NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Atlanta

Winner: Jimmie Johnson

After suffering from a late penalty in the Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson came into Atlanta with history on his side as he was looking for his fifth win at the track.

After a consistent day, Chad Knaus decided to roll the dice which led to Johnson making a pit stop with a little less than 50 laps left in the race. Kevin Harvick did his best to tear into Johnson’s 16-second advantage but he only got it down to six seconds before his car leveled off.

Then, with three laps left, Ryan Newman spun, bringing out the caution and introducing the field to the first overtime of the season. On the restart, Johnson flew out ahead early and never looked back. On the backstretch, a massive wreck broke out, but since the field had already passed the overtime line, the race was over and Johnson won his 76th race, tying Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list.

Johnson took a victory lap around the track with three fingers held up high in honor of The Intimidator. After the race, he talked a little about what it meant to tie such a prestigious number (via usatoday.com):

"“It’s such an honor. With the chaos at the end, with the crash and the overtime and how it works these days, I kind of lost sight of that. I remembered on my victory lap, and I had to come down and throw a 3 out the window to pay respects to the man. There’s a huge void in my career that I was never able to race with him, but at least I was able to tie his record there.”"

More racing: Updated Points Standings After Atlanta

Johnson was able to pull off a win at one of his favorite tracks to race at. It will certainly be a special moment for him the next time he gets a win and passes one of the greatest ever.