Johnson wins 4th straight Nextel Cup race

Avondale, AZ – When some predicted a much tamer driving style for Jimmie Johnson after his win in Texas last week, someone forgot to tell the driver of the #48 Lowes Chevrolet. During moments of the race it looked like Johnson was the driver sitting second in points while taking chances and running three wide. Johnson turned risk into reward with his first ever victory at the tight one mile oval, fourth straight win and tenth of the season.

Ironically enough, the last time a driver won four in a row, Jeff Gordon completed the feat in 1998 on his way to 13 victories that season and a NASCAR Championship for Hendrick Motorsports.

“I’m just doing my job. I’m just so lucky to be in such great equipment," Johnson said

Fifth on a restart on Lap 275, after the 10th caution of the race, Johnson moved quickly to the front, passing Matt Kenseth for second position on Lap 283 and powering past Martin Truex Jr. for the lead on Lap 288 of the 312-lap race.

From that point on, Johnson pulled away to record his series- and career-best 10th victory of season. It is the 33rd of his career, tying him for 18th all time with Fireball Roberts.

Gordon struggled with the handling of his No. 24 Chevrolet throughout the race, though he ran as high as second after the leaders got off-sequence on pit stops. Gordon restarted fourth and Johnson 10th after a caution for Kasey Kahne’s wreck on Lap 148, but Johnson ran down Gordon for the second position 25 laps later, as the No. 48 began to assert its dominance.

The eighth caution of the race, for Dave Blaney’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 233, put all the front-runners back on the same pit sequence. With a two-tire call, Newman won the race off pit road and led the field to a restart on Lap 240, with Kenseth second, Stewart third, Clint Bowyer fourth, Truex fifth and Johnson sixth.

Johnson’s 33rd career victory extended his 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup lead to 86 points heading to south Florida for the season finale, the Ford 400, from Homestead Miami Speedway. He can wrap up his second straight championship with a finish of 18th or better next weekend. Sitting in almost the same position he was in going into Homestead last year, Johnson admits this will be a long week:

“Seven more days until we do it again. I’m just going to try and keep my mind clear and worry about the things I can control. Make sure my guys and my team are all doing the same thing."

Hendrick Motorsports has dominated 2007 with three teams in the Chase (Johnson, Gordon & Kyle Busch) and 18 wins in 35 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races. This win was also a testament to the focus from the #48 team as this marked their 11th win during the new Chase format. The next best team has only four victories.

The race weekend kicked off with much discussion about open wheel stars and their appearance at the second to last race of the 2007 season. Juan Pablo Montoya has clinched Rookie of the Year honors with a 17th place finish at Phoenix International Raceway. Sam Hornish Jr. made his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut in Phoenix and finished a respectable 30th. When asked about his day, Hornish was very excited about the possibilities:

“I just need to better understand what I can do during the race to improve my car. We made big changes throughout the day and we really started to find something in the latter part of the race."

Patrick Carpentier, who is replacing Scott Riggs in the #10 Evernham Dodge, ended his oval race debut in 33rd. Jacque Villeneuve, made contact in the race with Carpentier’s teammate, Kasey Kahne, and was unable to recover the #27 Unicef Toyota, retiring and finishing 41st.

Results

* Denotes Rookie