Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Jimmie Johnson - California Dreaming

Jimmie Johnson was singing the famous song "California Dream'in" on Sunday afternoon as he won the Sprint Cup race and took over the points lead with six races to go in this year's championship. The three time Sprint Cup champion is on a roll and all of the other competitors know it. Johnson led the most laps on Sunday and was able to pass cars at will on each restart as he held off teammate Jeff Gordon and Safety-Kleen's Juan Pablo Montoya. The win for the Hendrick driver was his fifth of the year and 45th of his Cup career. Jeff Gordon's second place finish moved him up to fifth in the Chase, but in the second half of the race, he had nothing for "Superman Johnson". Montoya, on the other hand, was the other bright star of the day as he led the race and held on to score yet another top five finish - he is due to win a race before the end of the year. Mark Martin was there all day as well, but his fourth place finish dropped him back to second in the points - 12 behind Johnson. Tony Stewart made a great recovery in the end to finish fifth after being a lap down, following a speeding penalty on pit road. A caution flag just after his pit stop put him back on the lead lap and then his driving skills took him to fifth at the checkered flag. Carl Edwards, David Ragan and Safety-Kleen's Kurt Busch rounded out the top seven. Of course, there was a big wreck near the end of the race taking out all of the Petty Motorsports drivers as well as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was on schedule for a top 10 finish. But when Elliott Sadler tapped Junior in the rear, the big wreck was on. The race was red flagged for a half hour to clean up the mess and set up the last dash for the cash. With six races left in the Chase, Johnson and the Hendrick teams are the teams to contend with as we move closer to Homestead. The Southern California Motorsports team led by Kevin Preston and Roger Marks were at the Auto Club Speedway all weekend entertaining customers - good work guys. Next stop on the Sprint tour is Charlotte - a home game for the teams and a track where Jimmie Johnson has won a ton of races. It should be interesting to see if he can hold back the Ganassi - Montoya talent.