Call it a squeeze, not sabotage: Johnson had edge in Atlanta duel

Tony Stewart can say what he likes, but Jimmie Johnson had him beat dead to rights late in Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Johnson passed the Joe Gibbs Racing ace with three laps left in the Kobalt Tools 500 and held him off for his second series victory in a row.

Stewart said Johnson pinched his No. 20 Home Depot Chevy into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 322 of 325, which resulted in damage to his car and loss of momentum.

My take: Of course, Johnson squeezed Stewart, but Tony would have done the same. It was not dirty racing, and Stewart was making a run at Johnson on the outside that was very optimistic and would not have held up.

"He (Johnson) was faster than us right there," Stewart said later. "I just wish he would've given us enough room to race him for it."

Unlike some bonehead moves at Atlanta over the weekend, Johnson had drifted up the track and was on the gas when the incident occurred. He had the better car in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy and had passed Stewart after an exciting duel. There was no blatant blocking or wrecking, just two great racers going about their work.

"Tony had a good run coming on the outside, and when I heard he was there ... it was just too late for me to adjust," said Johnson, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports. "I didn't leave him a lot of room ... but it wasn't intentional. Hard racing at the end of the day, that's what I'd really call it."

Johnson is no punk. The defending Cup champion is a fierce competitor but honorable. He's much tougher than his boy-next-door looks, coming from a truck-racing background. He'll stalk you, pressure you, but won't sabotage you.

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

We enjoyed watching it.

Poetic perspective: Team Red Bull's Brian Vickers had a mixed day at Atlanta in his Toyota Camry. He led a lap but finished 42nd after having engine problems and being wrecked through no fault of his own. His team issued a St. Patrick's Day statement later:

"There was a young man who led his first laps of the year

Despite having only seven cylinders to steer

Then when Lap 228 came around

He heard a loud sound

It was the 16 and 00 crashing into him from the rear."

Best `Vettes: Corvette Racing continued its domination of the American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring sports car race Saturday, placing first and second in the GT1 class.

The victory by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis is Corvette's fifth win in six years at Sebring. The trio drove the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R to a 17.863-second victory over teammates Johnny O'Connell, Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette.

The Audi R10 TDI (LMP1) of Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela took overall race honors, while the Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01a of Bryan Herta, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan finished first in LMP2.