Highlights

Johnson dazzles at Talladega

(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-02 10:20

TALLADEGA, Ala.-- Almost every move Jimmie Johnson made at Talladega Superspeedway seemed to be the wrong one.

Rivals said he was too aggressive, showed too little patience. Dale Earnhardt Jr. even called him an "idiot" for his role in accidents that wrecked 39 cars last year.

Jimmie Johnson driver of # 48 Lowe's Chevrolet poses for photographers after winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Aaron's 499 at the Talladega on May 1, 2006 in Alabama. [NASCAR]

Johnson took the criticism, then tried to learn from his mistakes.

Boy, has he ever.

Johnson erased a career full of Talladega troubles, barreling past teammate Brian Vickers with one lap to go and holding off a charge from Tony Stewart to win the rain-postponed Aaron's 499 on Monday.

"I got into some situations last year, and I just felt in my heart that maybe I was being too aggressive on the track," Johnson said."I really just stayed cautious. I didn't want to be aggressive. I didn't want to block anybody.

"And then at the end, got really aggressive and raced for the win."

It made Johnson 2-for-2 in restrictor-plate races this year. And this one won't have an asterisk.

His season-opening Daytona 500 victory fell under intense scrutiny when crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for cheating during race preparations. Although Johnson rallied to win the race in a legal car, he was forced to defend himself and his team from a wave of criticism that spoiled the victory.

Now he has a plate win that was fair and square, in a brand new car that no one can question.

He also had Knaus with him to celebrate in Victory Lane. The Daytona scandal cost Knaus four races, and he had to watch from home as Johnson won two of them.

"He's worked his butt off, to finally be present for one of them means a lot to him," Johnson said.

Using a similar strategy from Daytona, when he stayed low under the radar until the very end, Johnson powered to the front only when it mattered. He pulled his Chevrolet alongside Vickers and eased it past him and into first at the start/finish line of the final lap.

Vickers, seeking the first win of his career, knew the move was coming and he knew the competition would trust Johnson enough to give him the push he needed to get to the front.

"You come down to the last couple of laps, and teammates or not, all bets are off," Vickers said."He learned what he had to do, obviously, because those guys still respect him out there and they're still pushing him to wins."

Once out front, Johnson still had to contend with Stewart.

Stewart was the leader with nine to go, was shuffled out of the draft and out of the top 10. He sliced his way through traffic and onto Johnson's bumper for the final lap.

He was right there coming out of the final turn, but Johnson used a huge block to hold him off and seal his third win of the season and move into first place in the points standings. He has 21-point lead over Matt Kenseth.

Stewart wound up second -- his sixth runner-up finish in the past 11 races at the track.

"That's still better than third, so there's 41 guys that wish they ran as good as I did,'' Stewart said. "As volatile as this place can be ... to be able to get to second is something I feel we can be proud of."

Vickers was third, followed by Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Carl Edward,Scott Riggs and Robby Gordon.