Jimmie Johnson revives NASCAR title bid with win at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- Jimmie Johnson revived his bid for a record- extending fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship with a convincing win in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Johnson, who finished a disappointing 25th last weekend at New Hampshire, started on the pole and led the most laps with 191 laps for his sixth victory of the season and the 53rd of his Cup career. He also claimed his sixth victory at Dover, which is one short of tying Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for most all-time wins at the one-mile, concrete-surfaced track.

“There’s this huge weight off of my shoulders that we were able to win a race in this Chase, rebound from last weekend, and be in the middle of this thing; I’m really excited,” Johnson said after winning for the third time in the last four races at Dover.

Johnson’s win elevated him from sixth to second in the Chase standings, as he trails Denny Hamlin by 35 points.

“I’m excited about what we have ahead,” Johnson added. “Last weekend taught me that anything can happen, and I know that Talladega is out there. We did a great job today, and we’re in the right position.”

Hamlin kept the points lead after his ninth-place finish. His points margin is the largest after the second race in the Chase. Hamlin normally has struggled at Dover, but was pleased with his top-10 finish.

“We didn’t have the best car today, but we fought through and made the best of it,” Hamlin said. “This is what we needed, to get by this weekend. We feel like we will be in normal rhythm from here on out.”

Chase contender Jeff Burton finished second, and Joey Logano took the third spot. Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards, also playoff contenders, rounded out the top-five.

“It’s been one of those years where we’ve been really good, but haven’t been able to capitalize,” Burton said. “We’ve got eight more chances [races], and hopefully, we can start pulling the trigger.”

Kyle Busch was attempting to make more NASCAR history by becoming the first driver to win both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at one track in the same season. Busch recorded a weekend sweep here in May. He won Saturday’s Nationwide race at Dover, which marked his record 11th win the series this season.

Busch led 46 laps during the late-stages of the Sprint Cup race, but faded from there and settled for a sixth-place finish. He is now 45 points behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin. Kurt Busch is 59 points down.

Paul Menard and Ryan Newman were seventh and eighth, respectively.

A.J. Allmendinger dominated in the first half by leading 143 laps, but Allmendinger had to pit unexpectedly for a flat tire. After falling a lap down, he rebounded for a 10th-place finish.

Kevin Harvick is 65 points behind the leader after finishing 15th.

Clint Bowyer’s frustrations continued with a 25th-place finish, which was the worst performance among the 12-driver Chase field at Dover. Last Wednesday, NASCAR docked Bowyer’s team 150 points after his New Hampshire-winning car was found to be illegal during a more thorough post-race inspection conducted at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, NC.

Bowyer has fallen 235 points behind the lead. His crew chief, Shane Wilson, was atop the pit box at Dover, since Richard Childress Racing is appealing the penalty. Wilson and car chief Chad Haney each received a six-race suspension. A stock car racing committee will hear RCR’s appeal this Wednesday.

Formula One

Fernando Alonso kept his hopes of a third drivers’ title very much alive with victory from pole position in the Singapore night Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver held off the challenge of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to register his fourth victory of the season in a time of 1 hour 57 minutes and 53.579 seconds.

With four races remaining, Mark Webber heads the drivers’ standings with 202 points, followed by Alonso at 191 and Hamilton at 182.