Johnson claims Goody's
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jimmie Johnson offered no apologies for putting his mentor through 53 laps of frustration.
"Believe me, I was nervous up there," Johnson said Sunday after withstanding furious pressure from Jeff Gordon to win the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. "I wasn't sure if I could hang on, especially as hard as he was hitting me in the center of the turn. But he could never get position, so I kept doing my thing."
Johnson's thing proved just enough, beating Gordon by a bumper to win for the third time in the last four races — and the second in a row — at Martinsville Speedway.
"I'm speechless. I've looked up to him my whole career, before I even was back here racing. I've looked up to him and knew how good he was at Martinsville," Johnson said of Gordon, whose seven career wins at the track are the most among active racers.
"That was probably the hardest driving I've ever done."
The teammates provided a stirring duel at the end of the second Car of Tomorrow race, one that had been mostly devoid of the destructive physical driving that normally leaves several cars broken long before the checkered flag at Martinsville Speedway.
But the spectacle at the finish was all Johnson and Gordon, who tried everything he could short of wrecking his teammate and friend, but couldn't make the pass.
"The only way I could get by him was to wreck him, but he's my teammate and I tell you what, there's going to be some interesting racing going forward because he blocked me really bad," Gordon said. "I thought I had a chance at him a couple times, but he shut the door on me pretty good. ... He did exactly what he should have done."
Which doesn't mean the four-time series champion liked it at all.
"I'm happy for Jimmie, I am happy for Hendrick to win the race, but I am really disappointed that we didn't win because I thought we should have," Gordon said.
Johnson won for the 26th time in his career and extended Gordon's winless streak to 24.
