OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

Nascar and Racing

Johnson Serves Title Notice at Dover

It took just 3 hours, 24 minutes and 20 seconds of racing action Sunday at Dover International Speedway to allow "Superman" to reassert his dominance over NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

Jimmie Johnson pounded the field around the concrete one-mile oval for his fifth career win at Dover and fourth of the season to take home the AAA 400 trophy. Johnson led some 271 laps and never looked back despite late cautions that brought the competition back to his bumper three times in final 100 laps.

In doing so, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus served notice that they don't expect a change from recent years at the celebration following the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


"New leader: the forty-eight," said someone on Johnson's in-car radio as Johnson flashed past Kurt Busch on lap 176, mimicking what NASCAR race control says each time a new driver takes the lead of a race.

It was probably the worst news any of Johnson's competitors had heard all day.

Johnson wouldn't look back from that point, never relinquishing the lead en route to sweeping the two-race series at Dover for 2009. Johnson's win also tied him with David Pearson for the third-most wins ever by a single driver in NASCAR history at the Delaware track.

"I'm pretty sure that dude is Superman," said runner-up Mark Martin, re-issuing the nickname he's used for Johnson at different points in 2009.

The win allowed Johnson to chop 25 points off the lead held by Martin, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, putting the No. 48 within striking distance to not only overcome the 10-point deficit to the No. 5 car, but also jump to a big lead if Martin stumbles next week at Kansas Speedway.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=512173&pid=512172&uts=1254099084
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Latest NASCAR Photos
DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson
Getty Images for NASCAR
Getty Images North America

Latest NASCAR Images

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: A detail of the signature of Jimmie Johnson is seen on the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet in victory lane as Johnson celebrated his win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L of trophy), driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew including crew chief Chad Knaus (R of trophy) in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L of trophy), driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew including crew chief Chad Knaus (R of trophy) in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson (L) driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with a crew member in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 27: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 27, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    NASCAR drivers race during the AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

    AP


"I'm excited to see that we've gapped some of the other Chase contenders," said Johnson.

Gapped, indeed.

Johnson, second in the standings, now has a 55-point advantage on Juan Pablo Montoya in third, 65 on Kurt Busch in fourth and 96 points on Tony Stewart in 5th.

And while 2009 is starting to show signs of Johnson circa his three straight Sprint Cup titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, the California driver isn't ready to count out Martin quite yet.

"It's going to be difficult to shake Martin," Johnson said. "There's no free lunch in this sport -- especially racing Mark Martin."

The free lunch for Johnson, though, might come this week as teams start to realize that the No. 48, which has been unstoppable in the past three seasons, is back for more.

"All of these people can get wound up about stuff that really doesn't matter," Johnson said, referring to those who think he might have had an advantage at Dover thanks to a tire test he was involved with back in August. "At the end of the day, all of the talk means nothing. We still have to show up at Kansas and run that race."

If history shows us anything about "that race," Johnson & Co. won't have any troubles maintaining at Kansas. He's got a win at the track and has an average finish of 10.4 -- third-best among drivers who raced there seven or more times.

Sure, there's always the possibility that Johnson could face some unseen trouble. But after seeing the past three seasons and seeing the performance from Sunday at Dover, the reality of such trouble seems quite unrealistic.

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?