It was his first-ever win at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, but that doesn’t mean Jimmie Johnson is a stranger to Victory Lane. No. 48 took his act into full-speed for the Food City 500 at this year’s Bristol race, crossing off the Tennessee racetrack as one more where he’s emerged victorious in his Cup Series career.
Johnson’s monumental win at the Food City 500 was his third victory of the season (out of just five races total), launching him into third place in standings behind No. 1 Kevin Harvick and No. 2 Matt Kenseth. Johnson continues sneaking up on the Cup Series’ most elite drivers in his early conquest of winning five straight Cup Series Championship wins, and at the rate he’s going JJ will be back on top in no time.
At the March 21 Food City 500, Jimmie Johnson posted a remarkable come-from-behind win, letting Kurt Busch lead for 278 of the 500 laps before he kicked it into high gear. Sitting in sixth place during the Bristol race with 17 laps remaining, Johnson took the opportunity on a late restart to zoom past Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch, rocketing from sixth to first in just three laps – an astonishing feat for an oval track. Finishing out the final 10 laps in first place, No. 48 took home the gold once again, dashing his previous 0-for-16 record in Tennessee.
After the race, a defeated Kurt Busch dubbed Jimmie Johnson his nemesis, telling ESPN, “I’d rather lose to any of the other 41 cars out there than the 48 car. I thought we had him beat. I gave it my heart today, but we came up short.” Busch’s run was close to perfection, but he couldn’t fend off NASCAR’s most glorified competitor when it came down to the finish line.
Johnson’s Food City 500 win at Bristol was a big confidence-booster for the Hendrick Motorsports superstar, but it also marked a significant career achievement for the stock car driver, as well. Not only was the Bristol win his first at the speedway, but the March 21 victory was also Johnson’s 50th career win, putting him in a prestigious class of NASCAR’s most elite drivers.
Garnering his 50th career win in 296 races, Jimmie Johnson became the fourth-fastest driver to ever accumulate 50 victories, sitting behind only Jeff Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293). Now that he’s clearly on his way to unprecedented success, Jimmie Johnson is helping to sell out <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/nascar-tickets/”>NASCAR tickets</a> from <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/”>StubHub</a> to races this year.
While Jimmie Johnson jets off with an aim at winning his fifth straight Sprint Cup Series Championship in 2010, racing season has only just begun. With Martinsville, Phoenix, Texas and Talladega in the near future bringing NASCAR into the month of May, No. 48 has his work cut out for him if he wants to stay at the top of the pack. For now, it’s Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth who are Johnson’s next targets, and the upcoming slew of NASCAR races will make or break Johnson’s hot streak.
Jenna Jay wrote this article, which is sponsored by StubHub.com. <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/”>StubHub</a> is a leader in the business of selling <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/nascar-tickets/”>NASCAR tickets</a>, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
