Subscibe to our feedJohnson Earns 3rd Victory at The Brickyard
Jimmie Johnson grabbed his second consecutive win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by taking the checkered flag in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event.
Johnson has won three of the past four races at the 2.5-mile track and is the first driver to win in consecutive years in 16 NASCAR races at Indy.
Click here to see photos of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
“It’s pretty special,” said Johnson, who now sits second in the driver point standings. “This track has been so tough on me over the years and to be able to win here now three times means the world to me. I wanted to race Indy cars as a kid growing up and some day hoped to race here and now to take three trophies out of here and go kiss the bricks is awfully special.”
Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the majority of the race, leading 116 of 160 laps before being penalized for speeding on pit road with fewer than 35 laps remaining. He served a penalty and dropped back in the field, opening the door for Johnson and other drivers to vie for the victory.
Johnson’s teammate Mark Martin quickly took the lead and led 10 laps before Johnson made a pass on Lap 137. Johnson held off a hard charging Martin in the final 10 laps and led the field to the checkered flag.
"That was unbelievable,” said Johnson, who now has three wins this season. “I hope the fans enjoyed that race. I can't say enough about this race team and all of Hendrick Motorsports. It was a fun battle with my teammate Mark Martin. Damn is he fast. For an old guy he had me pretty worried.
"Those last 15-20 laps we had to drive it so hard to stay ahead of the five. I was better in (turns) three and four than he was and he had me beat in (turns) one and two and it was kind of a give and take thing that was going on. Luckily we held him off. It's great to work with him and work with Alan (Gustafson) and work with all my teammates at Hendrick Motorsports to get this Kobalt Tools Impala in victory lane.”
Johnson is 192 points behind Stewart in the driver standings. Jeff Gordon is now third with Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five.
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The next race on the Sprint Cup Series schedule is at Pocono Raceway. The race will be broadcast live on Sunday, Aug. 2 on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET.