RICHMOND, Va. -- Seven wins in eight races. Hendrick
Motorsports is on such a roll, even a trip to usual nemesis
Richmond didn't give the other guys a chance.
Jimmie Johnson led a frontrunning Hendrick parade that lasted
for almost all of the final 116 laps Sunday, beating teammate Kyle
Busch to the finish and giving the team its first victory at
Richmond International Raceway since Jeff Gordon won in 2000.
Johnson, who had just one top-10 finish in 15 previous starts on
the .75-mile oval, even let the racers with past success here show
him the way before blowing by them.
"The early parts of the race, I was able to follow them and
just find a little bit in each corner and try to help the handling
of my car and having the rhythm of the track," he said after his
fourth victory of the season, tops in the series.
"I think once we got to the end, I knew where I needed to be."
Hendrick drivers have also won all four Car of Tomorrow races,
and left contenders like Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch wondering what
it will take to end their domination.
"I'm looking in my front windshield and I see all the Hendrick
cars and me," said Hamlin, who has finished third three times in
the COT. "And then there's some sprinkled behind me. I'm happy I'm
the only guy that's really being competitive week in and week out
with them, but at the same token, I think we're as good as them."
The difference, then?
"They just seem to be in the right place at the right time,"
Hamlin said.
And sometimes, they can thank other drivers for some assistance.
Busch led for 27 laps, but gave it up to pit with 120 laps to
go. He ended up watching Johnson, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Gordon all
finish ahead of him.
"We should have a feather in our caps to know we ran with
them," Kurt Busch said.
In Victory Lane, Johnson's team seemed a bit subdued after the
third win in a row for the four-car organization. Gordon had won
two in a row and leads the points standings.
"Our team is in full stride, but this is a very circular
sport," said Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. "You get your time
at the top and you fall to some degree. What you've got to do is
make sure when you are taking your time at the top, you don't get
too full of yourself that when it's your turn to fall, it doesn't
break you apart."
Johnson said it's too early to anoint the Hendrick teams as the
ones to beat.
"It's cyclical," the defending Nextel Cup champion said. "You
enjoy it while you've got it, but we know that somebody is going to
figure something out. We'll just hope that the valleys aren't that
low and the valley isn't in the final 10 (races)."
That's when NASCAR's top 12 teams will battle for the seasonal
championship.
Johnson moved into second place in points, but is still 211
behind Gordon. He would qualify for a 40-point bonus for his
series-best four victories heading into the playoff, and was
pleased to be reminded that half the playoff races will use the
COT.
It looked as if Hendrick would finish 1-2-3 as Johnson, Busch
and pole-sitter Gordon battled in the top 3 over the last 116 laps.
Hamlin eventually got by Gordon to break up the trio, but never had
enough to challenge Johnson or Kyle Busch.
Only Kevin Harvick had a car that could challenge the Hendrick
crew, and the Daytona 500 winner led 105 laps midway through the
race. He was out front when the sixth caution of the race sent the
field into the pits, but as Harvick pulled out, he clipped rookie
David Ragan, who was heading into his stall just ahead of
Harvick's.
It caused considerable damage to the front of Harvick's car and
forced him to stop for repairs and a penalty for speeding on Pit
Road. He got back out in 17th position after several more stops and
never challenged again. He rallied to finish seventh.
Kurt Busch was followed by Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman in
sixth, also in a Dodge. Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer in Chevys and
Matt Kenseth's Ford completed the top 10.
The race, run in the sunshine after the scheduled event was
rained out on Saturday night, featured 14 caution flags for 80 laps
and 24 lead changes among 12 drivers.
Johnson's margin of victory was 0.723 seconds.