Johnson's back: Reigning Cup champ seems to be turning up heat

FONTANA, Calif. - Nextel Cup teams, beware. Apparently, Jimmie Johnson and his team have received their wake-up calls.

Johnson, who won four of the season's first 10 races but at one point managed two top-10 finishes during an eight-race stretch, roared to victory in Sunday night's Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway.

That puts Johnson in position to go into the Chase for the Nextel Cup at the head of the pack, and repeats a familiar pattern for the defending series champion.

It has been typical for Johnson to start fast, persevere through a summer swoon and kick things back into gear for the Chase. Last year, he finished second four times and won once during a five-race stretch late in the title drive.

"It has been a few months since we won," said Johnson, who'd last won May 6 at Richmond, Va. "It's good to be back."

With his fifth win, Johnson picked up 10 more bonus points for this year's Chase. Unless teammate Jeff Gordon, who's won four races, gets a victory at Richmond next weekend, Johnson will be the points leader at New Hampshire.

"The season is all about a championship," Johnson said. "It's time for the pressure to pick up and the hard work to start. My guys are ready for it. We're hitting our stride when we need to."

Carl Edwards, who'd clinched a Chase spot, and Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton, who clinched with their finishes Sunday, chased Johnson over the final laps. Edwards and Busch, at least, were closing during the final laps.

"Running second is terrible," Edwards said. "I just hope we run this well in the Chase."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth, doing as much as he could to sustain his flagging Chase hopes. He did gain ground, as Kurt Busch finished ninth, Kevin Harvick 14th and Clint Bowyer 20th. But Earnhardt Jr. is 128 points behind 12th-place Harvick with the Richmond race left.

"It doesn't look like we're going to make it, but we're not going to quit trying to," Earnhardt Jr. said.

With the sun going down, Johnson moved to the front on Lap 113 and led by nearly three seconds at one point. But by Lap 137, Kyle Busch had moved back to the top spot.

Johnson got the lead again on Lap 171 after a three-way battle with Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch. Reed Sorenson, however, lost a tire on Lap 174 and then Jeff Gordon got loose on Lap180 and hit Jeremy Mayfield, who then turned David Reuitmann to set off a crash that involved six cars and left Ricky Rudd favoring his left arm or wrist after hitting the wall. Rudd was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Somewhere in the middle of that mess Harvick managed to find a clear path through. Had he wrecked and been knocked out, that could have been a critical blow to his Chase hopes.

With just less than 90 laps to go, there had been 11 cautions to tie the track record for a 500-mile race.

Johnson, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton were the front three for the restart on Lap 187. Johnson pulled away for a time, but as the final pit stops approached, Burton and Kyle Busch began closing on the leader.

Earnhardt Jr. came in on Lap 210 because he had to, not because he wanted to. He had a right-front tire going down, but since it was time for the final stop anyway it worked out.

Tony Stewart, who'd stopped when most of the leaders stayed out on an earlier caution period, stayed out until Lap 228 hoping for a yellow flag. Casey Mears and A.J. Allmendinger were on the same plan, with Mears coming in last a lap later.

Johnson, meanwhile, was fully in command. He was more than three seconds ahead of Kyle Busch and Edwards when the lead cycled back to him on Lap 229, and that was more than enough.

NOTE

Jeff Moorad, a general partner and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, and Tom Garfinkel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Diamondbacks, have purchased controlling interest in Hall of Fame Racing.