INDIANAPOLIS -- Forget that Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was punctuated by 11 caution flags when NASCAR inserted competition cautions to ensure the safety of drivers after excessive wear on right-side tires manifested itself during Saturday's practice sessions.
After nearly 3 1/2 hours and 160 laps at 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson made a return visit to his favorite place at the storied racetrack -- Victory Lane.
In a seven-lap dash to the finish, Johnson held off Carl Edwards by .333 seconds to claim his second Brickyard win in three years, his second win of the season and the 35th victory of his career, tying him with Mark Martin for 17th on the all-time list.
Johnson is the second driver to win a NASCAR race at the Brickyard from the pole, and it was that superb qualifying effort that helped propel him to victory. With first choice of pit stalls, the No. 48 Lowe's team picked Pit No. 1, closest to the exit of pit road.
That pit selection, couple with magnificent work on the final pit stop by the Lowe's crew, got Johnson off pit road first -- ahead of Edwards and third-place finisher Denny Hamlin -- for the final restart on lap 154. From that point, Johnson took over and kept Edwards at bay the rest of the way.
With the victory, Johnson passed Edward for fourth place in the standings with six races left before the field for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is set Sept. 6 at Richmond.
"Boys, you've done an awesome job," Johnson told the Lowe's team after the command to start engines. "I can't thank you enough. Let's have fun today."
"Big thumbs-up," crew chief Chad Knaus added as the field rolled toward the green flag. "Let's go and have some fun today."
"All right, Jimmie, coming to green," radioed spotter Stevie Reeves. "Tighten 'em up and have a good one. All right, Jimmie, I'll let you start the race. I'll just call the flag."
The Lowe's Chevy began to pull away after the start, but a caution on lap 4 for Michael Waltrip's spin into the turn 2 wall slowed the field.
"A little on the tight side," Johnson reported on the handling of his car. "Do I have a right rear tire fan, or just the left front?"
"Yes, you do," Knaus replied. "How are the brakes?"
"Brakes are fine," Johnson responded.
"Pits will be open," Reeves interjected on lap 6. "Next competition caution will be lap 14 (NASCAR had planned regular competition cautions to check on tire wear)."
An accident involving Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick on lap 14, however, preempted the competition yellow.
"When I need the car to turn through the corner, it'll turn, so it's not too tight," Johnson reported before bringing the Lowe's Chevy to the pits.
"The 88 and the 70 stayed on the track there, Chad," Reeves told the crew chief, indicating that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jason Leffler had remained on the track and inherited the top two spots in the running order.
"The right front looks pretty good," Knaus told Johnson after examining the tires taken off the car after the first run. "The right rear's showing some (wear), but it's better than yesterday (in practice)."
Johnson restarted third on lap 18.
"Next competition caution will be lap 32," Reeves informed Johnson and Knaus after getting the word from race control.
"It's definitely tighter," Johnson reported under green on lap 20.
"It's just clean air, Jimmie," Knaus replied. "The 88 (Earnhardt) is running a 52.40 (seconds per lap). You're running a 53 flat."
On lap 26, Earnhardt, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, slowed with a flat tire and came to the pits.
"Nice and easy," Knaus told Johnson. "The 88 lost a right rear. That's why he fell back there."
"I can feel the right rear dancing around a little bit," Johnson said, indicating the Lowe's Chevy also was experiencing heavy tire wear.
On lap 29, before the scheduled competition caution, NASCAR threw a yellow for debris.
"Four tires," Knaus ordered, before Johnson brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits. "Was it still feeling a little tight?"
"Hard to tell with the right rear sliding around," the driver replied.
"Good stop," Knaus congratulated the team after Johnson exited pit road. "Let's get out front. That's the best thing we can do."
Having taken four tires on the pit stop, Johnson restarted third on lap 35 behind series points leader Kyle Busch and Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon, who would finish fifth.
"I turned off my left front fan. Is that a good move or not?" Johnson asked under green on lap 38.
"I would say no, because the hotter that left front gets, the tighter the car will get and that will put more pressure on the right front," Knaus replied.
On lap 39, Johnson took the lead from Gordon, who had passed Busch. "You're the fastest car on the track," Knaus told his driver. "They're starting to get bottled up behind you with the 24 (Gordon) and the 18 (Busch)."
On lap 46, Matt Kenseth blew his right rear tire, demolishing the right rear quarter panel of his No. 17 Ford in the process.
"The right rear just started going away," Johnson reported on his own handling under caution. "Waiting 'til later to go wide open. The car is pretty comfortable. When I try to turn through the corner, it responds, but when it responds, it uses up the right rear."
"We'll raise the panhard bar one round and try to loosen it up a bit," Knaus promised.
With several cars taking two tires to four for the Lowe's Chevy on the ensuing pit stop, Johnson restarted seventh on lap 54 but quickly made a move toward the front. By lap 60 he was second behind Busch, and two laps later, he passed Busch's No. 18 Toyota for the lead.
On lap 65 NASCAR slowed the field with a competition caution. "That's the first time I haven't felt the right rear giving up," Johnson said. "I checked up a little, but I wanted to push it to get an accurate reading."
"It looks like the right rear is showing something (some wear)," Knaus replied.
After another stop, Johnson was fourth out of the pits.
"Those three up there are brave," Knaus said, noting that the cars ahead of the Lowe's Chevy -- those of AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler and Greg Biffle --again had taken two tires. "That's the second stint on lefts."
"I'll try to adjust my driving style," Johnson suggested.
"Let me know if I'm heavy on right front or right rear," Johnson said.
"We're still heavy on the right rear," Knaus replied.
In less than two laps after a restart on lap 71, Johnson passed Allmendinger for the lead.
"Good job," Knaus said. "Nice and smooth."
"It's a little tighter in on this set of tires. I don't know why," Johnson radioed on lap 74.
"Two laps 'til caution, Jimmie," Knaus told his driver on lap 79.
"I scraped the fence on the right side," Johnson replied, but the damage wasn't significant enough to slow the Lowe's Chevy.
After NASCAR called a competition yellow on lap 81, Johnson told Knaus, "That last change had it freer off, but it didn't do that much through the center."
"Good job getting into the pit box that last time, Jimmie," Knaus said after a pit stop on lap 83. "You can get just a little bit farther out (from the wall). Go ahead and get both batteries on, Jimmie."
Johnson restarted fifth on lap 87. By lap 88 he was second. On lap 90 he passed Edwards for the lead.
"I don't know if the track's starting to tighten up, but I'm starting to get tighter in the center," Johnson radioed after passing Edwards.
"It feels like we hung in there pretty good," Johnson added after NASCAR called another competition caution on lap 98. "Felt like the tires held up longer than they had in the previous runs."
"We're going to make a small air-pressure adjustment," Knaus said.
"Anything you can do for the tight in (into the corner)?" Johnson asked.
"Maybe we can put a round (of wedge) in the right rear," Knaus suggested.
"I'd rather something earlier in the corner than later," the driver replied.
On laps 113 and 114, Johnson swapped the second position with Allmendinger, finally securing the spot, and on lap 116, he regained the lead with a pass of Jeff Burton.
"Good job, Jimmie," Knaus said. "We're going to be pitting you in about six (laps)."
After a pit stop under competition caution on lap 123, Johnson restarted second on lap 128 behind Denny Hamlin, who had taken two tires.
"The right rear was starting to go there a little at the end," Johnson said. "It was sliding off the corner."
"Twenty-five (laps) to go," Knaus radioed on lap 135. "What's your car doing?"
"It's not bad. But it gets real ugly when I get close (to Hamlin's car) in traffic," Johnson replied.
On lap 139, Johnson brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits.
"All right, we really need a good stop here, gentlemen," Knaus said. "We only need a couple of gallons (of fuel). So get in, let it flow in and get out of here. We really need a good one. We can get this thing back, bud."
"Heck yeah, we can," Johnson replied.
Johnson restarted ninth on lap 142 -- but for a good reason. "Everybody ahead of you took two tires, Jimmie. The 99 behind you (Edwards) took four," Knaus said.
"Great stop, guys," Johnson said.
"Nineteen laps to go when you take the green," Knaus told his driver. "You're in ninth position."
Johnson worked his way toward the front and was chasing Hamlin for the lead before NASCAR called the final competition caution on lap 150.
"What you got there, dude?" Knaus asked as Johnson prepared to bring the Lowe's Chevy to the pits.
"It was a little racier there," Johnson said.
The pit stop was a thing of beauty. "Go, go, go. Yeah! You got 'em," Knaus exulted as Johnson left the pits with the lead. "Great stop, guys."
After the restart on lap 154, Johnson held the lead the rest of the way.
"You guys are the best, man. That was awesome," Johnson shouted after taking the checkered flag.
"Jimmie, I hate to give the compliment back to you, but I think you're the best," Knaus responded. "That was an amazing job."
