Jimmie Johnson took a huge step toward winning a third straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday.
The two-time reigning series champion extended his lead atop the standings to 149 points with four races remaining in the “Chase for the Championship” by easily winning the TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
It was Johnson’s fourth win in the past five races held at the at the .526-mile paperclip shaped track. His only other finish outside of Victory Lane during that stretch was a fourth during the March race earlier this season.
“This track has just been good to me,” Johnson said. “It’s a great car and a great team. I’m very proud of this race team.”
Johnson won in a cakewalk, leading 339 of 504 laps. His No. 48 Chevrolet was so good on short runs, and so strong off the corners, runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t mount a charge during the green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race four laps past its scheduled length.
“I didn’t have a good enough drive up off the corner to catch Jimmie,” said Earnhardt, who gained one position to ninth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings but fell to 379 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. “They had such
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