Three-time reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was back to his familiar Chase form on Sunday at Dover International Speedway, dominating the AAA 400 en route to the win.

“I know some teams are motivated by things like this where we don't perform and come back the following week and step up,” Johnson said. “Some people it can affect them in a way where it's helpful. I really don't think about those things.

“I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us. But, you know, I see guys get so worried about what other people think, what other people say, and spend a lot of time in those areas. That's not what works for me.”
 
Johnson, who is looking to become the first NASCAR driver to win four consecutive championships, led the way for 271 of the race’s 400 laps. He also won the spring event at Dover, giving him the season sweep on the one-mile concrete track for the second time in his career.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin finished second, allowing him to maintain the points lead. Johnson now sits in second, just 10 points behind Martin.

“I'm pretty sure that dude's Superman,” Martin said of his closest competitor in the point standings. “I have had the opportunity to see up close. I'm telling you, I see why he is so successful. I see why.  He works harder at it than anybody else, I think, on the circuit.”
 
Added Johnson of his 50-year-old teammate, “Mark is an amazing driver with a great race team. We're just going to have to do what we can. There is no free lunch in this sport, and especially racing Mark Martin. You're going to have to earn every point. And you know, we've closed up a little bit on him today. There's eight more to go.”

Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth, followed by Chase contenders Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kurt Busch closed out the top-5 finishers. The run was Kenseth’s first top 5 since his race win in February at California.
 
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon was sixth, and A.J. Allmendinger seventh; Kasey Kahne finished eighth, bouncing back from a disastrous start to his Chase in New Hampshire after suffering a blown engine.
 
There were nine caution flags throughout the 400-mile event. On Lap 25 NASCAR dropped a competition caution. Combined with a new set of tires on the track dubbed the “Monster Mile” and a green race track at the start following evening and early morning rain showers, NASCAR opted to allow the teams to check tire wear. After the stops, the field took the restart on Lap 31. As the field charged towards Turns 3 and 4, Tony Stewart got into his former Joe Gibbs Racing entry, now driven by rookie Joey Logano.
 
The contact sent Logano sideways, collecting the cars of Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. Logano’s machine continued taking hits and flipped violently, end over end, seven times. Logano climbed from his damaged Toyota unhurt.
 
“It just really scared the heck out of me,” Logano said. “It started rolling, and I was in there like, ‘Damn, please make this thing stop.’ And it wouldn't. It just kept going and going. It was the wildest ride I've ever been on. You can't go on a roller coaster any worse than that.”
 
Stewart, who initially got into Logano, said of the incident, “I've never felt sicker in my life than when we hit Joey like that; we hit him a ton. I didn't see it coming — that was the worst part.”
 
Stewart spent the majority of the regular season atop the point standings but the Hendrick domination currently leaves him fifth in the standings, 106 markers back.
 
He finished ninth on Sunday while his teammate, Ryan Newman, led 29 laps and rounded out the top 10.

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