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Jimmie Johnson took a bigger step in the NASCAR record books with his triumph in Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The win, which is Johnson's 76th career win, tied him with Dale Earnhardt, Sr., for most Sprint Cup wins all-time.

"I entered the sport just hoping I could win a race and keep a job for a few years," Johnson said. "To have 76 and tie Dale Earnhardt Sr is something I'm very, very proud of. I didn't have a chance to race against him, unfortunately, but today there's been a big void in my mind about not having that chance to race against him and it was literally a handful of months away from having that opportunity. So to tie him today, for myself personally, it gives me a little something. It's a little bit of attachment to the great Dale Earnhardt and something I'm very proud of."

Johnson was leading in the closing stages of the race when Ryan Newman's smoking No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet brought out the yellow flag and forced NASCAR's overtime period. For many who remembers last season's race at Atlanta, the front row looked very familiar as it was Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet versus Kevin Harvick's No. 4 Jimmy John's Chebrolet. Johnson was able to get out to a quick lead on the restart whereas Harvick struggled to find traction. The seperation was all Johnson would need to put the win in the bag. Despite leading 131 laps, Harvick only managed a sixth place finish.

Johnson's car owner Rick Hendrick finds the moment to be surreal.

"I never thought when I got in the sport I'd win 76 wins with anybody altogether," Hendrick explained. "To have Jeff (Gordon) do it and now Jimmie tie him, I really wasn't aware of that today until the end of the race, and I think when you look at Jimmie's career and you look at how quick he's gotten to 76 and he's got six championships.

"I think you've got to say that he's one of the best that's ever been in the sport.

Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate was able to pass Kyle Busch, who was making a late charge toward Johnson, to take second place. Busch came home with a second consecutive third place finish. 

Earnhardt, Jr, believes Johnson is the best of the generation.

"He's pretty good," Earnhardt, Jr, admitted. "I don't have a problem calling him the best of this generation even as a competitor of his and having to go out there and race against him.  Obviously he will credit his crew chief and his team. That all has been real consistent throughout his career, and they do deserve some credit, but Jimmie is just a phenomenal talent."

Pole-sitter Kurt Busch led 62 laps which were all under green flag conditions and grabbed a fourth place finish just ahead of Carl Edwards finishing fifth. Martin Truex, Jr, finished in seventh place followed by rookie Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

With the win in the second race of the season, Johnson believes 2016 could present a challenge for his team to maintain consistency.

"I feel that it's tough to maintain the pace or the expectations that we have for ourselves on the Lowe's team," Johnson said. "I think managing that is something that we haven't done as well as we could, and starting the seasons hot and being strong and winning and doing all those things is very important, but it's tough to carry that through the entire year.

"I feel like managing the pace and the effort that we put in through the year up until the Chase is something that we're going to address and should do a much better job with this year."

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 2
Unofficial Race Results for the 57Th Annual Folds Of Honor Quiktrip 500 
- Sunday, February 28, 2016
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 330 Laps - 508.2 Miles
Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Status    Tms    Laps
1    19    48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet    330    44    4    123.2    Running    4    52
2    16    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr    Nationwide Chevrolet    330    39        107.4    Running        
3    39    18    Kyle Busch    M&M's 75 Toyota    330    39    1    96.6    Running    2    2
4    1    41    Kurt Busch    Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet    330    38    1    111.8    Running    3    62
5    7    19    Carl Edwards    ARRIS Toyota    330    37    1    104.3    Running    1    1
6    6    4    Kevin Harvick    Jimmy John's Chevrolet    330    37    2    128.5    Running    9    131
7    9    78    Martin Truex Jr    Furniture Row Toyota    330    35    1    116.6    Running    6    34
8    24    24    Chase Elliott #    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    330    33        95.5    Running        
9    17    2    Brad Keselowski    AutoTrader Ford    330    32        90.6    Running        
10    5    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr    Ford EcoBoost Ford    330    31        89.2    Running        
11    8    3    Austin Dillon    DOW Chevrolet    330    30        82.9    Running        
12    26    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    330    29        92.3    Running        
13    14    16    Greg Biffle    Roush Performance Ford    329    28        73.2    Running        
14    15    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    329    27        69.1    Running        
15    27    43    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Ford    328    26        63.9    Running        
16    12    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Ground Toyota    328    25        68.6    Running        
17    18    14    Ty Dillon(i)    Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet    328    0        67.4    Running        
18    21    27    Paul Menard    Valvoline/Menards Chevrolet    328    23        62.6    Running        
19    13    20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    328    23    1    106.4    Running    3    47
20    25    10    Danica Patrick    Aspen Dental Chevrolet    328    21        60.7    Running        
21    2    1    Jamie McMurray    McDonald's Chevrolet    328    20        69.5    Running        
22    3    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    328    19        64.1    Running        
23    11    5    Kasey Kahne    Panasonic Chevrolet    328    18        55.9    Running        
24    4    31    Ryan Newman    Caterpillar Chevrolet    328    17        84.5    Running        
25    23    21    * Ryan Blaney #    Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford    328    16        69.6    Running        
26    20    42    Kyle Larson    Target Chevrolet    327    15        51.1    Running        
27    22    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet    326    14        64.6    Running        
28    31    34    Chris Buescher #    CSX - Play it Safe Ford    326    13        41.9    Running        
29    35    83    Matt DiBenedetto    Sewanee - The University of the South/ZAK Products Toyota    326    12        45.2    Running        
30    34    46    Michael Annett    Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet    325    11        40.7    Running        
31    10    44    Brian Scott #    Twisted Tea Ford    324    10        47.8    Running        
32    33    23    David Ragan    Dr Pepper Toyota    323    9        32.3    Running        
33    32    95    Michael McDowell    Thrivent Financial Chevrolet    323    8        34.8    Running        
34    30    7    Regan Smith    Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet    323    7        31.2    Running        
35    28    15    Clint Bowyer    Aaron's Chevrolet    322    6        38.4    Running        
36    29    38    Landon Cassill    FR8 Auctions Ford    321    5        31.0    Running        
37    36    98    * Cole Whitt    Tweaker Energy Shot Chevrolet    318    5    1    35.1    Running    1    1
38    38    32    Jeffrey Earnhardt #    Can-Am Ford    313    3        24.5    Running        
39    37    30    * Josh Wise    Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet    312    2        24.4    Running        
 Race Comments:    Jimmie Johnson won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 76th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. 
 Failed to Qualify:    N/A
 Time of Race:    03 Hrs, 15 Mins, 38 Secs.    Average Speed:    155.863 MPH    Margin of Victory:    Caution
 Caution Flags:    3 for 13 laps: Laps: 211-217 (Debris backstretch [3]); 324-328 (#31 spin frontstretch [2]); 330-330 (#43, 21, 23, 38 accident backstretch [None]).
 Lead Changes:    28 among 8 drivers: Kurt Busch 1-39; M. Kenseth 40; C. Edwards 41; C. Whitt 42; Kurt Busch 43-63; M. Kenseth 64-77; Kurt Busch 78-79; J. Johnson 80-83; M. Kenseth 84-115; K. Harvick 116-117; M. Truex Jr 118-134; K. Harvick 135-150; J. Johnson 151; K. Harvick 152-154; M. Truex Jr 155-164; K. Harvick 165-183; J. Johnson 184-185; Kyle Busch 186; K. Harvick 187-211; M. Truex Jr 212; K. Harvick 213-251; M. Truex Jr 252; K. Harvick 253-255; M. Truex Jr 256-258; K. Harvick 259; M. Truex Jr 260-261; K. Harvick 262-284; Kyle Busch 285; J. Johnson 286-330.
Chase Grid Outlook:     1.D. Hamlin 70 (1 wins);2.J. Johnson 70 (1);3.Kyle Busch 78 (0);4.M. Truex Jr 75 (0);5.K. Harvick 74 (0);6.C. Edwards 73 (0);7.Kurt Busch 69 (0);8.J. Logano 64 (0);9.A. Dillon 63 (0);10.A. Almirola 55 (0);11.B. Keselowski 54 (0);12.M. Kenseth 51 (0);13.R. Stenhouse Jr 50 (0);14.K. Larson 49 (0);15.R. Newman 48 (0);16.K. Kahne 46 (0).
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award    : Kyle Busch, #18     Coors Light Pole Award    : Kurt Busch, #41 191.582 mph
Duralast Brakes 'Brake in the Race' Award    : Kevin Harvick, #4     Ingersoll Rand Power Move    : Paul Menard, #27 8 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Hendrick Engines, #41     Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Kyle Busch, #18 
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race    : Jimmie Johnson, #48 C Knaus, -.017 sec    Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap    : Jamie McMurray, #1 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Chase Elliott, #24 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Mar. 6, 2016 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway 
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