NASCAR NEXTEL: Johnson Battles Back to Win Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

The Lowe's Chevrolet driver once again pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race in an exciting down-to-the-wire finish.

Jamming Jimmie Johnson drove away from the field in the final laps to finish comfortably ahead of runner-up Matt Kenseth and third-place Kevin Harvick.

The stage was set for the unpredictable finish when debris on the track in turn three brought out the day's fifth caution flag.

Several teams decided to stay on the track with fewer than 18 laps remaining while Johnson and other frontrunners pitted for four new tires.

It only took Johnson, Kenseth and Harvick a few laps to chase down those cars, which included Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch. Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin also caught the two gamblers to finish fourth and fifth.

Earnhardt was sixth, Busch seventh, Tony Stewart eighth, Carl Edwards ninth and Denny Hamlin 10th.

It was Christmas in August for Earnhardt, who had never been a factor prior to the final caution.

Johnson's day started on a sour note when he had a tire problem and had to restart the race from the rear. He battled back and had a hard time believing he had won after being so far behind.

Stewart also had an early setback when an air gun broke during a pit stop. Tony drove his way back into contention to keep him in the hunt for the Chase to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.

Kasey Kahne was running well until a late race incident relegated him to a 36th place finish. The low finish caused Kahne to drop from seventh to 11th place in the series' standings.

Hard-luck Elliott Sadler barely made a lap before spinning and hitting the SAFER barrier in turn four. His crash earned him first-out-of-the-race distinction and continued the woes that have plagued Robert Yates Racing all year.

Both Burton and Harvick played the rabbit role, leading a majority of the race's first 80 laps.

Four-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Gordon lost three laps early with a sway bar problem but raced back into contention after 85 laps and the benefit of receiving the Lucky Dog Award three times.

Post Race Quotes from Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and Rick Hendrick

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS - RACE WINNER:

"Happy Birthday Knaus! Hey guys, I cannot tell you how much respect I have for you as a race team. You guys are the absolute best in the business. Thank you for your hard work."

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE'S MONTE CARLO SS:

"I have no idea what to say! Guys, this is honestly the best weekend of my life! You guys are the best out there. Thank you so much.

"I have a great toy box. I just go in there and I get to pick and choose all the stuff I need. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports did a great job. These guys are so strong and work so well together. There confidence is always so high, that anytime something comes up, we just dig deeper."

JOHNSON:

"I just took a cool down lap and I guess it'll take a little time to soak in. I just saw Greg Zipadelli coming down pit road and he said, 'Today is a special day'. And the look in his eyes and on his face and that feeling setting in -- I'm speechless right now. I can't thank this race team for all that they've done. We overcame a left front flat tire and rallied back. We drove all the way to the front. I'm totally speechless. I'd just like to thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the hard work..and Lowe's and all the employee-owners. I never thought I'd ever win at this race track - we've had such a drought at this race track -- and now we've got a victory."

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU HAD THE TIRE PROBLEM ON LAP 39?

"I was really nervous. I knew we had a fast race car but I knew I had to come through traffic and I knew they would be harder on the tires coming through traffic. But Chad knew something with the air pressures that would help that left front survive. We had two short runs after that where we had the tire pressures right and I cannot believe how good this Monte Carlo was today.

YOU MADE A COUPLE OF BOLD MOVES THERE IN TRAFFIC AND YOU'RE THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

"Man, there was nothing of a championship on my mind today. I wanted this trophy over here with this brick on it. I wanted to pucker up and kiss those bricks on the front stretch. It was all about winning the race today. I gave a little bump-draft to the No. 07 down the backstretch. I knew if I could get position on the No. 17 right away, then the guys up there in front of me with no tires, it would just take a little bit of time to get by them. I can't thank Chad Knaus and this race team enough."

ANY THOUGHTS OF OTHER RACING HEROES AS YOU DROVE AROUND HERE?

"I just watched so many races here as a kid growing up. I thought I would come here in an Indy car. I drove in the off-road ranks and idolized Rick Mears, Roger Mears, Robby Gordon and those guys all came out of off-road racing to Indy car. I hoped to win here in an Indy car and I can't believe I'm here in a stock car in NASCAR winning the biggest race."

RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

"I think those last 20 laps were the longest. That last caution came out and I thought boy this can't be happening. Boy he (Jimmie Johnson) did a heck of a job getting back to the front. It was a heck of a race. He had a flat tire, had to go to the back, then with Jeff's (Gordon) problems, it was an up and down day, but it was a lot of good racing. You never count this race as winning it until you see a checkered flag because there are so many things that can happen here. Jimmie drove an unbelievable race and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called an awesome pit road race today.