Johnson conquers at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. — There is an aura about Bristol Motor Speedway, a track that drivers and fans love equally for its electric, throwback-style racing.

Jimmie Johnson never chalked it up as one of hisfavorites.

The fourtime defending NASCAR champion could never get a handle on the .533-mile bullring, where he struggled far morethan he ever succeeded.

Until Sunday.

Johnson finally knocked Bristol off his to-do list, plowing from sixth to first in just three laps Sunday to grab his first career victory at the revered Tennessee track.

“Everything around Bristol is what people focus on,” Johnson said. “There are parties for it. The fans get excited for it. You walkinto this facility and look around, and you want to run well.

“It’s really been a downer for me to walk through the gates, look around, ‘Man, I’m going to [stink] today.’ I really had that mind-set coming here.”

That changed last season when Johnson led laps in both Bristol races, grabbing a pair of top-10 finishes while giving him a guide on how to get around the concrete track.

“I started building my confidence,” he said. “Those two races gave us clear direction where to work, me a clear direction on how to drive the car.”

That’s all he needed with 10 laps to go and an opportunity to deny Kurt Busch a chance to gain any ground on Johnson’s championship No. 48 team.

Busch led 278 of the 500 laps and had a decent gap on Johnson when his easy drive to victory was clouded by a debris caution with 17 laps remaining. All the leaders headed to pit road, and Busch and Johnson both took four tires on the final stop.

Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart eachtook two tires, giving them the first four positions on the restart. Busch was fifth, Johnson was sixth and the race resumed with 10 laps to go.

Kenseth’s difficulty getting up to speed stacked up traffic behind him, including Busch, who lost his opportunity to move to the front.

Not Johnson, though. He weaved through the mess up to second,Stewart moved into the lead, and Johnson needed just over one lap to pick him off, too.

“When we’re winning at tracks that we’re not supposed to, boys better look out,” Johnson said. “Even that 2 car [Busch] that doesn’t want the 48 to win.”

Busch, a five-time Bristol winner who hasn’t been to Victory Lane atthe bullring since 2006, was irate over his radio at the loss. He settled for third behind Johnson and Stewart, missing his chance to win his second consecutive race.

of the season and prove his Penske Racing team has made enough gains to run consistently with Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports.

“I’d rather lose to any of the other 41 cars out there than the 48 car,” Busch said. “I thought we had him beat. I gave it my heart today, but we came up short.”

It was Johnson’s third victory of the season and 50th of his career. More important, it was his first at Bristol, where his previous best finish in 16 starts was third. Nine of his previous finishes here had been outside the top 16.

At the start of each season, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus write down their goals and finally grabbing a checkered flag here was a big one.

“It was pretty high on his list,” Knaus said. “For him to say that he wanted to focus on that and get better at this racetrack, for us to be able to go out there and do what we did, I think it speaks volumes about the dedication and desire he’s got inside.

“We want to win every single event. This one has eluded us. We’re very proud to be able to have it.”Food City 500At Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tenn.

Lap length: .533 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, 500 laps, 132.4 rating, 190 points, $199,978.

2. (11) Tony Stewart, Chevy, 500, 107.1, 175, $161,323.

3. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 500, 140.3, 175, $167,523.

4. (25) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 116.4, 165, $123,175.

5. (7) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500, 96.8, 155, $143,951.

6. (8) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500, 88, 150, $130,173.

7. (18) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy, 500, 90.3, 146, $101,175.

8. (17) Jamie McMurray, Chevy, 500, 105.9, 142, $124,604.

9. (38) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, 76.4, 138, $139,631.

10. (14) Jeff Burton, Chevy, 500, 97.9, 139, $131,515.

11. (33) K. Harvick, Chevy, 500, 72.2, 130, $128,501.

12. (19) M. Truex Jr., Toyota, 500, 88, 127, $89,475.

13. (36) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 500, 87.7, 129, $121,210.

14. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 500, 91.6, 121, $133,026.

15. (28) B. Vickers, Toyota, 500, 80.4, 118, $125,923.

16. (21) R. Newman, Chevy, 500, 74, 115, $117,179.

17. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 500, 70.3, 112, $125,301.

18. (12) Paul Menard, Ford, 500, 82.6, 109, $96,050.

19. (15) D. Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 63.7, 106, $103,675.

20. (37) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 500, 54, 103, $97,050.

21. (43) B. Labonte, Chevy, 500, 49.4, 100, $86,975.

22. (32) R. Gordon, Toyota, 499, 43.6, 97, $105,273.

23. (16) David Gilliland, Ford, 499, 46.4, 94, $106,135.

24. (31) David Stremme, Ford, 498, 48.6, 91, $94,150.

25. (41) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 498, 44.9, 88, $86,350.

26. (6) J. Montoya, Chevy, 498, 86.1, 90, $126,631.

27. (1) Joey Logano, Toyota, 495, 92, 87, $127,415.

28. (42) Kevin Conway, Ford, 492, 34.8, 79, $104,398.

29. (30) David Ragan, Ford, 483, 61.7, 76, $90,225.

30. (34) Casey Mears, Chevy, 483, 33.5, 73, $82,875.

31. (29) Scott Speed, Toyota, 480, 55.6, 70, $95,648.

32. (22) S. Hornish Jr., Dodge, 477, 54.2, 67, $89,000.

33. (9) M. Ambrose, Toyota, 448, 63.9, 64, $102,473.

34. (24) Kasey Kahne, Ford, 432, 55.5, 61, $123,390.

35. (13) M. Martin, Chevy, 408, 89.6, 58, $100,850.

36. (20) Regan Smith, Chevy, accident, 329, 47.7, 55, $88,800.

37. (40) Terry Cook, Dodge, brakes, 285, 30, 52, $80,750.

38. (10) David Reutimann, Toyota, engine, 113, 81.8, 49, $111,106.

39. (27) Aric Almirola, Chevy, brakes, 59, 34.9, 46, $80,650.

40. (26) Clint Bowyer, Chevy, engine, 56, 45.6, 43, $88,575.

41. (39) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, suspension, 46, 35.7, 40, $80,500.

42. (3) D. Blaney, Toyota, accident, 40, 28.3, 37, $80,715.

43. (35) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, rear gear, 30, 25.4, 34, $79,982. RACE STATISTICS Average Speed of Race Winner 79.618 mph.

Time of Race 3 hours, 20 minutes, 50 seconds.

Margin of Victory 0.894 seconds.

Caution Flags 10 for 103 laps.

Lead Changes 29 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders Ku.Busch 1; J.Logano 2; Ku.Busch 3-5; J.Johnson 6-33; Ku.Busch 34-42; J.Logano 43; B.Keselowski 44-47; J.Johnson 48-96; Ku.Busch 97-116; J.Montoya 117; Ku.Busch 118-123; G.Biffle 124-177; J.Montoya 178-195; G.Biffle 196-205; J.Montoya 206-214; G.Biffle 215-217; Ku.Busch 218; G.Biffle 219-221; Ku.Busch 222-264; J.Montoya 265; Ku.Busch 266-324; J.Burton 325; Ku.Busch 326-391; B.Keselowski 392-413; Ku.Busch 414-483; J.Burton 484; G.Biffle 485-492; T.Stewart 493; J.Johnson 494-500.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led) Ku.Busch, 10 times for 278 laps; J.Johnson, 3 times for 84 laps; G.Biffle, 5 times for 78 laps; J.Montoya, 4 times for 29 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 26 laps; J.Burton, 2 times for 2 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 2 laps; T.Stewart, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points 1. K.Harvick, 774; 2. M.Kenseth, 773; 3. J.Johnson, 760; 4. G.Biffle, 750; 5. T.Stewart, 685; 6. Ku.Busch, 677; 7. J.Burton, 677; 8. D.Earnhardt Jr., 621; 9. P.Menard, 614; 10. Ky.Busch, 606; 11. J.Gordon, 603; 12. C.Bowyer, 601.