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Jimmie Johnson Powers to Win at Dover

Jimmie Johnson won fourth race of the year and first of the 2009 Chase on Sunday, after dominating the AAA 400 at Dover from beginning to end. The Hendrick Motorsports driver started the race from pole position and preferred to stay back and watch Kyle Busch take the lead in the first part of the race, before regaining the top spot and never letting go until the end.

Johnson passed Busch for 1st place during Lap 177 and stretched his lead on top of the field, despite the race cautions in the second part of the race. However, the Californian did not manage to take the championship lead on Sunday, as his maximum points at Dover only brought him closer to Mark Martin in the overall classification.

Johnson's 44th win of career lifted him only 10 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, who finished the race in the runner-up spot. Martin had to put up a great fight in the closing stages of the race and passed Matt Kenseth in the very last lap, as the 23rd starter on the Sunday grid had to settle for 3rd place.

Fourth overall was Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, who seems to make a great impact in his very first Chase of career. Thanks to his consistent run on Sunday, Montoya is now only 65 points behind Johnson in the overall classification, back in 3rd place.

Another driver whose result at Dover moved him up in the standings was Kurt Busch, who completed the Top 5. Jeff Gordon managed to save the day thanks to a new set of tires in the penultimate caution of the day and stayed on track during the last caution, ending the race in 6th place. The Top 10 was completed by A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.
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