Johnson Puts Hendrick In Victory Lane At Richmond

Sunday, May 6th 2007, 3:56 pm

By: News On 6

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Jimmie Johnson led teammate Kyle Busch to a 1-2 finish at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, the third consecutive victory for Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick has won seven of the past eight Nextel Cup races and swept all four races in which NASCAR has used its new Car of Tomorrow.

It looked as if Hendrick would finish 1-2-3 for the final 100 laps of the race, as Johnson, Busch and pole-sitter Jeff Gordon battled for the lead. But Gordon faded over the final 15 laps and gave up third place to Denny Hamlin.

Gordon, who won the past two weeks, settled for fourth as Chevrolets took the top four spots in the race that began briefly Saturday night with 12 laps run under caution before it was halted because of rain. It started fresh on Sunday.

Johnson, the defending Nextel Cup champion, won for the fourth time this season but first at RIR. The .75-mile track was one of the worst on his resume, with Johnson having scored only one top 10 finish in 15 previous visits.

But in this year of Hendrick Motorsports, everything is clicking.