Jimmie Johnson won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway Sunday, June 20, 2010, his 51st victory in 307 NASCAR Sprint Cup races. The win on the California track is Johnson's fourth victory in 2010 and his first win in 17 Sprint Cup starts on a road course.
Johnson was asked before the race what a win at Sonoma would mean to him. "It would mean a lot," Johnson said. "Man, every year, since the start of the No. 48 team, we've tested more for road courses than any other specific race track. I continue to run the Grand Am series when I can to help. I feel like last year we were close."
The work leading up to the race paid off for the No. 48 Lowe's team. "Obviously great day for us," Johnson said after the race. "Very proud of really the entire weekend. We unloaded, had a plan, stuck to it. I got some laps, got a little more familiar with the setup, the car and the track. We made good adjustments throughout Friday and Saturday. I think we kind of found our direction early in the weekend. Just made small changes and kept making it a little bit better. I would drive the car a little different. Just on and on we went."
Kevin Harvick Maintains Sprint Cup Points Lead
Johnson is the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and has won the title for the last four years. Kevin Harvick, who finished the race in third, maintains his lead in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup standings by 140 points over Johnson, who moved up four spots with the win.
"It was a good day for us," Harvick said. "I felt like we had a car that was good on speed there at the end. You always have a little something left. When the 26 (Boris Said) got off course there, we got shoved out of the groove and lost three or four spots. Took us the rest of the race to make those back up."
Robbie Gordon is Second at Infineon, Kyle Busch Falters
Robbie Gordon finished second behind Johnson. "It was obviously a good run for us. We came here to win the race. But second place is pretty darn close to winning it. My team needs a little bit of morale here and there. This will boost morale back at the workshop."
Gordon gained two positions and finished the day 32nd in the Sprint Cup points standings. The finish was important to the team since only the top 35 drivers are assured a spot in the next Sprint Cup NASCAR race.
Kyle Busch, who had trouble early and finished 34 laps down in the 39th spot, came away from the California race third in the points standings. Denny Hamlin is fourth in NASCAR Sprint Cup points and Jeff Gordon is fifth in the Sprint Cup standings.
The Sprint Cup series moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the June 27 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 on the one-mile oval.
Rosalie Thompson - Rosalie Thompson enjoys writing about NASCAR, real estate, gardening and travel in the Southeastern United States. After graduating from ...
