MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Under the circumstances, Jimmie Johnson's fourth-place finish in Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway was a satisfying result.
It may not have matched the string of three straight victories Johnson had fashioned in his last three starts at the .526-mile short track, but it was a sorely needed tonic for a No. 48 Lowe's team that had finished outside the top 10 in its previous three races.
Denny Hamlin took the win by .398 seconds over Jeff Gordon, whose No. 24 Chevrolet was the first car in a Hendrick Motorsports freight train that claimed four of the top seven positions -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran sixth and Casey Mears was seventh.
For more than half the race, it appeared Johnson might be headed for a fourth straight victory, but then a mishap on lap 296 cost him 19 positions on the track.
Johnson was running third when a chain-reaction wreck sent the Lowe's Chevy spinning toward the turn 2 wall. Greg Biffle's Ford had dived into turn 1 underneath Ryan Newman's Dodge, knocking Newman's car into Johnson's Chevy.
Johnson restarted 22nd on lap 302 and spent the rest of the race working his way to the front.
On a raw, cold, humid day at Martinsville, Johnson started the race from the 10th position, the fifth car in the outside row.
"Keep in mind that the line to get into the pits (commitment line) is the white line on the back straightaway," crew chief Chad Knaus admonished over the radio as the cars rolled off pit road. "Remember, you're on scuffs (scuffed tires). You ran really good yesterday (in practice) on scuffs.
"When you come around pit road, there's the 43 car, you, and then the opening (to the garage). Best thing we can do today is be nice, smooth and consistent. Don't do anything to jeopardize our race finish and be there at the end."
As the cars accelerated toward the green flag, Knaus added, "Five hundred laps of rock 'em, sock 'em. Let's go have some fun."
"OK, coming to green this time, Jimmie," added spotter Stevie Reeves from his perch atop the frontstretch grandstand. "I'll get you to the bottom (inside lane) as quick as I can."
Early in the opening run, Johnson described the handling characteristics of the car to Knaus. "Pretty comfortable. The last part of rolling (through the corner) and the first part of on the throttle is a little snug. The entry is really good up to that point."
By lap 36, Johnson had climbed from 10th to third in the running order, having passed David Ragan for the position. Robby Gordon's spin on lap 44 caused the second caution of the race, and varying pit strategies shuffled the field, with Johnson pitting for tires and fuel while several other contenders remained on the track.
Of the cars that came to the pits, the Lowe's Chevy was second off pit road and restarted ninth.
"You picked up a lot of spots (relative to the cars that came to pit road)," Knaus said. "Great job!"
On lap 57, Johnson had to stand on the brakes to avoid a four-car melee that started when Aric Almirola spun Bobby Labonte's Dodge. Scott Riggs was also involved, and the nose of Gordon's Chevy was damaged slightly.
"Did you lock 'em up?" Knaus asked. "Turn your brake fans off and clean your tires off a little bit."
"I've got to figure out how to run a little faster in the short run without using the brakes," said Johnson, who also mentioned that he had run over some "trash" on the track.
"When you said you ran a bunch of trash over, you just meant rubber, right?" Knaus asked.
"I didn't see any debris come off of any of the cars," the driver replied.
Johnson had worked his way up to third after a restart on lap 74 when he got a warning from Reeves. "The 17 (Matt Kenseth) in front of you and the 7 (Robby Gordon) behind you are racing pretty hard for the lucky dog," Reeves radioed, suggesting that Johnson should keep his distance.
On lap 90, Johnson passed the lapped car of Kenseth. "Good job, buddy," Knaus said. "Get yourself a good rhythm now."
Johnson did just that. On lap 94 he passed Mears for second position.
Nine laps later, he got past Earnhardt to lead for the first time. "Leader!" Knaus exulted. "That's five (bonus) points."
In the pits under caution on lap 107, Knaus made air pressure, wedge (weight shift) and panhard bar adjustments to the Lowe's Chevy.
"Great job, man," he said as Johnson circled the track under caution. "If this doesn't affect it the way we want it to, we'll drop the panhard bar back down and take the wedge out."
Johnson restarted first on lap 111 and swapped the top spot with Earnhardt through a succession of cautions until Hamlin passed the Lowe's Chevy for the lead through turn 4 on lap 208. Throughout several short runs, the Lowe's team worked on the handling.
"We had a little bit of chatter rolling through the center," Johnson said. "It'll probably tighten up and straighten out for me."
"There's a little snow or something up here," remarked Reeves, who was taking the brunt of the cold weather on the spotter's stand.
On lap 181, Johnson told Knaus he was loose entering the corners but didn't want to address that specific characteristic for fear of making the car too tight through the center of the turns.
"Drop the panhard bar a half a round," Knaus ordered before a pit stop under caution on lap 182. Three laps later he added, "Three hundred fifteen laps to go this time by. Still a long way to go."
On lap 198, after Bill Elliott's spin on the backstretch brought out the eighth caution of the race, Johnson told Knaus, "I can run faster if I charge the finish line, but I'm letting off before the finish, saving my stuff."
"That chatter, it went away in that last run, didn't it?" Knaus asked.
"Ten-four, about 15 laps into the run," Johnson replied.
Johnson regained the lead when Hamlin brought his No. 11 Toyota to the pits on lap 215. The Lowe's Chevy led all but one lap thereafter, until Gordon passed Johnson for the top spot on lap 269. Johnson was running third on lap 296 when the chain-reaction wreck sent him spinning.
"Idiot!" fumed an irate Knaus, venting at the aggressive driving of Biffle.
"I got hit in the left rear," Johnson said.
"Quickie yellow guys," Knaus rejoined, indicating that all cars were allowed to pit under the brief caution. "We're going to have to go. By the time we get out of the pits, they'll be taking the green."
Johnson restarted 22nd, mired in traffic. On lap 309, a wreck in turn 2 involving Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip brought out caution No. 14.
"Could you get a feel for the car at all?" Knaus asked as the cars rolled under caution.
"Not all bottled up like that," Johnson replied.
"You've got plenty of time to get back up there," Knaus added. "One hundred eight-five laps to go this time by. Plenty of time."
David Gilliland's spin on lap 362 provided another pit stop opportunity and gave the Lowe's crew a chance to adjust the car.
"Up a round on the panhard bar," Knaus instructed.
On lap 388, Knaus brought Johnson back to the pits under caution for what proved to be the final stop of the day. Four drivers (Burton, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Casey Mears) remained on the track, and Johnson restarted ninth on lap 394.
Knaus offered encouragement: "You were a tenth and a half faster than the leader that last time when you got your rhythm."
"The 18th and final caution of the race flew on lap 403, when Ken Schrader's Toyota drenched the track with oil.
"There's oil all over the place," Johnson said.
"We should have stayed out," Knaus said, second-guessing the pit stop on lap 388. "Oh, well. You're sitting in eighth place."
By lap 428, Johnson had improved to sixth, but progress was slow in heavy race traffic.
"Keep digging, buddy," Knaus said on lap 473. "We're thinking that the 99 (Edwards) is going to run out of fuel. That's going to get you a top-five. If you can get by the 88 (Earnhardt) and 24 (Gordon), all the better."
Seven laps later, Knaus added, "Man, you're catching the leaders. Man, you're catching them."
Johnson passed Earnhardt and Edwards to gain two more positions but ran out of time.
"Boys, thank you for all the hard work," he radioed to the crew after the finish.
"Jimmie, really good job," Knaus said. "You finished fourth -- we really needed that."
