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Johnson dominant in Pepsi 500

Reigning Sprint Cup champion leads 227 of 250 laps in victory

Associated Press
September 1, 2008

FONTANA, Calif. - Jimmie Johnson overpowered the field last night in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway, grabbing his third victory of the season.

The two-time reigning Cup champion was easily the class of the field in the Pepsi 500, leading 227 of the 250 laps on the two-mile oval.

He won the race at the former California Speedway for the second straight year and again gave notice to points leader Kyle Busch and series runner-up Carl Edwards - the two hottest drivers in the series coming into this race - that he remains a serious contender for a third straight title.

Runner-up Greg Biffle had the next best car throughout the race, but he couldn't keep up with Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet, finishing more than two seconds behind.

In February, Johnson led the most laps here but lost the race when Edwards passed him with 23 laps to go. This time, nobody could touch Johnson, whose car was seemingly a rocketship from the start.

Time after time he built leads of between five and 12 seconds, only to see them erased by yellow flags. But it didn't faze Johnson, who just rebuilt the margin after the next restart.

On a pit stop on Lap 162, during a caution period, Johnson took four tires and found himself in sixth on the restart, trailing five drivers who had each taken two tires on the stop.

After the restart on Lap 166, Johnson was fourth after one lap, second after two trips around the two-mile oval and back in the lead on Lap 168.

On the next pit stop, on Lap 182 during another caution, Johnson's jackman got tangled up in the air hose, costing the team valuable seconds. Johnson again came out of the pits in sixth. And, again, he rocketed back into the lead in just three laps after the green flag waved.

On Lap 192, during yet another caution, Biffle's crew pulled off a lightning stop that got the No. 16 Ford out just ahead of Johnson's Chevy. But it took Johnson less than half a lap to zoom back into the lead this time.

And that was the race as Johnson pulled away over the last 28 laps to get his 36th career win.

Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 11th, and Jeff Burton, who was 17th, clinched spots in the 12-man Chase for the Sprint Cup that will begin after Saturday night's race at Richmond. They joined Busch and Edwards, who previously locked up spots in the postseason.

But the drivers vying for the final positions in the Chase remained in a close battle, with Matt Kenseth moving past Jeff Gordon into ninth place, and Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer remaining 11th and 12th. David Ragan is 13th, 17 points behind Bowyer, while Kasey Kahne remained 14th, 44 points out of the Chase lineup.

Related topic galleries: Vehicles, NASCAR, Matt Kenseth, 5K Run, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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