Jimmie Johnson won again.
This time, he won a dramatic, give and take, bump and nudge, back and forth kind of finish that you love to see. Even when it is Johnson who comes out on top in the end.
It could have been worse. Jeff Gordon could have won. Instead, Gordon settled for fourth place, 160 points, and one more driver vowing revenge on him.
Even though Johnson won for the second week in a row and fifth time this year, he only moved up 45 points on Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick, who continues to hang around the leaders every week. Harvick’s fifth place finish was enough to keep him solidly in the lead by 105 points.
Overall, the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 only served to solidify the points leaders. Among the top 12 drivers, the only change was Tony Steward and Greg Biffle flip flopping at the ninth and tenth positions. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished a strong 8th place and is now within a miniscule 3 points of Carl Edwards for the coveted 12th and final spot in the Cup chase.
In a race most well-known for its odd number of laps, the biggest story of the day was the lack of a story on the crash front. All the talk during the last week about bumping and respect and wrecking and Jeff Gordon and bumping and wrecking Jeff Gordon because of his lack of respect – it all turned out to be just words. In fact, the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was one of the more civilized races this year.
There were only four cautions all day, only two for wrecks. The few drivers who did get into the occasional minor bumps were falling all over themselves giving mea culpas and apologizing to one another. Except for Juan Montoya, who started on the pole and ended creeping into pit row after a fracas with… wait for it… Jeff Gordon. Sadly for Montoya, he was a week late getting on the “Get Jeff” bandwagon. NASCAR seems to have slipped something into the drivers’ Gatorade, rendering them all love and sunshine and Kumbaya this week.
This love-fest can’t last forever. I can hardly wait to see what happens next week in Daytona.
