By Paul Newberry
Associated Press
TALLADEGA, Ala. ó Jimmie Johnson won the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. got the checkered flag.
Maybe they should go in the NASCAR record books as co-winners.
In a finish that matched the closest in Sprint Cup history, Johnson edged Clint Bowyer by about a foot to win a Talladega two-step Sunday ó a victory that wouldnít have been possible without a big push from Earnhardt.
Junior gave up a chance to end a 101-race winless streak, selflessly agreeing to shove the No. 48 car of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate instead of vice versa in what was essentially a tag-team event.
ěI canít thank Junior enough,î Johnson said. ěHe made the decision that my car was faster leading. And the way these things are finishing up, the lead carís going to get the win. … He was more worried about the team having a good performance than anything.î
The official margin was two-thousandths of a second, tied with Ricky Cravenís win at Darlington in 2003 for the closest since NASCAR went to electronic timing.
It came down to an eight-car sprint. Well, actually, four pairs of cars, with only the guys at the front of the duos having a chance to win the Aaronís 499.
After laying back most of the day, the five-time series champion hugged the yellow line at the bottom of the track ó flirting with a penalty ó and pulled out his 54th career victory and first of the season.
ěWe were just the lucky guy at the end with a good run,î Johnson said. ěWe had some big mo on our side, and off we went.î
He couldnít have done it without Earnhardt, who was given the checkered flag by the winner.
ěThat just came to my mind,î Johnson said. ěHe was like, ëMan, I donít want that.í But I told him, ëI have to give you something for the push and working with me.í He just said, ëThatís what teammates do.íî
Even though Earnhardt hasnít won since 2008, he thought it was a no-brainer to get behind Johnson.
ěIf I couldnít win the race,î Junior said, ěI wanted Jimmie to win the race, because I had worked with him all day and he is my teammate.î
There was a dispute over Johnsonís winning move. He clearly touched the yellow line with his left tires, but appeared to be forced low by an attempted block from his other two Hendrick teammates, Jeff Gordon and pusher Mark Martin. NASCAR officials ruled it was a legal pass.
ěI was not focused on where the yellow line was,î Johnson said. ěI was more worried about causing a big pileup. Luckily, the 5 car (Martin) quit coming down. I donít know where my left-side tires were, but Iím glad weíre not here worrying about that.î
Johnson got a huge run coming out of the fourth turn, surged past Gordon and Martin coming through the trioval and edged Bowyer in a four-wide dash down the long finishing straightaway at Talladega Superspeedway.
ěWhat a bummer,î said Bowyer, who led a race-high 38 laps. ěI saw him coming.î
Earnhardt was fourth. Kevin Harvick, who was Bowyerís pusher, wound up fifth. Carl Edwards almost got into the mix as well, going right up against the outside wall with Greg Biffle on his bumper but didnít have enough room to pull it off, finishing sixth.
Biffle was seventh, while Martin slipped to eighth. The top eight were just 0.145 seconds apart.
The finish made up for a day of lackluster racing with this new tandem style, which the drivers began using at the season-opening Daytona 500 and really perfected at this 2.66-mile trioval.
Twenty-six leaders swapped the top spot 88 times, tying the record set in last yearís spring race at Talladega. Many of those changes were carefully choreographed by pairs who were merely trying to stay out of trouble, conserve their cars and give themselves a chance at the end.
ěIf you didnít like that finish and forget about the race, thereís something wrong with you,î Bowyer said. ěAt the end of these restrictor-plate races, we always have a hell of a finish.î
Hendrick Motorsports claimed the first four spots in qualifying.