The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 18

NASCAR-SPRINT CUP: AARON'S 499 Johnson edges Bowyer for first victory of season BY PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer 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. "If you didn't like that finish and forget about the race, there's something wrong with you," Bowyer said. "It always seems to fix itself at the end of these restrictor-plate races. We always have a hell of a finish." Hendrick Motorsports claimed the first four spots in qualifying, only the third team in NASCAR history to sweep the first two rows in a Cup race.

They were all right there at the end. "With as crazy as it gets in these closing laps, sometimes a third is almost like a victory at these type of race tracks," Gordon said. 24. (15) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 188, 73.4, 21, $113,370. 25.

(23) Ryan Newman, Chevy, 188, 72, 20, $125,825. 26. (43) Bill Elliott, Chevy, 188, 48.2, 18, $82,625. 27. (35) Dave Blaney, Chevy, 188, 66.6, 18, $99,333.

28. (12) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 187, 50.9, 16, $81,525. 29. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 184, 37, 0, $97,333. 30.

(13) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevy, 177, 47.3, 14, $123,658. 31. (6) Landon Cassill, Chevy, 170, 46.5, 0, $93,872. 32. (24) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 157, 51.5, 13, $113,316.

33. (19) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 154, 80.1, 12, $89,650. 34. (41) Terry Labonte, Ford, engine, 152, 45.9, 10, $80,575. 35.

(34) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 144, 92.7, 10, $128,266. 36. (25) Matt Kenseth, Ford, accident, 139, 85.6, 9, $117,211. 37. (31) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 139, 50, 8, $88,100.

38. (9) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 115, 43.6, 6, $106,964. 39. (7) David Ragan, Ford, accident, 89, 82.2, 6, $87,550. 40.

(11) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 89, 76.5,0, $87,275. 41. (22) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, vibration, 5, 27.4, 0, $79,025. 42. (33) Steve Park, Chevy, electrical, 4, 26.9, 0, $78,855.

43. (32) Kevin Conway, Toyota, electrical, 1, 25,8, 0, $79,181. Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 156.261 mph. Time of Race: 3 hours, 12 minutes, 1 second. Margin of Victory: 0.002 seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 24 laps. Lead Changes: 88 among 26 drivers. Top 12 in Points: 1. C.Edwards, J.Johnson, D.Earnhardt K.Harvick, Ku. Busch, Ky.Busch, R.Newman, M.

Kenseth, J. Montoya, C.Bowyer, P.Menard, T.Stewart, 240. Sunday's Results NASCAR-Sprint Cup Aaron's 499 At Talladega, Ala. Talladega Superspeedway (Start number in parentheses) 1. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, 188 laps, 99.3 rating, 47 points, $329,386.

2. (10) Clint Bowyer, Chevy, 188, 123.2, 44, $269,058. 3. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 188, 80, 42, $210,686. 4.

(4) Dale Earnhardt Chevy, 188, 92.6, 41, $148,725. 5. (38) Kevin Harvick, Chevy, 188, 82.7,40, $175,711. 6. (20) Carl Edwards, Ford, 188, 79, 39, $159,141.

7. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, 188, 88.1, 38, $125,375. 8. (3) Mark Martin, Chevy, 188, 74.1, 37, $115,625. 9.

(39) David Gilliland, Ford, 188, 58.3, 35, $131,033. 10. (36) Joey Logano, Toyota, 188, 94.4, 35, $116,975. 11. (16) A Allmendinger, Ford, 188, 86.2, 33, $135,486.

12. (5) Paul Menard, Chevy, 188, 103.4, 33, $97,525. 13. (26) Martin Truex Toyota, 188, 93.2, 32, $105,350. 14.

(14) David Reutimann, Toyota, 188, 90.1, 30, $123,183. 15. (18) Regan Smith, Chevy, 188, 102.8, 30, $120,595. 16. (27) Jeff Burton, Chevy, 188, 101.6, 29, $102,575.

17. (30) Tony Stewart, Chevy, 188, 55.5, 27, $133,908. 18. (8) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 188, 104.9, 27, $132,875. 19.

(37) Andy Lally, Ford, 188,43.2, 25, $100,050. 20. (42) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 188,46.3, 24, $107,083. 21. (21) Jamie McMurray, Chevy, 188, 56.3, 24, $124,289.

22. (40) Casey Mears, Toyota, 188, 50.2, 23, $88,350. 23. (29) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188, 69.8, 21, $133,425. Jimmie Johnson celebrates on victory lane after he won on Sunday at Talladega.

AP PH, really perfected at this 2.66-mile trioval. Twenty-six leaders swapped the top spot 88 times, tying the record set in last year's spring race at TALLADEGA, Ala. Jimmie Johnson won a Talladega two-step Sunday, edging Clint Bowyer by about a foot with a big push from Dale Earnhardt Jr. The official margin was 0.002 seconds, tied for the closest finish in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. The tag -team race came down to an eight -car sprint actually, four pairs of cars with only the guys at the front of the duos having a chance to win the Aaron's 499.

After laying back most of the day, five -time series champion Johnson came on strong at the end for his 54th career victory and first of the season. "We were just the lucky guy at the end with a good run," Johnson said. "We had some big mo on our side, and off we went." Coming out of the fourth turn, the No. 48 car dipped right next to the yellow line, surged past Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin and got to the finish line just ahead of Bowyer in a four -wide dash down the long finishing straight at Talladega Superspeedway. "What a bummer," said Bowyer, who led a race-high 38 laps.

"I saw him coming." Earnhardt, the fourth Hendrick driver, finished fourth and essentially gave up a chance to claim his first win since 2008 by de -ciding he was more comfortable pushing Johnson than getting pushed. "I can't thank Junior enough," said Johnson, who tried to give Earnhardt the checkered flag but was rebuffed. "He made the decision that my car was faster leading. And the way these things are finishing up, the lead car's going to get the win. In some respects, he was more worried about the team having a good performance than anything." Kevin Harvick, who was Bowyer's 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 didn't have enough room to pull it off, finishing sixth. Biffle was seventh, while Martin dropped back to eighth. The finish matched the closest since NASCAR went to electronic timing Ricky Craven edging Kurt Busch in 2003 at Darlington and 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 the reason JSjjjMt you hope there's unlimited test rides. It's why our six demo trucks are on a non-stop tour. 12-20 UUU oUX uJiTO IN PURE VICTORY APPAREL tfMMiifftAflMw amCSSP BPram OR ACCESSORIES SAVINGS wvrw.jonesoffraad.com 5 "BSSJ prautctrvn ckrtfclng and oty th pwrj hmK NOW ride untJqr tht infcjmco of dnjgt atohrf M01O PoUm Industries Inc FUEL It VICTORY THE OKLAHOMAN I NEWSOK.COM SPORTS MONDAY 8B APRIL 18, 2011.