Stewart miffed, Johnson sorry for late pinch in wall

HAMPTON, Ga. -- All of the smoke after Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 wasn't necessarily coming from Jimmie Johnson's victory burnout on Atlanta Motor Speedway's front straightaway.

"Smoke" was smoldering as well, and not just because he finished second.

Tony Stewart felt he got pinched into the wall on Johnson's pass for the lead with three laps to go -- and he was right. The winner admitted as much, although Johnson said that wasn't his intention.

"I wish he had given me a little more room," Stewart said. "I don't think I ever pinched him or kept him from having room on the racetrack to race.

Two in a row for 48

Jimmie Johnson had the car to beat Sunday, but it took a late-race charge to catch and pass Tony Stewart three laps from the end at Atlanta.

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"He had a faster car. He was probably going to get around us anyway. But I'd like to see him at least give me room to race him for it."

Following the final caution on Lap 311, Stewart appeared to have things well in hand when he built a sizeable advantage on the restart. But Johnson, who had been better on long runs, quickly narrowed the gap and began pressuring the leader with five laps remaining.

With Stewart holding the high road, Johnson's No. 48 pulled even with Stewart's No. 20 at the start/finish line on Lap 322, leaving the defending Nextel Cup champion with a tough decision.

"I drove it in further than I should have into Turn 1 and the car stuck," Johnson said. "I got to the gas, and at that point I was clear and focused on the exit where I was going to drift the car out to Turn 2 and pick the throttle up to wide open."

However, Johnson's momentum carried his car right across the front of the nose of Stewart's Chevrolet. As Stewart scrubbed the wall with the right side of his car, Johnson drove away for a margin of victory calculated at 1.311 seconds.

"Tony had a good run coming on the outside and when I heard he was there coming, it was just too late for me to adjust," Johnson admitted. "I certainly squeezed him into the wall and didn't leave him a lot of room.

"It wasn't intentional but when I heard 'clear' in the center of the corner, I opened the steering wheel up and focused on my corner exit. I didn't think much of it until the last second, when I heard that he had some momentum back into that tight spot off of 2." (Continued)