Smack: What's OK for Johnson isn't OK for others

1. Call it a nudge-and-run. Anyone have any problems with the way Jimmie Johnson got past Denny Hamlin to win Sunday's race at Martinsville?

David Caraviello: Absolutely not. It takes a great deal of skill to move someone out of the way like that without wrecking them, especially on a relatively narrow short track like Martinsville. Hamlin seemed to appreciate that much, too.

Raygan Swan: No, I certainly don't, because Denny said he would've done the same thing had the shoe been on the other foot. Johnson touched his right front to Denny's left rear and moved him. Johnson had the inside position.

Mark Aumann: Compared to some of the blatant chrome horns we've seen in the past, I thought it was a pretty professional bump-and-run. It's certainly harder to get the new chassis out of shape, unlike the old days. Remember Jeff Gordon working on Johnson last year? I was most impressed that both guys were able to save it and keep Tony Stewart at bay. I'm certain Stewart was thinking, "If they both wreck, I'm winning this race."

Raygan Swan: Hamlin said he was honored to be moved by the guy who has won there how many times? Six out of the last five now?

Mark Aumann: Six out of five? Is that some sort of Indiana math?

Raygan Swan: Make that five out of six. But Jimmie doesn't consider the move to be a bump-and-run.

David Caraviello: Well, we do know how some folks in the grandstand tend to overstate some things, so I wouldn't be surprised if the 48 haters were railing about this. But man, that was some kind of smooth move. Clinical, almost. They should teach it in Martinsville 101. Of course, we shouldn't expect anything different from the guy who's owned that track the past decade.

Mark Aumann: Once Johnson got to Hamlin's back bumper, it was only a matter of time. Hamlin gave him just barely enough room to squeeze the fender in there. But I'm impressed with Hamlin on short tracks. One of these days, he's going to win -- and then he may go off on a Johnson-like streak.

Raygan Swan: After the race some folks wanted to paint Jimmie as an aggressive driver, a jerk of sorts, but it was just a masterful move. Mark, hopefully Hamlin does break through, because he seems to be getting frustrated -- frustrated with disappointment, always being there at the end but never able to close the deal.

Stuck in second

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David Caraviello: Yeah Mark, I thought Hamlin did about as good a job as possible trying to keep the car low and prevent Jimmie from getting a nose to the inside. Some guys will spin themselves out in that situation.

Mark Aumann: And staying off that inside curb is trickier than it looks. I thought it was a classic move. And Hamlin won't forget it.

David Caraviello: But I wonder -- if that were a certain Colombian driver pulling that move instead of Johnson, would people be as accepting of it? Or does it go back to reputation -- guys know Jimmie races people clean, so they understand when he nudges by them? Because really, Jimmie had about as much position there as Montoya did on Scott Pruett in that infamous Mexico race two years ago. Yet Jimmie makes a clean pass, and Montoya wrecks people. Or so the rank and file claims.

Mark Aumann: I think reputation does have a lot to do with it. But experience at knowing how to do it well -- without taking out both cars -- is most important.

Raygan Swan: That's what Denny seemed to think. He said he was "50 percent" OK with the move because it was from Jimmie Johnson, a guy who has always raced Hamlin clean. If it was Montoya then we would be having an entirely different conversation.

Mark Aumann: Yeah, it would be in Spanish.

David Caraviello: But Raygan, would the conversation be different even if the end result -- nobody gets wrecked -- was the same? Are you saying somebody like JPM wouldn't have been able to make that move quite as gracefully? Jamie McMurray might agree with you there.

Raygan Swan: Johnson moved Hamlin up the track, he didn't put him in the wall or spin him out. If someone got wrecked, the conversation would be different. Montoya is improving on short tracks, but he can't do what Gordon and Johnson do at Martinsville. And speaking of J-Mac, I was impressed with the attitude he gave Montoya. I didn't realize he was so feisty.

Mark Aumann: But it's the ones that results in a wreck that stick in your mind. Terry Labonte at Bristol. Rusty at Richmond.

David Caraviello: No question, Mark. Which is why even bumping someone out of the way has its place, if it's done correctly. Though that's one of the things everybody thinks they can do, yet few people actually can. (Continued)