Johnson wins — again — at Dover

Associated Press

DOVER, Del.

Jimmie Johnson was the mane man at Dover.

Wearing an afro clown wig — tufts of green, red, yellow and blue could be spotted from the stands — Johnson had to admit it was hard to take him seriously while he played the role of race jester.

Some guys just have all the fun.

That especially includes on this track.

Johnson romped again at Dover International Speedway, racing his way into the track’s history books on Sunday with his seventh win on the concrete, matching the mark held by Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison.

No active driver owns the track like the five-time Sprint Cup champion. Johnson led 289 of the 400 laps and looked every bit like the driver who swept the two Cup races at Dover in 2002 and 2009. Johnson last won at Dover on Sept. 26, 2010. He also won the September 2005 race.

“God, I love this place,” Johnson said as he took a victory spin.

Then it was off to goof around in Victory Lane. Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and other Hendrick Motorsports crew members wore the wacky wig seen in the talking-animal movie, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

They had good reason to clown around. Throw in the All-Star race and that’s a sweet four-race winning streak for NASCAR’s top organization.

Johnson won at Darlington Raceway and Kasey Kahne won the Coca Cola 600. Johnson also won the non-points All-Star race during that span as the No. 48 Chevrolet is heating up as he chases a sixth Cup championship.

“I’ve never been one to pay attention to stats,” Johnson said. “I just truthfully never thought I’d be the guy who’d build up any cool stats. Here I am with some pretty cool stats with legends of our sport and guys that I’ve looked up to.”