"Tony had a good run and came on the outside, but when I heard he was there, it was too late for me to adjust," Johnson said. "When I heard I was clear, I just started moving up the track and working on my own exit. It's unfortunate I squeezed him. Hard racing at the end is what I would call it. It wasn't intentional."
"Nobody ever likes to hit the wall," Stewart said. "I wish he'd have given me a little more room. I don't think I ever pinched him. He had a faster car, and he probably would have gotten around us anyway, but at least I'd like to have the chance to race him for it."
At the line, it was Johnson by 1.311 seconds over Stewart, with Matt Kenseth third in a Roush-Fenway Racing Ford. Jeff Burton was fourth in the first of the three Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets, with a surprising Juan-Pablo Montoya earning his first Nextel Cup top-five finish in one of Chip Ganassi's Dodges.
"I can't say I've ever driven a race car that hard before," Johnson said. "That was a great, great race."
The victory was Johnson's 25th of his career and the 151st
for the powerhourse Hendrick outfit, which certainly appears primed for another title run to go with last year's crown. The California native averaged a blistering 152.915 miles per hour in a race that was slowed by just six cautions totaling 27 laps.
Jimmie Johnson crosses the finish line to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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Of those six cautions, four were for debris and one was for oil on the track. Over the entire 500-mile distance, there was but one accident, which occurred on Lap 231, when Greg Biffle drifted up high on the backstretch and into David Reutimann, wrecking himself, Kasey Kahne and the Toyotas of Reutimann and Vickers in the process.
Beyond that, it was an unusually quiet race until the end, with Johnson and Stewart taking turns dominating the proceedings. Johnson led 135 laps and Stewart 121, with no else leading more than 30.
Mark Martin finished 10th to leave Atlanta with his Nextel Cup points lead intact, though he reiterated on several occasions this weekend that he will not race next weekend at Bristol.
KOBALT TOOLS 500 RESULTS
