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The Hot Pass: Johnson sets the standard

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Lee Spencer

Lee Spencer is the senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. She has provided award-winning coverage of auto racing over the last 15 years. Spencer has lent her expertise to both television and radio and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM Radio and the Performance Racing Network.

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Updated Mar 30, 2009 3:11 AM ET
     
 

MARTINSVILLE, Va.

On the 25th anniversary of Rick Hendrick's first victory, Jimmie Johnson kept the winning feeling coming at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. "We fought for that one all day long," Johnson said after scoring his sixth victory at Martinsville and his first win of the season. "It's special to win for Rick on his 25th anniversary." Was it any surprise that Johnson would deliver Hendrick his 18th career win at Martinsville and 176th overall? This is the same J.J. who won four of the last five races at the .526-mile venue entering the weekend. Teammate Jeff Gordon led 147 of the first 348 laps, but was prophetic where Johnson was concerned. On Lap 410, Gordon radioed to his crew, "This is where Jimmie kills us. He's really good at this point.'" Ten laps later, Johnson passed the No. 24 for the second position. He proceeded to take the lead for the first time by Lap 430, and led 42 of the final 70 laps en route to his 41st career win. It's not a question of where Johnson "kills" the competition. It's a matter of when he shuts them down. Johnson and the No. 48 crew's ability to battle back from adversity has been the team's trademark over the last six years — including his last three successful title runs. Johnson started the season 31st in the point standings following Daytona. The team completely missed the set-up at California yet salvaged a ninth-place finish. Pit problems one week later at Las Vegas relegated the team to a 24th-place finish despite leading 92 laps. But once Johnson returned to the East Coast it was game on again as he scored a top 10 at Atlanta. The turning point for the team came at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Johnson has suffered of late. After a team powwow, the crew devised a strategy to help Johnson overcome his Bristol difficulties. The effort paid off. Johnson posted his first top five at BMS in the last nine races. "I'm very proud of what went on over the offseason, the time (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the engineers have put into the cars," Johnson said. "They really worked hard over the offseason. I think it's shown with our speed. "We just didn't have clean days to get the finishes that we wanted. But we're doing that now. I think our team's gelling as a unit right now and we're doing well. Johnson's win enabled the No. 48 team to vault over five positions to fourth in points. He's currently 142 points behind leader Gordon. Perhaps more important than the points at this early stage in the season, Johnson called the victory "a huge confidence booster" for his No. 48 team.
"We didn't have an easy day today," Johnson said. "We had to stay together as a team, work through a lot of changes, a loss of track position to make the car better and fight for the front, count on pit stops, count on good driving. It took a team effort today. "We're in a great position this year. Last year, we had to fight all season long to catch up. Fortunately we did in time for the Chase. This year we've had very fast race cars and have been making mistakes. I've made mistakes. The team has made mistakes. The last two or three weeks we've really not made any big mistakes and have hit our stride and got to Victory Lane." The win couldn't have come at a better time for Hendrick Motorsports, which has been winless this season. For Hendrick, it was a glorious celebration at Martinsville. Over 25 years, Hendrick has 154 starts, 18 wins, 53 top fives and 86 top 10s at the short track. And with all four Hendrick cars finishing in the top 10 — as well as the sister squads of the Nos. 14 and 39 of Stewart Haas Racing — it was a heck of a celebration for the six Chevrolets. "To be here 25 years later and win this race, it's a tribute to all those people over the last 25 years," Hendrick said. "I'm proud of the organization. They worked hard and it was one hell of a race. It's as special as any win I can remember."

GM CEO Wagoner to step down

Before the Goody's 500 concluded, word had started to spread that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner was asked to step down at the request of the White House. Hendrick Motorsports team owner and Chevrolet dealer Rick Hendrick said he hoped the news was "not true" and called Wagoner "a great leader." After Hendrick was able to provide equipment for six of the top 10 finishers in the race, he expressed necessity of performance for the Chevrolet brand, particularly in trying times. "It's important to the brand to win," Hendrick said. "I mean, that's the heritage of Chevrolet. You know, they've been awful good to us. They've been awful good to me over the 25 years. We're proud to carry that banner."

Scintillating on short tracks

Denny Hamlin knows his strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to tracks of a mile or less, look out. On short tracks, Hamlin has one pole, one win, 10 top fives and 15 top 10s in 21 starts. In the last two weeks, the first to feature short tracks this year, Hamlin has finished runner-up twice and moved from 14th to fifth in the standings.

Keeping track

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Cup record at a glance
Starts
Wins
Top fives
Top 10s
Poles
121
4
34
62
6
The senior Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished sixth at the two-mile California Speedway in February, but intermediate tracks have not been kind to the Virginia native. "Anywhere a mile and shorter I feel pretty confident that, you know, we're going to be the best," Hamlin said with a smile. "Even our big-track program has gotten better. We've been able to keep up with Kyle (teammate Busch) on the bigger tracks. "It's just Kyle has really a gift of speed. He knows what it takes to go fast. To make a car go fast, regardless of the handling, regardless of anything, he's found a way to really make his car go fast." On Sunday, Hamlin executed the best restart of the race — a move so stout that it caught winner Jimmie Johnson off guard. "I don't know how Denny got inside of me on that restart," Johnson said. "I felt like I was a little better and sure enough he was there and he had the lane and we raced hard from there." Johnson also offered Hamlin props for maintaining his composure after the No. 48 car nudged the No. 11 out of the lead in Turn 3 with 15 laps remaining. "He did a hell of a job saving it," Johnson added.

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fought transmission gremlins for the second week to salvage an eighth-place finish on Sunday. It was Earnhardt's second top 10 of the season and his 10th top 10 at Martinsville in 19 starts. "Our transmission wouldn't stay in gear," Earnhardt said. "We got a bungee cord and it held it in gear the rest of the day, so no problems." Halfway through the Goody's 500, however, Earnhardt complained of the brake pedal feeling "like a nail digging into his foot" during the long runs in the race. He questioned the pedal his teammates used and suggested looking at a change in the future. "I might look at a different left shoe for Martinsville and the road courses where the bottom is super stiff," Earnhardt said.

No play for Mr. Gray

Only his hairdresser knows for sure, but since Mark Martin lost his touch of gray he has scored two poles and two top 10s. Martin's seventh-place finish at Martinsville was his 22nd finish of 10th or better on the half-mile track. Martin felt so rejuvenated after the race he could not be reached for comment.
Tagged: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson

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