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Sprint Cup
CUP: Johnson Takes Race Win, Point Lead
Jimmie Johnson zooms into Chase lead as Denny Hamlin falters…
Jimmie Johnson reasserted his strength in the run for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday, winning the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway to jump into a familiar spot – the point lead.
On a wacky day at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson led the most laps (193) and won the race by .479 of a second over Kyle Busch, while previous point leader Brad Keselowski recovered from a 32nd-place starting position to finish sixth.
Johnson, who has won five titles, entered the race seven points behind Keselowski but moves on to Texas next week two points in front of the Dodge driver. His Sunday win clinched the seasonal manufacturers championship for Chevrolet.
Johnson, with fresher tires, took the lead from Keselowski with 15 laps to go and led the rest of the way to score his fourth win of the year – and his first in the Chase. But Keselowski was happy to come home sixth after qualifying poorly Friday and starting deep in the field. He and Johnson are essentially equal in the standings with three races remaining.
The day was a dark one for Denny Hamlin, a Martinsville expert who hoped to make significant point gains in the Chase. Instead, he ran into power issues with 130 laps remaining, slowed on the track several times while he tried to correct the problems by switching boxes and eventually stalled on the frontstretch. He was pushed into the garage by a wrecker, his championship hopes probably dashed.
Hamlin eventually returned to the track 34 laps down and finished 33rd. He fell to fifth in points, 49 behind Johnson. The problems apparently were caused by a faulty master control switch.
“One of these days it’s going to be our time,” Hamlin said after the race. “It’s just not right now.”
Clint Bowyer finished fifth and moved into third in the standings, 26 behind Johnson. Kasey Kahne, fourth in points, is 29 back.
The race’s 11th and final caution flew on lap 491 when Sam Hornish Jr. bumped Carl Edwards, who bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That set up a green flag with five laps to go and Johnson leading Kyle Busch and Kahne. Neither could challenge Johnson over the final laps.
Pit strategy was all over the map during the race as the leaders and the top Chasers traded stops of two tires, four tires and avoiding pit road entirely during a plethora of cautions.
The biggest pit decisions of the day were made during the pit sequence that occurred during the 10th caution, with 25 laps remaining.
Johnson and the other leaders decided to pit during the caution, but two drivers – Keselowski and Earnhardt Jr. – on the lead lap did not.
That put Keselowski in the lead when the green flew at lap 482, but Johnson, on newer tires, passed him four laps later to take the lead.
“This was just a great race car,” Johnson said. “I think we also learned a lesson here in the past about not pitting late. That came into play. We made the right decision there.”
Keselowski said he’s certain the title race will go to the final event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We’ll keep fighting the good fight,” he said. “I’m really proud of today.”
Johnson and Hamlin, seeking to bump Keselowski from the Chase top spot, ran in or around the top five much of the first half of the race. Johnson led 93 of the race’s first 250 laps and was in the battle at the front with Jeff Gordon and Bowyer most of that period.
Hamlin also was in the mix at the front despite two foulups on pit road. He twice was penalized for speeding when entering the pits, putting him in position to have to battle from the back of the field on two occasions before problems crippled his car.
The first half of the race was slowed by seven caution flags – all for spins of one sort or another. Most were single-car incidents, although Marcos Ambrose and Travis Kvapil spun out in unison in the second turn on lap 213.
Earnhardt Jr., returning to competition after missing two races because of concussions, finished 21st, the final driver on the lead lap, but he ran in the top 10 much of the afternoon.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
On a wacky day at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson led the most laps (193) and won the race by .479 of a second over Kyle Busch, while previous point leader Brad Keselowski recovered from a 32nd-place starting position to finish sixth.
Johnson, who has won five titles, entered the race seven points behind Keselowski but moves on to Texas next week two points in front of the Dodge driver. His Sunday win clinched the seasonal manufacturers championship for Chevrolet.
Johnson, with fresher tires, took the lead from Keselowski with 15 laps to go and led the rest of the way to score his fourth win of the year – and his first in the Chase. But Keselowski was happy to come home sixth after qualifying poorly Friday and starting deep in the field. He and Johnson are essentially equal in the standings with three races remaining.
The day was a dark one for Denny Hamlin, a Martinsville expert who hoped to make significant point gains in the Chase. Instead, he ran into power issues with 130 laps remaining, slowed on the track several times while he tried to correct the problems by switching boxes and eventually stalled on the frontstretch. He was pushed into the garage by a wrecker, his championship hopes probably dashed.
Hamlin eventually returned to the track 34 laps down and finished 33rd. He fell to fifth in points, 49 behind Johnson. The problems apparently were caused by a faulty master control switch.
“One of these days it’s going to be our time,” Hamlin said after the race. “It’s just not right now.”
Clint Bowyer finished fifth and moved into third in the standings, 26 behind Johnson. Kasey Kahne, fourth in points, is 29 back.
The race’s 11th and final caution flew on lap 491 when Sam Hornish Jr. bumped Carl Edwards, who bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That set up a green flag with five laps to go and Johnson leading Kyle Busch and Kahne. Neither could challenge Johnson over the final laps.
Pit strategy was all over the map during the race as the leaders and the top Chasers traded stops of two tires, four tires and avoiding pit road entirely during a plethora of cautions.
The biggest pit decisions of the day were made during the pit sequence that occurred during the 10th caution, with 25 laps remaining.
Johnson and the other leaders decided to pit during the caution, but two drivers – Keselowski and Earnhardt Jr. – on the lead lap did not.
That put Keselowski in the lead when the green flew at lap 482, but Johnson, on newer tires, passed him four laps later to take the lead.
“This was just a great race car,” Johnson said. “I think we also learned a lesson here in the past about not pitting late. That came into play. We made the right decision there.”
Keselowski said he’s certain the title race will go to the final event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We’ll keep fighting the good fight,” he said. “I’m really proud of today.”
Johnson and Hamlin, seeking to bump Keselowski from the Chase top spot, ran in or around the top five much of the first half of the race. Johnson led 93 of the race’s first 250 laps and was in the battle at the front with Jeff Gordon and Bowyer most of that period.
Hamlin also was in the mix at the front despite two foulups on pit road. He twice was penalized for speeding when entering the pits, putting him in position to have to battle from the back of the field on two occasions before problems crippled his car.
The first half of the race was slowed by seven caution flags – all for spins of one sort or another. Most were single-car incidents, although Marcos Ambrose and Travis Kvapil spun out in unison in the second turn on lap 213.
Earnhardt Jr., returning to competition after missing two races because of concussions, finished 21st, the final driver on the lead lap, but he ran in the top 10 much of the afternoon.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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