Lowe’s Racing Earns Second Straight Win with Victory in New Hampshire
For the second weekend in a row Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s Team found their way to Victory Lane, earning their fifth win of the season and third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Johnson started the 301-lap race from the 10th spot and quickly made his way through the field, grabbing fifth by Lap 28 and moving to second on Lap 81.
When the first round of green-flag pit stops began around Lap 106, Johnson inherited the lead from Kasey Kahne where he remained until he came down pit lane for four tires and fuel on Lap 112.
But a miscue on pit road cost the team time and Johnson exited the pits ninth.
“We lost some track position but I just kept my head down and stayed focused and picked them off one at a time,” said Johnson. “Chad (Knaus) had some great strategy pitting a lap or two early over some guys and we were able to get out on the track and make up time and pick up a couple of spots there.”
Johnson spent the remaining laps climbing back through the field and found himself third when the race restarted on Lap 245 following a caution.
By Lap 281 Johnson erased the lead Jeff Burton had and was looking to grab the top spot just as a yellow flag waved for contact between Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson.
While race leader Burton stayed on the track, crew chief Chad Knaus called Johnson down pit road where they opted for two-tires, placing Johnson second when the race restarted on Lap 287.
“At the end, the No. 31 (Burton) it was one of those situations where we’re going to do the opposite of what he does and he stayed out so we came to pit road and luckily the field followed us,” explained Johnson.
Johnson quickly moved around Burton for the lead when the race restarted and just two laps later Burton brought out the final caution when he and Kyle Busch got together in Turn 4.
Johnson led the field to green on Lap 293, which would be the final restart of the race.
Kurt Busch, who was running second, tapped Johnson’s rear bumper on Lap 294, moving him out of the way and taking the top spot. But five laps later, Johnson reclaimed the lead when he passed Kurt Busch and went on to lead the final two laps before grabbing the win.
“We got by (Burton)and got going and then the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) took a shot at me and I got my cool and thought if he’s going to take a shot at me to get by, I don’t care if I finish this race. I’m going to run over the top of him to get back to the lead. And I tried once and didn’t get enough of him and tried the second time and just moved him enough to get out of the way and got going. It was just good short track racing.”
Team Lowe’s Earns First Road-Course Win
Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team checked one more track off their “to-do” list Sunday by earning their first career road-course victory at Infineon Raceway.
Johnson started second in the 110-lap race but passed pole sitter Kasey Kahne on the first trip around the 1.99-mile track to officially lead the first lap. He proved the dominance of his Lowe’s Chevrolet by leading the first 33 laps before giving up the top spot for a green-flag pit stop on Lap 34.
He quickly resumed the lead when the field cycled through pit stops, leading another 15 circuits by Lap 57.
When a caution flag waved on Lap 58, Johnson and others headed down pit road for four tires and fuel while six drivers remained on the track. Johnson lined up seventh for the restart on Lap 61 and had driven to third by Lap 63.
Marcos Ambrose, who took the lead on Lap 62, soon found Johnson in his rearview mirror and battled the Lowe’s machine for the top position before Johnson came down pit road for his final green-flag stop on Lap 79.
Before the entire field was able to make green-flag stops, the yellow flag waved for a spinning No. 20 car and Johnson lined up fifth for the restart on Lap 88 behind those cars which hadn’t yet pitted. Ambrose and Johnson quickly drove to first and second place when the race restarted and Ambrose went to work holding off a hard-charging Johnson the following 14 laps.
But when a final caution period took place on Lap 103, Johnson was poised to capitalize on a critical mistake which Ambrose made.
Ambrose turned his engine off on the track while making caution laps in an attempt to save fuel and was unable to get it to restart. He pulled aside, refired his machine as other cars passed, and drove back to the front of the field to reclaim the top position.
But NASCAR rules state that drivers must maintain the speed of the caution car under a yellow flag and NASCAR officials placed Ambrose in the seventh spot for the restart, moving Johnson to the lead with four laps remaining.
Johnson had a great restart on Lap 106 and drove away from second and third place Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick to take the checkered flag 3.105 seconds ahead of Gordon.
“We led a lot of laps today which was really nice to do,” said Johnson. “Had to make some good passes at times. Feel like it was a complete day, complete weekend. Very proud to see all the hard work that Chad has put into our road course program, Hendrick Motorsports, what they have done, all those test days we left frustrated, mad. We just had one three or four weeks ago and I don’t think we talked for a day or two after that one. It’s so frustrating trying to find a little something that makes a difference. To have that all come full circle and be here is really cool.”
This is Johnson’s 307th career start and 51st win. He jumped two spots to second in the driver point standings.
“I think it was a great performance by the whole team, like Jimmie said,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “All weekend long. Collectively from Hendrick Motorsports team standpoint, I think we probably test, practice, prepare for the road course races probably 50% more than what we do for the ovals. If you look at comparison ratios how many road course races we run versus ovals, it’s been an amazing effort.”
“We knew we were behind,” continued Knaus. “We had to get our product better. We felt like our drivers needed to get better. We put a lot of effort into it. Jimmie personally has put a lot of effort into upping his road course racing capabilities and he’s done a great job… I’m very proud. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort from the company’s standpoint, 2 4 8 shop and from the 48 team in particular.”
Chicago, Michigan, Homestead and Watkins Glen remain on Johnson’s no-wins list.
Johnson, Team Lowe’s Finish 6th in Michigan
For the second week in a row, Jimmie Johnson climbed through the field on four fresh tires during a final dash to the checkered flag to earn a top-10 finish, moving from 12th to sixth in the 14 laps following the final restart of the race.
Johnson fought a variety of conditions throughout the 200-lap event, but mainly reported a loose Lowe’s Chevrolet as the day went on.
With only four cautions for a total of 14 laps, crew chief Chad Knaus relied on a combination of yellow and green-flag pit stops to make changes to the No. 48 Chevrolet, allowing Johnson to maintain a top-15 position throughout the afternoon.
After the third and final round of green-flag stops took place around Lap 178, a yellow flag waved on Lap 181 with Johnson running 12th.
The top eight cars stayed on the track while ninth-place and back opted to pit for two or four tires. Johnson piloted his machine down the pit lane where the Lowe’s team went to work bolting four fresh tires on the Lowe’s Impala. Johnson returned to the track and restarted 12th on Lap 186.
In the ensuing laps, the four-time champion slowly and steadily picked off contenders ahead of him, collecting six positions as the laps wound down and crossing the finish line sixth, earning his ninth top-10 result of the season.
Denny Hamlin took home the victory, earning his second win in as many weeks and his fifth of the season. Johnson maintains sixth in the driver point standings, now 170 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Team Lowe’s Earns 5th-Place Finish in Pocono
Jimmie Johnson drove from 22nd to fifth in the final 22 laps of Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway to secure his eighth top-10 finish of the season.
Following an approximate one hour and 45 minute rain delay, Johnson began the scheduled 200-lap race 25th after he fought a loose car during Friday’s qualifying session.
Johnson quickly showed the field how strong the Lowe’s Chevrolet was, driving to 10th by Lap 53, sixth by Lap 100 and second by Lap 138.
When the third yellow flag of the day waved on Lap 154, Johnson and the rest of the field came down pit road for service. Just a few laps later another yellow flag was displayed and the leading cars, including Johnson, stayed on the track while drivers deeper in the field took advantage of the chance to fill up on fuel.
When the fifth caution period arrived, Johnson and the other leading drivers who hadn’t pitted before headed to pit lane for gas, forcing them to the back of the field when they returned to the track. Johnson found himself restarting 20th.
Five short laps later debris in Turn 3 forced another yellow and Johnson came down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted 22nd.
When the green flag waved on Lap 179, Johnson once again showed how good the No. 48 machine was, shooting through the field, picking off 16 cars in 20 laps by the time a Lap 199 accident caused a green-white-checker finish.
Johnson lined up sixth for the two-lap shootout and picked up one spot in the final dash to bring home the top-five finish.
“We had a great race car,” said Johnson. “We got up to second and were running with the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) on pace. And then the pit strategy stuff started coming into play and I was maybe a little cautious on some of the restarts trying to take care of myself and not tear up another race car. And maybe it cost me a little bit. But in the end, great performance. We had a top car, a top speed car all day long and I brought it home in fifth.”
The most dramatic moment of the race took place when contact between A.J Allmendinger and Kasey Kahne sparked an eight-car accident on the final lap of the event.
“There’s so much to lose and so much chaos on the track,” said Johnson. “It’s one thing when you’re at Bristol going 100 mph; but when you’re running 200 mph and seeing some of these moves, it was pretty crazy and I hope everybody is all right on the back stretch.”
Denny Hamlin earned his fourth win of the season. Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Johnson rounded out the top five.
Johnson moved up one spot in the driver point standings to sixth, now 214 points behind leader Harvick.
