Emotions in overdrive as Johnson wins 3rd straight

HAMPTON, Ga. – Jimmie Johnson usually smokes his tires to celebrate a victory. Not this time.

Instead, he drove back to the finish line to pick up the checkered flag.

A little something to ease the pain.

Johnson became the first driver since 1998 to win three straight races in a season, holding off Mark Martin on Sunday for a poignant victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Last week, Johnson did a burnout after winning at Martinsville, but he never made it to Victory Lane. A plane carrying 10 people – many of the key members of Hendrick Motorsports – had crashed on its way to the race.

Johnson didn’t learn of the crash until afterward. The celebration was called off, replaced by mourning.

When Johnson got to Atlanta, he couldn’t think of a better way to honor the victims than by winning the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500. But he had to beat Martin, who clearly had the strongest car on the track.

“With five (laps) to go, the butterflies hit me,” Johnson said. “I don’t think I took five breaths the rest of the way. I didn’t even want to look in the mirror, but I knew I had to because Mark was back there.”

Martin led 227 of the 325 laps, while Johnson was out front for only 17. But he led the one that counted, comfortably beating Martin to the line by 0.293 seconds.

Seven of the 10 championship contenders had major problems, including points leader Kurt Busch. He blew an engine and finished next-to-last, but stayed on top in the points.

Johnson jumped two places to second, only 59 points behind. He also became the first driver with three straight victories in a season since teammate Jeff Gordon won four in a row in 1998.

“The No. 6 car was coming, but I had 10 angels riding along,” Johnson said. “I feel bad for Mark. He had the dominant car. But things happen for a reason.”

Johnson pulled his winning car up to the flagstand, picking up the checkered banner. Then, with it flapping out the driver’s side, he circled the 1.54-mile tri-oval in reverse, soaking up the cheers of everyone in the crowd – even those wearing the colors of rival drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Typically, I would have been booed,” Johnson said, managing a smile. “There’s a lot red up there. They don’t like blue. That’s cool.

“But all I could see today was people on the fence who were happy to see what took place.”

The final three races should be quite a shootout – Johnson, Gordon, Martin and Earnhardt are all within 98 points of Busch, who only had one driver that close coming into Sunday.

Busch was long gone by the time Johnson took the checkered flag. The Ford blew its engine on lap 52, sending it to the garage with smoke billowing.

Matt Kenseth, the defending Cup champion, blew an engine and finished 41st, one spot ahead of Busch. Elliott Sadler was 36th after a collision in the pits messed up his steering. Gordon battled an ill-handling car, had to duck into the garage to fix another problem and wound up 34th.

That’s not all. Jeremy Mayfield cut a tire in the early going, scraped the wall and had to battle just to finish 26th. Pole sitter Ryan Newman was leading early when a mistake in the pits forced him to come back in; he wound up two laps down in 17th.

Finally, Earnhardt was in position to seize the season lead when he clipped Carl Edwards on the backstretch and slammed into the inside wall with just 15 laps to go. Junior’s heavily damaged car couldn’t finish, leaving him in 33rd for the second week in a row.

Martin probably would have won on this day if not for two late yellow flags. He stayed on the track when Kevin Harvick stalled, as everyone else in the lead pack ducked into the pits for fresh tires.

That made the difference for Johnson, whose Chevrolet claimed the lead on lap 310. Everyone came in when Earnhardt crashed, but Johnson already had gained valuable track position on Martin.

Johnson reclaimed the lead from Casey Kahne with 10 laps to go and built up enough of a margin to fend off Martin.

Anderson sets NHRA record

Greg Anderson set the single-season record for wins with his 14th Pro Stock victory at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

Anderson, racing in a record 18th final round this season, picked up his 30th career win with a run of 6.796 seconds at 202.52 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Runner-up Jason Line finished in 6.822 at 201.85.

Doug Kalitta, Gary Scelzi and Chip Ellis also won at the $1.8 million race, the 22nd of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

It was the fourth win of the season for Kalitta, who clocked a 4.530 at 329.02 to defeat first-time finalist Morgan Lucas, who posted a 4.612 at 306.40.

Scelzi powered to his third Funny Car victory of the season, upsetting newly crowned world champion John Force. Scelzi drove his car to a 4.790 at 326.32.

Ellis earned his first career victory in Pro Stock Bike by outrunning Angelle Savoie in the final. Ellis posted a 7.191 at 179.92 to defeat Savoie, who finished in 7.255 at 177.49.