Jimmie Johnson wins one for Hendrick Motorsports

Jimmie Johnson's third straight victory may have been the most special of his career.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver won Sunday's NASCAR Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just one week after nine members of the team were killed in a plane crash.

The emotional victory brought tears from crew chief Chad Knaus, who buried his face in his hands as he wept openly.

"This has been the hardest week of my life," Knaus said. "Dealing with the loss that we had and doing what Mr. Hendrick loves the most, which is racing. It was hard, but we were able to do that. It's absolutely amazing. It's just awesome. For Randy Dorton, it just wasn't his engine under the hood today."

Johnson's Chevrolet Monte Carlo defeated Mark Martin's Ford Taurus by 0.293 seconds. Rookie Carl Edwards was third in a Ford, followed by Joe Nemechek's Chevrolet and rookie Kasey Kahne's Dodge Intrepid.

Crew members for all four Hendrick Motorsports teams went to victory lane for a solemn celebration in memory of John Hendrick, his twin daughters Kimberly and Jennifer, team owner Rick Hendrick's son Ricky, engine builder Randy Dorton, team general manager Jeff Turner, sponsor vice president Joe Jackson and pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison all killed in last week's plane crash in southern Virginia.

Johnson became the first driver to win three straight races since current teammate Jeff Gordon won four in a row in 1998.

A smiling but subdued Johnson sat in his car in victory lane, relishing the victory and what it meant to the memories of those who were killed. He was handed a cell phonem and spoke with team owner Rick Hendrick, who was in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"There is no medicine like that," Johnson said. "It doesn't change anything and it sure doesn't give our friends back that we lost. For everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, we were able to do it. Rick Hendrick called and told me to turn my hat around backwards in honor of Ricky. I just don't know what to say."

Johnson won with daring restarts late in the race that paid off.

"I took some chances on those restarts but I had 10 angels riding on this race car," Johnson said. "Things happen for a reason, and there is a bigger plan for them today. It was preparation. What Rick Hendrick has done for this race team, it paid off."

Teammates Gordon and Brian Vickers also put their hats on backward to help Johnson celebrate the win. They hugged the winner, sharing a private moment, before veteran Terry Labonte joined his teammates.

"This is a family celebration," Labonte said. "I'm so proud of Jimmie and this team to come back after such a tough week that we had, for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, this is awesome."

"We all wanted a victory here and we were all four trying for it, but there are a lot of smiles here today," Gordon said. "It's just amazing."

The race took its toll on many drivers involved in the "Chase for the Championship," most notably Kurt Busch, who came in with a 96-point lead over Gordon. Busch's engine blew up on lap 52 and he finished 42nd. Gordon suffered transmission failure and finished 34th.

It looked like Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be the big winner, but he crashed with 15 laps to go and finished 33rd.

Johnson climbed from fourth to second in the standings, 59 points behind Busch and 13 in front of Gordon. Martin is 81 points off the pace and Earnhardt 98 points behind.

"We were just trying to race for the win there," Earnhardt said. "I came up on Carl Edwards and I spun myself out and tore my car up. It wasn't Carl's fault; it was mine. We wanted a win today and that's what I was trying to do."