Johnson wins 3rd Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

On a day during which it appeared that Juan Pablo Montoya would be making history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson instead made more history of his own Sunday.

The three-time defending Sprint Cup champion took advantage of a critical pit mistake by Montoya and held off teammate and polesitter Mark Martin by 0.400 seconds to capture his third career victory in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and his third win of the 2009 season.

“That was unbelievable,” an ecstatic Johnson said in Victory Lane after the race. “It was a great day for us. We had a competitive car throughout the day. I hope all the fans out here really enjoyed that (race).”

Martin, who has won four races in 2009, was strong throughout the afternoon and found several opportunities to make a pass on Johnson in the final 10 laps. In the end, the 50-year-old couldn’t have been happier with his second-place finish.

“I just asked for a chance to be in the fray,” Martin said immediately after the race. “(Johnson) was better off in (turn) four and I was better off in (turn) 2, and I knew I’d have to get him there. Both of us were driving for all we were worth, and we just didn’t do it.”

“I drove my heart out and am grateful to have had a chance to win, but we got beat by Superman.”

Points leader Tony Stewart, who won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in 2005 and 2007, finished third, followed by Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers to round out the top five. Kevin Harvick, the 2003 winner, finished sixth, and Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann, four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth scored top-10 finishes.

Johnson rallied from a starting position of 16th to lead the final 24 laps of a race that Montoya dominated early.

The Colombian, who won the 2000 Indianapolis 500, was seeking to make history as the only driver ever to win both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s 400-mile crown jewel event at the track. He led the most laps of any driver with 116 and collected 10 bonus points in the standings, but he was caught exceeding the 55-mph speed limit when entering pit lane for his final stop of the day with 35 laps remaining.

Montoya was shown the black flag and was required to reenter the pits for a stop-and-go penalty, which ultimately ended his hopes at a second career Sprint Cup victory. He finished 11th.

"It kind of sucks, but it is what it is,” Montoya, who had only led a total of 57 laps in
his NASCAR career before Sunday, said. “We hadn’t had a deal like that before.”

Montoya’s run seemed to resemble his victory in the 2000 Indianapolis 500, thanks to both his throwback paint scheme (his no. 42 Chevrolet sported the same Target emblem with a lightning bolt that his Indy-winning machine had) and in his dominance in the front of the pack. He had amassed a lead of more than five seconds before his penalty.

“(My performance) reminded me of the last time I won here,” Montoya said. “It was easy.”

The race lasted two hours and 44 minutes with only three caution periods, a sharp contrast to the 11 total caution periods in the 2008 running, nine of which were competition cautions enforced by NASCAR due to poor tire performance. The first caution came just after the start of the race when Robby Gordon spun in turn four and lasted two laps. The second did not occur until lap 59 when Kyle Busch crashed in turn four and went to the garage area before returning to the track. The final caution period began on lap 128 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears collided just in front of the entrance to pit lane.

With his win, Johnson now sits in second in the point standings behind Stewart with six races remaining until the beginning of NASCAR’s postseason, the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson said the biggest goal was to keep driving consistently and building confidence within the team.

 "It all depends on the opportunity,” Johnson said when asked if race wins were at a premium at this point in the season. “I would love to take a chance (at some more wins before the Chase), but I just need to keep building confidence with (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and (owner) Rick (Hendrick).”