Johnson wins Cup race at Lowe’s

Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson raced to his third victory in the Chase for the Sprint Cup to take control of the championship standings.

Johnson held off teammate Jeff Gordon on a handful of late restarts Saturday night for his sixth career victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Although he’s long dominated at the track, the win was the Lowe’s-sponsored driver’s first since 2005.

It came at the perfect time for Johnson, who extended his lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin as they head next week to Martinsville Speedway. Johnson has won five of the last six races at Martinsville.

Matt Kenseth was second, followed by Kasey Kahne, Gordon and rookie Joey Logano.

A crewman for NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip was taken to a hospital after colliding with another crew member during the race.

Tony Caradamone, who works on Waltrip’s No. 55 Toyota, was working during a pit stop when he ran into another crewman. A team spokesman didn’t know the nature of the injury.

An engine problem ended Denny Hamlin’s race.

Hamlin led 53 laps early but went to the garage shortly after the halfway point when his motor began to sputter. After looking under the hood, his team called it a night.

Hamlin will finish 40th or worse, and it will officially end his championship chances. He wrecked last week at California to fall back to ninth in the standings.

He was just one of several Chase drivers to struggle at Lowe’s.

Juan Pablo Montoya had fender damage on an early restart and dropped two laps down.

Martin also damaged his car during that same restart.