It’s gettin’ to be a habit….Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive race (and fourth overall) today at Martinsville Speedway as he was victorious in the Subway 506….a race won under caution in a g/w/c finish. This was the 7th win of the season for Johnson, and 30th of his Nextel Cup career (he’s solo in 21st on the all-time win list). And, it was worth $244,486 from the over $4.8M in posted awards. This race was actually rather tame by short-track standards…. Ryan Newman (2nd) had his best finish since he was the runner-up at Pocono in June. Matt Kenseth (5th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Michigan in June. Juan Pablo Montoya (8th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at the Brickyard in August. STREAKIN….Jeff Gordon has 6 Top-5’s in the last 7 races. The Rookie Report: Juan Pablo Montoya (8th) takes this award for the 14th time this season….that’s tops! He was followed by David Reutimann (17th), Paul Menard (24th), David Ragan (26th), and A. J. Allmendinger (35th). This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week is Greg Biffle (+30), followed by Denny Hamlin (+24), Tony Stewart (+21), and Kyle Petty (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was J. J. Yeley (-34), followed by Elliott Sadler (-26), Jamie McMurray (-23), and Kurt Busch (-20). No change in the Top-35 in Owner Points this week….the #21 just gets further behind as the #45 and #22 swap spots (Petty is back up to 34th and Blaney falls to 35th). Johnson trims 15 markers from Jeff Gordon’s “Chase” lead today….it’s now at 53 points. Those “Magic Numbers” for everybody 7th on back are getting pretty big….. In “Classic” points, Juan Pablo Montoya (21st to 19th) made the only multiple position move forward, while J. J. Yeley (18th to 21st) fell the most spots. (Stock Car Fans)(10-21-2007)
