The entire outlook of the Chase for the Sprint Cup has changed thanks to an exciting race on yesterday at the Auto Club Speedway. What has it changed to, back to something very familiar. Three time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson claimed his second win of the Chase, capturing the checkered flag at the Pepsi 500.
One thing that we have learned in this Chase is that one slip up can take you out of Chase contention for good. Although Juan Pablo Montoya finished an impressive third in this race, he actually lost ground on the new leader, Jimmie Johnson,. Montoya now trails the leader by 58 points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson took over the lead in points by 12 over Mark Martin, despite finishing 4th in the Pepsi 500.
“It’s incredible,” Montoya said. “We have four top-fives in a row and I’ve been losing points to the leader. It is what it is.”You aren’t going to make any points on anybody. Everybody that runs good is going to be there. You just have to make sure you don’t lose any if you make a mistake.”
Despite his second win in a row, Johnson is not making any kind of bold predicitions for the future: ”It’s way too early to start thinking of other things,” Johnson said. “I mean, we love where we’re at. We love we’re in the points lead. We got maximum points [Sunday], but I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to think about those things. If we’re in the hunt at Homestead or Phoenix, the thoughts, the emotions — all of that — will be heavy on all of our shoulders.”
Denny Hamlin’s bad luck continued at the Auto Club Speedway. After wrecking Saturday during the Nationwide race, Hamlin wrecked his way to a 37th place finish and lost three positions in the Chase standings to fall to 9th. Here is how the rest of the field finished in the Pepsi 500.
| Pos. | Driver | Make |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet |
| 2. | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet |
| 3. | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet |
| 4. | Mark Martin | Chevrolet |
| 5. | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet |
| 6. | Carl Edwards | Ford |
| 7. | David Ragan | Ford |
| 8. | Kurt Busch | Dodge |
| 9. | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet |
| 10. | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet |
Other notables: Matt Kenseth (13), Ryan Newman (15), Greg Biffle (20), Kyle Busch (24), Dale Earnhardt Jr (25), Brian Vickers (29), Kasey Kahne (34), Denny Hamlin (37)
It doesn’t get any eaiser for the Chase contendors, as they will travel to Phoenix International Speedway. We leave you, as always, with the updated top 12 points standings for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship:
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | +1 | Jimmie Johnson | 5,728 | – |
| 2. | -1 | Mark Martin | 5,716 | -12 |
| 3. | – | Juan Montoya | 5,670 | -58 |
| 4. | – | Tony Stewart | 5,644 | -84 |
| 5. | +2 | Jeff Gordon | 5,623 | -105 |
| 6. | -1 | Kurt Busch | 5,607 | -121 |
| 7. | +1 | Greg Biffle | 5,540 | -188 |
| 8. | +2 | Carl Edwards | 5,536 | -192 |
| 9. | -3 | Denny Hamlin | 5,509 | -219 |
| 10. | -1 | Ryan Newman | 5,505 | -223 |
| 11. | – | Kasey Kahne | 5,422 | -306 |
| 12. | – | Brian Vickers | 5,377 | -351 |
