixth may have been performance of the race if not the saving grace in his hopes for his first Cup title.
“Today was a tough day,” said Johnson. “Our car came to life right on time.”
It was Johnson's seventh win at the .526 mile paper-clip-shaped track putting him two points ahead of Keselowski with three races to go in the championship. Johnson held off Kyle Busch by .479 seconds in a five-lap shoot out at the end.
Johnson is aware of Keselowski being his primary rival. “I felt like it was going to be a problem for him. I mean, we've been there before and have stayed out and gotten beaten. I expected him to drop a little further back, so with only a 2-point margin, he must have stayed up in the top five somewhere. You just can't count out good race teams. When you're in the playoffs, it doesn't matter what sport it is, teams step up to show what they're made of. We've seen a lot of teams do it this Chase. Out team came out on top today, and a few more racing doing that, we should be in good shape.”
Knowing that this track was one of his worst kept Keselowski optimistic about his title hopes. "You can't count this team out," said Keselowski. “This team has a tremendous amount of heart. Just proud of 'em. I know this championship is going to come down to Homestead (the series finale). You've just got to be in a position to where you've got a shot at it.
"We'll keep fighting the good fight."
Denny Hamlin, another pre-race favorite to win, had a disastrous day with two pit lane speeding penalties and electrical problem finishing 33rd, is eliminated as a challenger for the Cup.
Last week's winner, Clint Bowyer, is hanging on, third 26 points after finishing fifth behind Kasey Kahne (third) and Aric Almirola (fourth) respectively. Kahne is 29 points out of the lead.
Chevrolet grabbed its' tenth straight manufacturers' championship with the win.
Although the championship is likely down to Johnson and Keselowski the five-time champion was not over confident when putting Hamlin's problem into the context of the bigger picture.
“What it does to my mind is say that anything can happen,” Johnson said. "I think it was an electrical problem, what we've heard so far. That can happen to anybody. I'm not smiling. I'm not anything. It can happen to me. It can happen to the 2 (Keselowski). It's just one of those Voodoo things you don't do in this sport. With three races left, anything can happen.
You're looking for somebody to call a shot. But you got to play the game, you got to run the race. We could have some mechanical issue, an electrical issue, an accident on the track. With three races left, there's a lot of laps to be run."
"I'm ecstatic about the win today. I'm ecstatic about the points lead," Johnson said. "But this is no cakewalk.”
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| Jimmie Johnson, winner. (Photo: NASCAR) |
While Johnson was celebrating his 59th career win, fourth of the year, Brad Keselowski's comeback from 32nd to sixth may have been performance of the race if not the saving grace in his hopes for his first Cup title.
“Today was a tough day,” said Johnson. “Our car came to life right on time.”
It was Johnson's seventh win at the .526 mile paper-clip-shaped track putting him two points ahead of Keselowski with three races to go in the championship. Johnson held off Kyle Busch by .479 seconds in a five-lap shoot out at the end.
 |
| Hendrick Motorsports at work on Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Johnson is aware of Keselowski being his primary rival. “I felt like it was going to be a problem for him. I mean, we've been there before and have stayed out and gotten beaten. I expected him to drop a little further back, so with only a 2-point margin, he must have stayed up in the top five somewhere. You just can't count out good race teams. When you're in the playoffs, it doesn't matter what sport it is, teams step up to show what they're made of. We've seen a lot of teams do it this Chase. Out team came out on top today, and a few more racing doing that, we should be in good shape.”
Knowing that this track was one of his worst kept Keselowski optimistic about his title hopes. "You can't count this team out," said Keselowski. “This team has a tremendous amount of heart. Just proud of 'em. I know this championship is going to come down to Homestead (the series finale). You've just got to be in a position to where you've got a shot at it.
"We'll keep fighting the good fight."
 |
| Photo: NASCAR |
Denny Hamlin, another pre-race favorite to win, had a disastrous day with two pit lane speeding penalties and electrical problem finishing 33rd, is eliminated as a challenger for the Cup.
Last week's winner, Clint Bowyer, is hanging on, third 26 points after finishing fifth behind Kasey Kahne (third) and Aric Almirola (fourth) respectively. Kahne is 29 points out of the lead.
Chevrolet grabbed its' tenth straight manufacturers' championship with the win.
Although the championship is likely down to Johnson and Keselowski the five-time champion was not over confident when putting Hamlin's problem into the context of the bigger picture.
 |
| Jimmie Johnson leading Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch. (Photo: NASCAR) |
“What it does to my mind is say that anything can happen,” Johnson said. "I think it was an electrical problem, what we've heard so far. That can happen to anybody. I'm not smiling. I'm not anything. It can happen to me. It can happen to the 2 (Keselowski). It's just one of those Voodoo things you don't do in this sport. With three races left, anything can happen.
You're looking for somebody to call a shot. But you got to play the game, you got to run the race. We could have some mechanical issue, an electrical issue, an accident on the track. With three races left, there's a lot of laps to be run."