The Chase is on: Johnson wins second race in a row

RICHMOND

A lot happened Sunday at Richmond International Raceway with nothing really changing.

Jimmie Johnson won. Again. Tony Stewart finished second. Again. Clint Bowyer clinched the final spot for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Again. No one bumped their way into the Chase through this race. Again.

And don't think Dale Earnhardt Jr. is even with Kyle Busch his tap sent Busch spinning out of the lead.

Johnson's second consecutive win mirrored how he entered last year's Chase, when he won his second title in a row. As the Chase begins this weekend at New Hampshire, Johnson will try to become only the second driver in series history to win three consecutive series championships, matching Cale Yarborough's run from 1976-78.

The key difference in Johnson's win Sunday was how close it was. Last year, he beat Stewart by more than three seconds. This time, he dueled Stewart for most of the final 10 laps before fending off the challenge.

Much was at stake as Johnson and Stewart raced side-by-side.

"I definitely thought about the 10 (bonus) points at the end," Johnson said, noting the extra points for winning. "I also thought about the fact that I didn't have anything to lose if I finished the race or not. I also thought about the fact that Tony hasn't won this year."

So, there was only one thing for Johnson to do.

"I just drove my (rear) off," he said.

While Johnson celebrated his third Richmond win, Stewart stewed. He complained about his crew on the team's radio after the race until crew chief Greg Zipadelli interjected.

"Enough of that," Zipadelli yelled.

Stewart, in the midst of a career-long 40-race winless drought, sat alone on the pit wall for more than 10 minutes. He remained edgy when he did talk about the race.

"Can we for one week just leave it as we run second and we had a good, hard-fought battle and we just fell short," Stewart said. "Shoot, we could sit here for hours and try to dissect exactly why we didn't win the race."

Actually, only a second is needed. Maybe less than that - the difference on pit road between Johnson's team and Stewart's team.

Johnson entered the pits second to Stewart with 40 laps to go, but beat Stewart out.

"It was everything," Johnson said of his fast pit work. "Track position, regardless of where we go, is important."

Johnson and Stewart restarted second and third behind Martin Truex Jr., who only took two tires. Johnson and Stewart both passed Truex. While Stewart ran alongside Johnson for several laps - even nosing ahead at the start/finish line twice - Stewart could never complete the pass.

Watching the battle was Denny Hamlin, who scored his third consecutive third-place finish. Those results have come after Hamlin criticized his team at Michigan, saying it didn't belong in the Chase with the way it was running. Earnhardt finished fourth with Mark Martin fifth.

Earnhardt also yelled on his radio late in the race about his car. Car owner Rick Hendrick tried to calm him.

"That was a private conversation between me and my team, at least I would like to think so," Earnhardt said about his complaints for a better car. "I've got a lot of stuff on my wish list (to make the car faster). I ain't got everything I want yet."

Busch, who is the points leader, got what many expected. Earnhardt spun him. The question is if it was intentional. Busch spun Earnhardt out in the final laps as they raced for the lead at this track in May. On Sunday, Earnhardt moved inside Busch and made slight contact with Busch's left rear tire as Earnhardt slammed the brakes to avoid contact.

Earnhardt took the blame.

"It's really the guy on the inside's job to take care of the guy on the outside," he said.

Inside or outside, Bowyer stayed busy on the track. David Ragan hit the wall early, but climbed into the top 12 in points after the halfway point of the race, putting pressure on Bowyer. Ragan's damaged car, though, faltered and fell back in the pack as Bowyer moved up, assuring his spot in the Chase.

"We knew it was going to be a roller coaster all day," Bowyer said.

Kind of like last year.