Jimmie Johnson won the MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover International Speedway, scoring his 17th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 139th career start.
Johnson scored his third victory in 2005. His last victory came at Charlotte in May, 16 races ago. Johnson also won at Las Vegas in March.
Johnson has scored 17 top-10 finishes in 28 races in 2005.
Johnson climbed from fifth to first in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.
Johnson has ranked in the top-10 of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings for 61 consecutive races, the longest current streak. The streak began at Atlanta in March 2004.
Johnson won the $60,000 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Leader Bonus for winning the race and leading the point standings after the race. It marked the fifth time in 2005 that the bonus has been won. Johnson also won it at Las Vegas ($30,000) and Charlotte ($90,000) while Stewart won it at Indianapolis ($90,000) and Watkins Glen ($10,000).
This is Johnsons 16th career superspeedway victory in 108 career superspeedway races.
Johnson led four times for 134 laps including the final 28.
Johnson scored the 10th victory for car owner Rick Hendrick at Dover International Speedway, the most of any owner. This was Hendricks 137th victory as a car owner and seventh in 28 races this season.
Kurt Busch led 192 of the 400 laps raced, leading the most laps for the fifth time this season.
The 2005 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup-Week No. 2
Jimmie Johnson took the point lead in the 2005 Chase for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by just seven points over second-place Rusty Wallace. Johnson, along with nine other drivers, will race over the remaining eight races of the season to determine the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion who is expected to win in excess of $5 million:
Eight drivers in the top-10 in points changed positions at Dover.
Kurt Busch (35th at New Hampshire and 23rd at Dover) started the 2004 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by scoring a victory at New Hampshire and then followed with top-10 finishes in the first six races of the Chase. Busch is now 170 points behind point leader Jimmie Johnson.
Eight of the 10 drivers competing in the 2005 Chase for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup have scored at least one victory in the first 28 races of the 2005 season. Martin and Wallace remain winless in 2005. Five of the 10 drivers have scored multiple victories led by Stewart and Biffle each with five.
Only two of the Ford Five of Jack Roush Racing finished in the top 10: Mark Martin (fourth) and Carl Edwards (ninth).
Ryan Newman (first at New Hampshire and fifth at Dover) is the only driver to score top-five finishes in the first two races in the 2005 Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin have each scored top-10 finishes in the first two races in the 2005 Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Elliott Sadler (sixth) climbed from 14th to 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.
A total of $1 Million will be paid to the driver who finishes 11th in the final NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. The 11th-place driver will also join the top-10 drivers on stage at the Awards Banquet in New York.
Kyle Busch (second) scored his third top-five finish in his last four races. He also finished second here in June.
Tony Stewart (18th) ended a streak of 13 straight top-10 finishes that began with a second-place finish at Michigan in June. Stewart dropped from first to fifth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings ending his seven-race streak as leader of the standings.
Rusty Wallace (third) scored his fourth finish of sixth or better in his last five races. Wallace climbed from fourth to second in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. He extended a 41-race streak of running at the finish that began at Bristol in August 2004. Wallace has scored 23 top-15 finishes in 28 races in 2005.
Heading to Talladega
Greg Biffle has never scored a top-10 finish at Talladega.
Kurt Busch has scored three top-10 finishes in his last four races at Talladega.
Mark Martin has scored only one finish better than 15th at Talladega in his last seven races there.
Tony Stewart has finished second at Talladega four times, but has never won there.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(9-25-2005)
