Johnson Finishes 9th in Rain-Shortened New Hampshire Race
Jimmie Johnson finished ninth in Sunday’s rain-shortened Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
After the field was set by driver points due to inclement weather on Friday, Johnson started the scheduled 301-lap race third when the green flag waved. While the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet wasn’t that comfortable for Johnson early, Chad Knaus and the No. 48 crew went to work and on Lap 50 Johnson took his first lead.
The two-time New Hampshire winner went on to lead two times for a total of 93 laps throughout the day, more laps than any other driver.
Eventually Johnson lost the lead and restarted the race fourth on Lap 180 after a 12 min. and 48 sec. red-flag period brought out by an eight-car accident in Turn 1. Johnson quickly drove to third when the race resumed but lost valuable track position when Kurt Busch made contact with his Lowe’s Impala.
The contact with Busch coupled with a round of green-flag pit stops late in the race left Johnson running in the 20s at one point. But as the pit stops cycled through and Johnson passed competitors, he found his way back to ninth when the rain began to fall on Lap 268.
“We had a decent finish and a decent run,” said Johnson. “We led laps early and hoped to be in contention for the win – I think we may have even led the most laps. But contact with the (No.) 2 car took us out of the running. We just never could rebound from that, but still a decent day.”
Rookie Joey Lagano was among a group of drivers who were out of sequence with most of the field’s pit cycle. The weather arrived just in time for Lagano as he was able to remain on the track and be in the top spot when the race was called on Lap 273.
Johnson remains third in the Sprint Cup driver point standings, 169 points behind leader Tony Stewart.
Team Lowe’s Finishes 4th at Infineon Raceway
Jimmie Johnson finished fourth in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Infineon Raceway.
Aside from a penalty for speeding on pit road, Johnson ran in the top-10 throughout the event before earning his second career top-five finish with an 11th-place result at the 1.99-mile road course.
“Yeah it was a good finish,” said Johnson, who remains third in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. “Unfortunately we were speeding on pit road and I had to come back from that. I passed a lot of cars so very proud of the effort, very proud of the race car.”
The only hiccup of the day occurred when Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy made contact with the No. 2 car of Kurt Busch in the ess turns of the speedway on Lap 90 of 110.
“Unfortunately I got together with the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) getting into the esses and got him into the wall so I had to find him and apologize,” explained Johnson. “It was just a racing deal, nothing more. It left a bruise on the left front but other than that it was a good day.
“We went through a lot with the pit road speeding penalty and we had to fight back from that. But what a great race car. Chad (Knaus) and the guys did a great job. I was real fast on the long runs so I could just work away at it. I’m very proud of this Lowe’s Impala in the top-four here at Infineon Raceway. This has been a tough, tough track for us so we are getting better and making progress.”
Kasey Kahne grabbed the victory with Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose, Johnson and Denny Hamlin following him to the finish line. Stewart remains the Sprint Cup Series points leader, followed by Jeff Gordon (-84). Johnson (-157), Kurt Busch (-280) and Carl Edwards (-313).
Johnson Runs out of Fuel on Final Lap at Michigan; Finishes 22nd
Despite starting third and leading 146 laps in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Michigan International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson finished 22nd after running out of gas on the final lap.The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion dominated the 200-lap race before running out of gas just after taking the white flag. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin passed Johnson and second-place running Greg Biffle, who also ran out of gas, for the win.
“It’s a shame to have such strong racing and come back with a 22nd-place result,” said Johnson after climbing out of the Lowe’s Impala. “But what do you do? We raced hard. We led the most laps. At a time when it’s tough to pass guys on big tracks, we went up there and passed the No. 5 (Martin) and passed the No. 16 (Biffle). So on the bright side of things, I’m really happy with the performance we had and we really closed the gap on these guys here at Michigan, but unfortunately we didn’t win.”
Johnson showed he had the dominant car early in the race, taking the lead from pole sitter Brian Vickers in the opening laps. Johnson radioed in few problems to crew chief Chad Knaus and the crew made minimal adjustments throughout the day.
When a caution flag flew on Lap 152, Knaus brought the Lowe’s Chevy down pit road for a final pit stop, packing it with gas and putting the team close to the window to make it to the finish without refueling. Johnson restarted third after the stop and methodically caught Martin and Biffle, who were running second and first, respectively. Johnson went on to lead the remaining laps before running out of gas on the final circuit.
“That happens sometimes,” said Johnson. “The car that leads the most laps doesn’t win. Unfortunately we’re in that category today but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. Great pit stops, great race car. We had an awesome day; we were just one lap short on fuel. I guess I had to work harder than we factored for getting by the No. 5 and the No. 16. I drove up through there and got by them and got back to the lead and thought we were in great shape and unfortunately we ran out of fuel.”
Johnson remains third in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 142 behind leader Tony Stewart.
Next Sunday’s event takes place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course is one of only six tracks on which Johnson hasn’t won a Cup race. The event will be broadcast live on TNT beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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Johnson Finishes 7th at Pocono
Jimmie Johnson was slated to start third in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Pocono Raceway after Friday’s qualifying session was canceled due to rain.
But when pole-sitter and points-leader Tony Stewart wrecked his primary racecar in Saturday’s practice session, Johnson’s inside row moved up, allowing him to start from the top spot.
Johnson led 31 of the first 38 laps before falling victim to Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. The Lowe’s Chevrolet continued to run in the top-five for the next 65 laps.
On Lap 104 of 200, as Johnson was entering pit road for a green-flag stop, the caution flag came out for debris. Johnson continued to his pit stall and took four tires and fuel but as a penalty for pitting too soon was forced to start at the tail end of the longest line when the green flag waved.
“It was an exciting race,” said Johnson. “We were in a great position and unfortunately, coming to pit road to pit and the caution came out and I couldn’t see a flagman or lights or anything. But luckily, we rebounded from that and had a great car and drove up to the top five.”
Johnson restarted 25th, but quickly drove through the field, reentering the top-10 by Lap 123 of 200.
By Lap 170, Johnson had moved to third-place, just 1.5-seconds behind leader Stewart. Biffle was running second. By Lap 190, most of the top five cars slowed their lap speeds in order to save fuel, including Stewart, second-place Edwards, and Johnson.
“At the end we were just playing a fuel game,” explained Johnson. “I didn’t play it well enough. I had to run too hard at the start of that run to stay ahead and I just used up too much gas and I ran out coming into the tunnel turn.”
On Lap 199 of 200, Johnson caught Edwards for second place, but ran out of fuel in Turn 3, dropping to the bottom of the track. Johnson coasted to the finish line and was credited with a seventh-place finish. Stewart won the race.
“I tried,” said Johnson “And it was funny. I was just kind of riding and wondering who was going to go and when because everybody was about half-throttle. I was trying to get to the end on gas and I thought Carl (Edwards) ran out on the front so I got in the gas and got by him and I went down through (Turn) one and came down the backstretch and I ran out. And I’m like, oh yeah. Figures. So it was one of those days. But a big congratulations to Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing. Those guys have been doing a great job.”
The result allowed the three-time Champion to maintain the third spot in the driver standings, 103 points behind leader Stewart. Jeff Gordon is still second, 71 points back. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch round out the top-five.
The top five-finishers at Pocono were: Stewart, Edwards, David Reutimann, Gordon and Newman.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 19th and 27th, respectively. Martin is currently 13th in the point standings while Earnhardt Jr. is 20th.
Chad Knaus named WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race at “Monster Mile”
Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson, has been named the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race following Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Johnson climbed from eighth to first by lap 49 of the 400-lap race, eventually leading a total of nine times for 298 laps. Knaus and crew worked effortlessly to help guide their driver to yet another victory at the famed “Monster Mile”.
Atop the leaderboard, Knaus summoned his driver to pit road with 36 laps to go for a four-tire change. Unfortunately a faulty exchange by the crew slowed him down, dropping him back in ninth place. Luckily, Knaus was able to calmly coach Johnson back to the front of the pack, passing Tony Stewart for the lead with just two laps to go.
“I’m so proud of these guys and Chad,” said Johnson, who is currently third in the Series standings. They built me an awesome car and overall we had a solid day on pit road,” said Johnson.
“These guys came in with a game plan and Chad executed under pressure,” said FOX/Speed Channel analyst and WYPALL* Wipers spokesman, Jeff Hammond.
WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Results
Bob Osborne, Carl Edwards and the No. 99 team overcame a few issues and came back to finish 7th, maintaining 11th-place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, 271 points behind the leader, Tony Stewart. Todd Berrier, Casey Mears and the No. 07 Jack Daniels team finished ninth, his second top-10 finish in the past four races. He was also ninth at Richmond, Va., last month. Mears and his No. 07 Richard Childress Racing team struggled at the start of the season, posting three finishes of 24th or worse in the first five races. WYPALL Wipers’ support the men behind the machines and you can find out more about Todd and Bob at http://www.wypall.com/Bios.asp.
Bob Osborne, crew chief for the No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford (Carl Edwards), Todd Berrier, crew chief for the No. 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (Casey Mears), and FOX/Speed Channel analyst Hammond, along with representatives from the WYPALL Wipers brand, serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly wins will be honored as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
Former winners of the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge include Tony Eury, Sr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), Robbie Reiser (Matt Kenseth), Doug Richert (Greg Biffle), Mike Ford (Denny Hamlin) and Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson).
About WYPALL Wipers
WYPALL is a brand of Kimberly-Clark Professional. Since 2004, WYPALL Wipers has been affiliated with some of racing’s top teams. Offering heavy-duty to versatile light-duty towels, WYPALL Wipers provide race teams with a number of products that demonstrate strength and durability. Defeating the toughest of challenges, from absorbing tough grease and oil to wiping down windshields without leaving residue behind, WYPALL Wipers continue to offer performance and versatility.
The WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge will continue throughout the 2009 season and spotlight the men behind the machines. For more information, log onto www.wypall.com.
