Last Lap: Leaving the others in the dust

Considering his dominant performance in the Coca-Cola 600, I'm beginning to wonder whether Jimmie Johnson isn't a direct descendant of John Deere.

That's how badly he mowed them down.

	Marty Smith

Twenty laps into the race, a colleague commented to me that he had an odd feeling someone might lap the field. I laughed, nearly choked to death on a turkey sandwich. These days, that is a preposterous notion. Never happen.

Coincidentally, at that very moment Johnson sped past Bobby Hamilton Jr., making Hamilton the first of many competitors Johnson would leave in his wake during a lengthy green-flag run that marked the demise of many.

Unable to stop under caution and make adjustments, several drivers battled ill-handling cars. And Johnson just kept sailing like Dennis Conner.

All said, Johnson lapped 30 of the 43 cars in the field Sunday evening, and that doesn't include the beneficiaries of several "Lucky Dog" passes. More impressive than that, however, was the fact that he led 501 of 600 miles. That's not a record, but may as well be. In 1967, when there were just a handful of capable cars in the field, Jim Paschal led 502.5 miles, just one lap more than Johnson.

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It was the most dominant performance I've ever seen, for several reasons, but mainly because he made such a mockery of what most consider an unparalleled test of mental and physical fortitude.

On a night when most everyone was struggling to get a handle on the cars, the Lowe's Chevrolet was on rails from start to finish. It's almost scary, considering that they didn't test. But it wasn't just the car. When Johnson had to get up on the wheel, he did so in gutsy fashion, splitting Kasey Kahne and Robby Gordon in Turn 3 through a crack crew chief Chad Knaus likened to a keyhole.

Just once was there a threat. At one point late in the race Kahne's Dodge was better, ripping off a second every couple laps. Then a caution flew, and it was over.

What is the most dominating victory you can remember?

d3enis: Well its pretty hard to dominate more than Jimmie Johnson did at the Coca Cola 600. Give some credit to the crew for making the correct adjustments to the car as the temperatures dropped and the track changed. It seemed that only a very small portion of that race, the 48 was not the best car out there. That is pretty amazing in the current NASCAR.

Agreed, DLIII. Considering NASCAR's stringent, restrictive rules packages and focus on parity, Johnson's performance is astonishing. Again, they didn't test. This was a union of Johnson's prowess and Chad Knaus' genius.

It also proves that last year's surge from the rear of the field to win the rain-shortened event was no fluke. Don't forget, in Johnson's rookie year he led 263 laps before a slide through his pit stall on the final stop cost him the race. It's not like this came out of nowhere.

BassBum148: Recently, I think back to the New Hampshire race in 2000 where Jeff Burton not only dominated, but led all 300 laps. Leading every lap in a race, not only now but since this sport started, requires nearly as much luck as it does a dominant car and a great pit crew.

Leading the most laps requires the dominant car, but getting the yellows to land at the right time, all of the other lead lap cars to pit when you do, and beating them all out is just downright insane. I wasn't a Jeff Burton fan at the time, but I do hope he finds a sponsor soon.

	Credit: Autostock

This was probably the most popular answer of the week. Regardless of the era or racetrack, leading every lap is amazing. Jeff Burton's effort was stellar, but quite anticlimactic considering the circumstances surrounding the event. Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin had both been killed at New Hampshire earlier that season, so NASCAR put restrictor plates on the cars to slow them down.

Burton was the first driver to lead flag-to-flag in 22 years, and no one's done it since. And he had to work for it. Eventual series champion Bobby Labonte raced Burton hard all day, and Dale Earnhardt gave Burton fits when Burton tried to put the Intimidator a lap down.

oldDEIfan: It gives you an idea of how old I am when I say the most dominant race I remember is, May 1982. It was the Mason-Dixon 500 and Bobby Allison could not be stopped. The man finished 3 or 4 laps ahead of the 2nd and 3rd place cars. There may have been better ones, but I remember seeing that race. So that's my choice.

You're certain showing no signs of memory loss, Old Yeller. On May 16, 1982, Allison lapped the entire field three times and led 486 of 500 laps to beat second-place Dave Marcis and third place Dale Earnhardt at Dover Downs International Speedway. Terry Labonte and Mark Martin rounded out the top-five, and both finished four laps down. He won eight races that year, but fell 72 points short of Darrell Waltrip in the championship standings.

jbracerx: I recall back to June 3, 2001 at Dover when Jeff Gordon led all but 16 laps of the race, and the laps led by other drivers were all during green flag stops.

Yet another excellent recollection. Well done, X-man. Gordon led 381 of 400 laps, taking the lead from Rusty Wallace on the 23rd lap and only surrendering it during green flag pit stops. Dover is one of the toughest, fastest tracks on the Cup circuit. If you blink, you're in the fence. This was one of Gordon's brightest shining moments in a career full of them.

txlonghorn24: Jeff Gordon's road course dominance from 1998-2001. He won seven consecutive road course races. Tell me how many people have ever done that? That's crazy if you think about it, because there were lots of great road course drivers then, for example, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin especially, etc. But that was really dominant if you ask me.

It was actually six-straight road course wins between 1997 and 2000, Roger Clemens, but you make a valid point. If you're going to discuss track dominance, though, how about ol' DW's seven-straight wins at Bristol between 1981 and 1984. Amazing.

Anonymousfan: Is there any doubt? The most dominating performance ever was Bill Elliott's 1985 Talladega win where he went 2 laps down on pit road from a loose oil line made them up UNDER GREEN and won the race, NO HELP FROM CAUTIONS, just caught up 2 complete laps 5.32 miles at a track where "drafting" is the order of the day. Of course this happened back when restrictor plates hadn't yet been thought up. But still that feat is unmatched and crazy when you think about it.

Yet another very popular answer. Making up two laps under green anywhere is absurd, but on a track where it's very difficult to run well without drafting help makes it incomprehensible. Had I seen this myself, it may rank at the top of my list. Don't forget, Elliott's effort at Talladega propelled him to the Winston Million that year, as well.

Back then, a driver had to win three of four major events to win the extra million bucks. Elliott took the checkers in the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 and the Southern 500. That's sick, man.

phathead50: One of the most dominating performances I can think of is Kyle Petty at Rockingham in the early 90's. He won three races there between 1990 and 1992, and he completely dominated the races. He led 433, 380, and 484 laps, respectively, during the 3 races he won.

That's nearly 88 percent of the laps for those three races. He was almost unbeatable at that track. On top of that he had 5 poles in this period, and one of the races he didn't win he led over 200 laps. I cannot remember a driver being that dominate in quite a while.

Yep. Petty is still the only driver in NASCAR history to record a victory in three consecutive years at Rockingham. And as you all know, he'll now have that distinction forever.

Coop1: I remember that Cale Yarborough won a race and led every lap. He was so dominant that his lead didn't go away even when he pitted! Robby Gordon's victory in Sonoma last year was close to being dominant. He had to abuse his teammate and insult a four-time champion to do it, and it was on a course that you can barely pass on, but I have to give him his due.

However, Saturday night's victory by Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet has got to rank up there with the most dominating wins of all time. On a track where you can pass, when the track conditions transition from day to night, and for 600 miles?!? Give me a break!

The only controversy about whether he would win, or not, came from the announcers trying their hardest to make it interesting by talking about scenarios that might make it close. Unless one of the weekly crunch-'em fools took him out there was no chance for the 48 to lose.

I commented that it looked like Jimmie was running a Cup car while everyone else was in a Busch car! Unbelievable!

Unbelievable is correct, Coop. As a matter of fact, the most formidable opponent Team Lowe's faced Sunday evening was a trashcan that was bolted to the concrete in their pit stall, and impeded the progression of their pit stop choreography. So they removed it.

Talk about dominance...

The Last Lap appears on NASCAR.COM every Tuesday. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.