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Hendrick Motorsports
With a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS, extended his lead in the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The three-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion took the cautious approach in today’s race running and avoided two major multi-car incidents to take the checkered in the back of the field throughout the majority of the race. He made his move toward the front late in the face to secure the top-10 finish at the checkered.
Johnson holds a 184-point lead over second place Mark Martin with three races remaining in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season.
Mark Martin, No. 5 Pop Tarts/CARQUEST Impala SS, was the victim of the final accident of the day and relegated to the 28th finishing position. He lost 63 points to Johnson to remain in the runner-up spot in the standings.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, remains third in the points order, eight points down to Martin after finishing 20th in the final shuffle that forced the race to a green-white-checkered finish on lap 191, three laps over the advertised distance.
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Impala SS, moved to fourth in the Chase points order after finishing 19th today.
RANK DRIVER POINTS STARTS 1 Jimmie Johnson 6248 33 2 Mark Martin 6064 33 3 Jeff Gordon 6056 33 4 Juan Montoya 6009 33 5 Tony Stewart 5969 33 6 Kurt Busch 5936 33 7 Greg Biffle 5908 33 8 Ryan Newman 5846 33 9 Kasey Kahne 5834 33 10 Carl Edwards 5811 33 11 Denny Hamlin 5800 33 12 Brian Vickers 5697 33 13 Kyle Busch 4043 33 14 Matt Kenseth 3986 33 15 Clint Bowyer 3932 33 16 David Reutimann 3854 33 17 Jeff Burton 3539 33 18 Marcos Ambrose 3519 33 19 Joey Logano* 3494 33 20 Casey Mears 3471 33 21 Kevin Harvick 3380 33 22 Jamie McMurray 3286 33 23 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3197 33 24 Martin Truex Jr. 3139 33 25 Elliott Sadler 3134 33 26 A.J. Allmendinger 3084 33 27 David Ragan 2985 33 28 Reed Sorenson 2964 33 29 Sam Hornish Jr. 2948 33 30 Bobby Labonte 2942 33 31 David Stremme 2919 33 32 Paul Menard 2742 33 33 Michael Waltrip 2612 31 34 Robby Gordon 2474 32 35 Scott Speed* 2435 32 36 John Andretti 2381 31
