By Staff
HAMPTON, Ga. – Jimmie Johnson passed Tony Stewart with three laps to go Sunday to win the Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Johnson, defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion, chased Stewart down and passed him after a restart with less than 15 laps remaining.
Stewart drove the wheels off his Home Depot Chevrolet, slapping the outside retaining wall in the waning laps with Johnson nipping at his heels. The brush with the wall forced Stewart to back off a little and Johnson drove away down the stretch.
Johnson's win was his second this season. He won at Las Vegas last week.
Trailing Johnson and Stewart were former champion Matt Kenseth, resurgent Jeff Burton and the amazing Juan Pablo Montoya.
This was Montoya's first time at the Atlanta track and he kept his car in contention throughout the brisk, sunny, Sunday afternoon.
Montoya, too, grazed the outside retaining wall a few laps from the finish. His fifth-place position was his best since joining the NASCAR circuit this year.
Trailing Montoya was Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr. Reed Sorensen and Mark Martin.
Sorensen's ninth-place finish gave Chip Ganassi racing two cars in the top 10.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon wound up 12th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 14th. Kurt Busch finished 11th after a pit road speeding penalty sent him to the rear of the field.
Johnson, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Gordon, Sorensen, Burton and Earnhardt ran at or near the front during the first half of the 325-lap race over the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
Johnson, Kenseth, Busch, Gordon and Stewart seemed to be the class of the field.
Montoya continued to impress fans, bringing his Texaco/Havoline dodge to 10th before the second round of pit stops. Montoya finished eighth in Saturday's NASCAR Busch series race. It was the first time the former Formula 1 star from Colombia had raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Fan favorite Mark Martin, who led the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point race for several weeks, made his last appearance for the Ginn Racing team until the Texas race. Martin is not running the full schedule this season. Rookie driver Regan Smith will take over the U.S. Army Chevrolet next week at Bristol.
Story provided by NASCAR