Jimmie Johnson won the Tums QuikPak 500 NASCAR sprint Cup Nascar race that took place today at Martinsville speedway. It was this same time around last year that he started his run to the title.
For Johnson the Nascar race was a cakewalk, he lead 339 of 504 laps, driving his famous no.48 Chevrolet. His Chevrolet held up great during those short runs and sped off corners in a flash leaving Johnson’s closest competitor Dale Earnhardt Jr. way behind. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Couldn’t do much against Johnson today, except for a few failed charge attempts.
Johnson aimed to stretch his advantage to .708 seconds with the green-flag run during the end. Despite various failed attempts Carl Edwards was third, followed closely by Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. This Nascar race would probably place Jimmie Johnson within the ranks of legends.
Here is what the runner’s up Dale Earnhardt Jr had to say about Johnson’s lead: "I didn't have a good enough drive up off the corner to catch Jimmie, they had such an excellent Nascar racecar. I did the best I could to protect my position I didn't have anything for Jimmie. His car was so awesome. We were spinning the tires up off the corner, and that's where we got beat."
Greg Biffle made a last minute comeback as he recovered a lap he lost earlier because of an off-sequence green flag pit stop on Lap 28, he later moved into 12th position and then fought hard to get into second place during the final lap. However Biffle is now tailing Johnson by 149 points, with still four more Nascar races left before the season ends.
Jeff Burton came in on no. 3, he is 152 points behind Johnson who is leading the pack of Nascar racers this season. Edward despite showing great resilience on the track is still in on no. 4th and tails 198 points behind Jimmie Johnson.
There is a lot more nascar to be witnessed in the coming few weeks, however there is doubt if anyone will be able to challenge Johnson for lead. However if Dale Earnhardt Jr manages to win 3 Nascar races in a row, there may be room for an unexpected final Nascar race. Things look difficult because Johnson has an excellent history on these tracks. If last year’s season is anything to go by, when Johnson won the Martinsville Nascar race and later went on to win all consecutive Nascar races at Atlanta, Pheonix and Texas.
Last season Johnson wasn’t leading by such a large margin of points, on the other hand this season he is the leader of the pack and has control as the Nascar race heads into Atlanta, the team is positive and the crew chief Chad Knaus is confidant that Johnson will win this year’s season, by a sizable margin of points.
As we said before there is a lot of Nascar left, and it is these final few Nascar races that are intense. It is still not impossible for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to catch up to Johnson and take the lead.
