Johnson stays in Chase
Jimmie Johnson had it all. He won the pole, dominated again to win at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, and even held his baby daughter in his arms in Victory Lane for the first time.
He called it a dream weekend.
Yet, it wasn’t enough for the four-time Cup champion.
Not even close.
Johnson let the field know his bid for a fifth straight title is alive and thriving by winning the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship on Sunday for his sixth victory of the season. He won’t be truly happy with the result until he’s hoisting the series trophy and celebrating another championship after the finale.
“Yes, today was a big victory and hopefully a step toward the championship,” Johnson said, “but it’s not the prize we want.”
Johnson has owned Dover the last two years, winning for the third time in four races on the mile concrete oval. He shook off a rare poor finish in last week’s Chase opener at New Hampshire to turn the fastest qualifying lap, cruise to the checkered flag and shoot to second in the points standings.
Chase drivers filled five of the top six spots. Jeff Burton was second, Kurt Busch was fourth, Carl Edwards fifth and Kyle Busch sixth. Joey Logano spoiled the sweep with a second-place finish.
Burton said no one should ever count out Johnson.
“They’re good,” he said. “They’re not good, they’re great. That word is not being overused when I say that.”
Danny Hamlin kept his points lead with a ninth-place finish. He holds a 35-point advantage over Johnson heading into next week’s race at Kansas Speedway. The points leader after Dover has never gone on to win the championship since the Chase’s inception in 2004.
“A lot of people are waiting for us to slip up like we have in the past, but I don’t see it this time around,” Hamlin said. “I just think our team is too focused at this point and we’re running too well for that to happen.”
Hamlin is a strong favorite to thwart Johnson’s drive for five. Hamlin’s average finish at Dover was 22.8 in nine previous races so Sunday was a positive sign for his title run over the final eight races of the season.
His points lead is the largest for any driver after the second Chase race.
“The original goal was to be 80 points back after Kansas,” he said. “Well, that goal has been shifted now.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix and moved closer to the Formula One championship lead.
The Spaniard made it back-to-back wins by holding off Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel over the final laps of the race, winning by just two-tenths of a second.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber finished third and saw his championship lead cut to 11 points over Alonso with four races left.
NHRA
Tony Schumacher raced to his fifth Top Fuel victory of the season and first in the playoffs, beating Shawn Langdon in the final round in the NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won.