Jimmie Johnson timed it perfectly coming through the tri-oval for the final time at Talladega Superspeedway to take the checkered flag in the Aaron’s 499. It is the second victory for the five-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion at the 2.66-mile track and the 54th victory of his career.
With eight races in the 2011 season record books, Johnson now sits second in the standings just five points out of the lead. He led four times during the day for a total of 14 laps after starting second.
Team Chevy drivers swept the top-five finishing positions in the second superspeedway race of the season.
Clint Bowyer, No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet, who led a race high 15 times for 38 laps, finished second by a mere 0.0002 seconds. In a virtual drag race to the checkered flag, Bowyer claimed his second runner-up finish in his past three races with and scored the win here in October, 2010.
Bowyer jumped two positions in the top-12 standings to 10th place.
After claiming the top-four positions in qualifying Hendrick Motorsports claimed three of the top-five finishing positions and four of the top-10 at the end of the 188-lap/500-mile race.
Pole sitter Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, finished third and is 13th in the standings, just six points out of the top-12 Chase contenders. The four-time NSCS champion led three times for a total of nine laps.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet finished fourth and jumped three spots in the points to third place. To the thrill of the crowd, he led 11 laps during his four times at the point.
Richard Childress Racing’s strong showing continued with Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, who finished fifth. Harvick led five times for nine laps and now sits fifth in the standings.
Mark Martin, No. 5 CARQUEST/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished eighth to give Team Chevy six of the top-10 finishers. He led once for one lap and is 14th in points, just 19 points out of the Chase.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 2 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 3 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 5 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 6 99 Carl Edwards Ford 7 16 Greg Biffle Ford 8 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 9 34 David Gilliland Ford 10 20 Joey Logano Toyota 11 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 12 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 14 0 David Reutimann Toyota 15 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 16 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 17 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 18 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 19 71 Andy Lally * Ford 20 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 21 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 22 13 Casey Mears Toyota 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 24 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 25 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 26 46 Bill Elliott Chevrolet 27 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 28 115 Michael Waltrip Toyota 29 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 30 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 31 9 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 32 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 33 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 34 32 Terry Labonte Ford 35 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 36 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 37 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 38 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 39 6 David Ragan Ford 40 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 41 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 42 135 Steve Park Chevrolet 43 97 Kevin Conway Toyota
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