Four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has won his second race in as many weeks in taking out the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Johnson, regarded as one of the more clean-cut and mild-mannered drivers in NASCAR, showed his aggressive streak to take out today’s race by inflicting a payback move on Kurt Busch.
Busch made a ‘bump and run pass’ on Johnson in the closing stages of the race, before an enraged Johnson caught back up and returned the favour.
“We got going on that restart and Kurt (Busch) knocked me out of the way and I thought ‘I don’t care if I win this race or not; I don’t care if I finish this damn thing. I’m running into him and get by one way or another’,” said Johnson.
“I’m not good at doing that stuff. Usually I crash myself in the process. So I tried once and moved him, but (thought) I’ve got to hit him harder. The second time I moved him out of the way and got by him and was able to get going.
“You’re going to have that on the short tracks. We had so much green flag running, I knew at some point we’d get bunched up and it would all break loose. And it certainly did.
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“So you race people how they race you and I know he didn’t try dumping me, but he came awfully close. So I just thought about it when I caught him, I thought well, I hope I don’t dump him, but I’m definitely going to get into him.”
Johnson now has five race wins so far this season, equal with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, while points leader Kevin Harvick still sits on just one race win.
RESULTS: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| 1. | #48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 2. | #14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart Haas Racing |
| 3. | #2 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing |
| 4. | #24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 5. | #29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing |
| 6. | #39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart Haas Racing |
| 7. | #33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing |
| 8. | #88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Hendrick Motorsports |
| 9. | #20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 10. | #43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports |
| 13. | #47 | Marcos Ambrose | JTG Daugherty Racing |
2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Drivers Standings after Race 17 of 36
| 1. | Kevin Harvick | 2489 points |
| 2. | Jimmie Johnson | 2384 |
| 3. | Kyle Busch | 2328 |
| 4. | Denny Hamlin | 2304 |
| 5. | Jeff Gordon | 2302 |
| 6. | Kurt Busch | 2288 |
| 7. | Matt Kenseth | 2204 |
| 8. | Jeff Burton | 2159 |
| 9. | Tony Stewart | 2158 |
| 10. | Greg Biffle | 2126 |
| 11. | Mark Martin | 2047 |
| 12. | Carl Edwards | 2020 |
| 27. | Marcos Ambrose | 1593 |
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