Junior Pushes Johnson To Win At Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) _ Jimmie Johnson has won the Aaron’s 499 at

Talladega Superspeedway, dipping to the inside and beating Clint

Bowyer by 0.002 seconds _ matching the closest finish in Sprint Cup

history.

Four pairs of cars surged toward the line Sunday for a typical

Talladega finish, and it took a replay to show that Johnson edged

Bowyer by about a foot.

Johnson was pushed across the line by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who

finished fourth. Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon, squeezed between Bowyer

and Johnson and pushed by Mark Martin, settled for third.

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 but didn’t have enough room to pull it off.