Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 15, 2014 in Brooklyn, Michigan. Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images
Over a month ago, critics were wondering if Jimmie Johnson was ever going to win a Sprint Cup race this season. Now he’s won three out of the last four.
Jimmie Johnson was able to claim his first victory in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Crew Chief Chad Knaus played some great strategy for the No. 48 team which put them in the position to win. Pit strategies are scattered throughout the field as the number of laps were ticking down. After all of the drivers had come down for service, it cycled back to Johnson and he was able to hold on for the win.
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on June 1, 2014 in Dover, Delaware. Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Image
Jimmie Johnson simply knows how to tame Miles the Monster at Dover International Speedway. He was victorious in Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks for his ninth victory at one of the tougher tracks on the circuit.
Kyle Busch led the opening laps of the race and attempted to make it the third win for him on the weekend. Busch had won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and the Nationwide Series race on Saturday and wanted to win Sunday’s race. By lap 82, Johnson had caught Busch and took over the lead. Busch and Clint Bowyer tangled on lap 125 and Busch got into the wall which ended his race. Upon playback of the radio on Fox Sports, it appeared that Bowyer’s spotter told him that he was clear when he hadn’t quite gotten past Busch. Busch intimidated Bowyer by running up to his bumper, but retaliation didn’t happen.
Busch did surpass 10,000 laps led in his career on lap 29.
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
It had been since November at Texas Motor Speedway when Jimmie Johnson last saw Victory Lane but he familiarized himself with the routine when he won Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 2013 champion started the race from the pole and his determination didn’t waiver until he was the first to see the checkered flag. A late-race caution helped stack up the field and it was Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon at the point with 17 laps left in the 400-lap race. Kenseth was able to power to the front while Gordon slipped back and Johnson capitalized on Gordon’s change of track position.
From the drop of the flag at the Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports crew set the tone as Johnson won the first race of the 2013 Sprint Cup season and set a goal of capturing a sixth championship. He made that goal a reality Sunday night when he lifted his sixth championship trophy at the end of the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Johnson didn’t win the race, but he was able to keep track position and escape danger throughout the race to end the season as the champion – 19 points ahead of rival Matt Kenseth.
Carl Edwards’ Crew Chief Jimmy Fennig wasn’t kidding when he told the driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion that he only had a lap-and-a-half left in the gas tank and to save as much as possible, but Edwards’ car just couldn’t make it to the finish line. What’s worse was he was leading the race with one lap to go when the tank went dry. That allowed Kevin Harvick to drive right past Edwards and take the win Sunday night in the Advocare 500 in the Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix International Raceway.
Edwards went from leading the race to coasting to a 21st place finish.
This been a memorable Chase for Matt Kenseth, the newest driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and for Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jimmie Johnson.
Kenseth won a Championship in 2003 after dominating that year and it’s been an interesting back-and-forth battle in the Chase with Johnson. Only seven points separate Kenseth and Johnson as they go to Phoenix International Raceway this Sunday, Nov. 10.
When the green flag dropped Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson was fearless when the throttle went wide-open and he didn’t look back. He won the 334-lap AAA Texas 500 and kept his lead in the championship standings in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This was his sixth win in the 2013 season.
Carl Edwards led the field to green and a quick caution occurred on lap 16 for debris. It wasn’t long after this caution that Jimmie Johnson found clean air. Edwards, who was on the pole for the race, had to drive his car to the garage due to a broken valve spring in the engine at the midway point of the race.
