Pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson threw down the gauntlet in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, but Mark Martin was up to the challenge.
With his fifth victory at Dover and second at the track this year, Johnson affirmed that his No. 48 Chevrolet team is a serious threat to win a fourth consecutive Cup Series championship.
Martin, however, retained the lead in the series standings with a runner-up finish to Johnson, who led 271 laps in claiming his fourth victory of the season. Martin leads his Hendrick Motorsports teammate by 10 points after two of 10 races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. NASCAR
“For me, this is one of the closest tracks to off-road racing that we have on the circuit,” said Johnson. “You’re virtually airborne off in each corner, so I think that helps me some and relates back to the vehicles I drove growing up. This track really favors a loose race car, and just by habit I enjoy a loose race car and that’s what I look for everyday at each track. So it just really plays into our style.” Auto Racing Daily
“We’re going to race our guts out no matter where we wind up, and no matter how they are,” Martin said. “That dude still is Superman in my book. Looked like it today.”
“That’s right boys, maximum points! Thank you!” Johnson said over the radio.
No winner of the second Dover race has ever gone on to win the Cup championship. If any driver can reverse that trend, it’s Johnson. Much as he did in May, Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was out in front for the majority of the 400-mile race.
Matt Kenseth was the highest non-Chase driver at third. MiamiHerald.com
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Polaroid Chevrolet, started second, ran in the top five all day and finished fourth. Kurt Busch ended up fifth, followed by Jeff Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman in the top-10.
The race itself will perhaps be remembered for one of the most spectacular crashes in recent memory at the Monster Mile. It happened on lap 32, when Joey Logano’s No. 20 Home Depot Toyota got caught up in traffic coming off Turn 4 and ended up flipping seven times. He came to rest along on the Turn 4 apron and there were several tense moments before the highly-touted rookie climbed out of his car to a large round of applause from the Dover crowd.
Logano was running in the middle of the pack and was approaching Turn 3 when Bobby Labonte’s No. 96 DLP Ford slowed in front of him. When Logano checked up, Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet bumped him in the rear and sent him spinning. Logano slid across the apron before coming back up the banking, where he was hit on the side by Reed Sorenson’s No. 43 Valvoline Dodge, sending him airborne. The car briefly came to rest on the driver’s side before falling back onto its wheels. Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. also were involved in the four-car accident.
“I’m fine, it just really scared the heck out of me,” Logano said upon being released from the infield care center. “I was fine the whole time but I wasn’t sure what happened. They checked up into the corner and it seemed like I got tagged from behind. It just startled me, but I’m fine. It was the wildest ride I’ve ever been on. I’m just happy it landed on its wheels. When it was on its side, that’s what worried me.”
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