Johnson grabs victory with late pass
Jimmie Johnson already has his eye on the big prize.
The reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion passed Tony Stewart three laps from the end Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and went on to win his second straight race.
“We’re thinking championship already,” said Johnson, only four races into the 36-race season. “That’s really the mode anymore. You have to think about points and being in the top 12 all the time.”
Johnson had the car to beat Sunday, leading 132 of the first 238 laps. But the only laps he led the rest of the way in the 325-lap event on Atlanta’s 1.5-mile oval were the last three.
The 25th victory of his Cup career moved Johnson within 28 points of current series leader Mark Martin.
Johnson, who overcame a penalty in the pits at Las Vegas to beat Jeff Gordon the previous week, had some problems with tire wear late in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500.
Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, appeared on the way to his first victory of the year after coming off pit lane ahead of Matt Kenseth and third-place Johnson after the final stops by the leaders during a caution flag on lap 311.
After the green flag waved with 11 laps to go, Johnson took just three laps to get past Kenseth, then took off after Stewart in the duel of Chevrolets.
Johnson pulled side-by-side with Stewart just past the finish line on lap 322. Johnson then got his nose out ahead and, as the two cars drove through turn two, Stewart scraped the wall.
Johnson easily led lap 323 and continued to pull away from Stewart, going on to win by about half the front straightaway.
Stewart led 121 laps and was happy with second place.
Kenseth wound up third, followed by Jeff Burton and heralded rookie Juan Pablo Montoya, who barely held off Clint Bowyer to record his first top 10 and by far his best finish in five Cup starts.
Martin, who finished 10th, remained in the lead by eight points over Gordon, who overcame a tire problem and a lost lap to finish 12th.
Raikkonen wins Australian GP
Kimi Raikkonen won in his Ferrari debut, dominating the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, Australia, for his 10th Formula One victory. Raikkonen edged two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso, who was making his McLaren debut.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, F1’s first black driver, finished third.
Schumacher, Capps sweep
Teammates Tony Schumacher and Ron Capps won the top two divisions in the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, giving team owner Don Schumacher a sweep at historic Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.