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."

Despite having one of the top cars all day, a pit stop miscue on Lap 143 nearly wrecked Stewart's chances.

"We had a pit stop where we lost a lug nut off the left-rear tire, I guess," Stewart said. "Instead of leaving and having to come in and redo it, the guys took the extra time to get it on there.

"It's kind of like golf, it's all about recovery. We came in fourth or something and came out 13th."

But the No. 20 crew was up to the challenge for the rest of the afternoon, putting Stewart back in prime track position. Within 30 laps, Stewart was back in the top 10. By Lap 200, he was fifth.

Following a restart for a four-car accident involving Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers, Stewart motored around Johnson for the lead and held it for 76 of the last 82 laps.

"The guys rebounded from that stop and had really good pit stops under green there," he said. "We made up a lot of track position and got a lot of spots, and the next thing you know, we're back in the top five and racing for the win there at the end."

No matter what, Stewart wasn't willing to jump to conclusions about the incident with Johnson until they had talked.

"You know, we're both racing hard with three laps to go," Stewart said. "You don't know if his spotter told him he was clear so he kept coming. You don't know what the circumstances are without talking to him.

"It is what it is. At the end, he's in Victory Lane and we're here, talking about finishing second."

Johnson was apologetic afterwards, and with good reason. With Bristol next on the schedule, trying to avoid getting paid back for previous transgressions is paramount on the high-banked half-mile.

"I have the utmost respect for Tony Stewart as a racer and I think we showed that in the laps leading up to that, racing side-by-side," Johnson said. "He's a true champion and somebody I truly enjoy racing with."