Johnson wins the race; Bowyer gets in the Chase

RICHMOND, Va. -- Sunday's weather-delayed Chevy Rock & Roll 400 left Jimmie Johnson with an abundance of optimism and Clint Bowyer with a sigh of relief.

In a race postponed from Saturday night by the threat of Tropical Storm Hanna, Johnson held off Tony Stewart in a thrilling side-by-side battle in the closing laps at Richmond International Raceway to win his second consecutive race, his fourth of the season and the 37th of his career, tying him with Bobby Isaac for 16th on the all-time victory list.

Johnson secured the third seed for the Chase for the Sprint Cup behind Kyle Busch, who has eight victories, and Carl Edwards, who has won six times this season.

Stewart and third-place finisher Denny Hamlin also clinched spots in the Chase. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran fourth, followed by Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann and Kurt Busch.

Bowyer clinched his spot in the Chase with a 12th-place finish -- but not without his share of anxious moments along the way. After a slow pit stop left him mired in race traffic -- and behind David Ragan, his closest pursuer for the final Chase berth entering the race -- Bowyer recovered as Ragan faded (watch video).

Bowyer, who finished third in last year's championship standings, claimed the last Chase position by 69 points over Kasey Kahne (19th on Sunday) and 77 over Ragan, who survived an early spin in Turn 2 to finish 32nd.

"We knew it was going to be a roller-coaster all day," Bowyer said. "We lost track position when we had a couple of bad pit stops, but it worked out pretty good. We've got a lot of work to do here. We've got to prove we're in this thing for a reason."

Johnson held the lead for a restart on Lap 375 of 400, after an accident in Turn 2 involving Paul Menard and Patrick Carpentier bought out the 14th and final caution of the race. Johnson pulled away at the beginning of the run, but Stewart closed the gap, and by Lap 388 he was hounding Johnson through every corner.

Running the bottom of the track while Johnson was committed to the outside line, Stewart nosed his No. 20 Toyota ahead of Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet at the start-finish line on Laps 390 and 391, but Stewart couldn't clear Johnson's car, and Johnson won the race to the line on Lap 392.

From that point, Johnson edged ahead, led the final nine laps and took the checkered flag .365 seconds ahead of Stewart (watch video).

Standings

Tiebreaker is best finishes beyond race victories

Pos.	Driver	Points
1.	Kyle Busch	5,080
2.	Carl Edwards	5,050
3.	Jimmie Johnson	5,040
4.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5,010
5.	Clint Bowyer	5,010
6.	Denny Hamlin	5,010
7.	Jeff Burton	5,010
8.	Tony Stewart	5,000
9.	Greg Biffle	5,000
10.	Jeff Gordon	5,000
11.	Kevin Harvick	5,000
12.	Matt Kenseth	5,000

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Going into the Chase last year, Johnson also won back-to-back races at Fontana and Richmond. He then won four of the last five races to claim his second title in a row.

"We're coming to good tracks for us," Johnson said. "I think this 48 car is going to be ready for this championship."

Always aware that Stewart drives The Home Depot Toyota -- the marketing rival of his Lowe's Chevrolet -- Johnson wondered during the closing laps if Stewart would try to move him aside for the win.

"He's the orange car, and I'm the Lowe's car," Johnson said. "I was waiting for the bump, but fortunately, I got away from him the last few laps, and he couldn't get to me."

Stewart said he had no intention of rubbing his adversary.

"We got down there, and we couldn't get by," said Stewart, clearly disappointed with his fourth second-place finish of the season. "We did everything we could. We raced him clean. We raced him the way he would have raced us. I wanted to race him with respect, the way he would me, and we just came up short."

Stewart was miffed that Johnson had beaten him out of the pits for a restart on Lap 365, an exchange of stops that proved critical.

"Good job, guys," Stewart radioed to his crew after the race. "Great job. We gave up another one [Sunday]."

"We win and lose as a team," retorted crew chief Greg Zipadelli. "That's enough of that crap."

Call it revenge -- or just a racing accident -- but contact with Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet sent Kyle Busch's No. 18 Toyota spinning in Turn 1 on Lap 212 (watch video). The thousands of fans who rose in unison with fists pumping clearly construed the incident as payback for the late-race wreck that prevented Earnhardt from winning at Richmond in May.

Note: Seeding for the Chase is based on bonus points -- 10 each for victories -- and tiebreakers (most seconds, followed by most thirds, fourths, fifths and so forth). Accordingly, Kyle Busch starts the Chase with 5,080 points to 5,050 for Edwards, who lost 10 bonus points for an oil tank cover infraction at Las Vegas. Johnson is third at 5,040, followed by Earnhardt, Bowyer, Hamlin and Burton (5,010 each); and Stewart, Greg Biffle, Gordon, Harvick and Matt Kenseth (5,000 each).