Team Lowe’s Finishes 25th at Chicagoland
Jimmie Johnson finished 25th in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Johnson started the 267-lap event from the second position and quickly showed the strength of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet by grabbing the lead on the first lap. He went on to lead the first 92 circuits before attempting to pit for a green-flag stop on Lap 93.
As he rounded the 1.5-mile track, Johnson wasn’t able to get slowed down enough to make pit road and was forced to make another lap, losing the lead to Jamie McMurray.
Johnson found himself running third after the green-flag stops, but was still the fastest car on the track as he chased the first and second place cars. Johnson passed Martin Truex Jr. for second and was making the move on leader McMurray on Lap 129 when the yellow flag waved for debris.
McMurray and Johnson led the field to green when the race restarted on Lap 136 but just one lap later Johnson got loose racing with third-place Martin Truex Jr. and his Lowe’s machine spun across the infield grass.
“It was really just a racing thing,” explained Johnson. “He was trying to squeeze his way in between me and the white line. I came up off the white line a little bit and the air flow changed as he got close to me. I could feel it when he got close and it just started my car into a slide and at that point I was just hanging on and it finally turned around on me.”
Johnson was able to avoid contact and brought his Chevrolet down pit road for new tires and to have the grass cleaned off the splitter. He restarted 24th on Lap 140.
Johnson began his climb back through the field and moved into the Top 20 on Lap 169. But as the four-time champion rounded the track on Lap 174 he cut a right-front tire and made contact with the outside wall.
“… After (the spint) we were coming through the field and I felt like we could still salvage a top five or something and I cut a right front tire down and then just got in the wall,” explained Johnson. “I think between sliding through the grass and touching the wall, it messed up the body and the nose started dragging pretty bad for the final run or two.”
Johnson was forced to bring his car down pit road for new tires and lost two laps to the leaders because the race was still under the green flag. He reentered the competition 33rd and spent the remainder of the night battling his way through the field.
“At the beginning of the race we had a great race car and a thought we had a shot at a win tonight. But stuff happens and we’ll just come back in a couple of weeks,” said Johnson.
His 25th-place finish allowed him to remain third in the driver point standings, now 188 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Daytona Ends in Disappointment
What looked to be promising night for Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team ended with a 31st-place finish after the Kobalt Tools Chevrolet became a victim of a 19-car accident with 12 laps remaining in the race.
Friday’s qualifying session was washed out by rain, allowing Johnson to start the 160-lap event from the second spot.
The Kobalt Tools Chevrolet led the race early and ran in the top 10 throughout the night.
Johnson was racing for the lead late in the event but was shuffled back to 13th in draft just before a chain-reaction collision took place on Lap 148.
“You can’t see much from the cars,” said Johnson. “I saw the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) down on the flat. Then I was hit from behind and everybody was trying to slow down and just got caught up in things. We came close, I mean, 380-something miles (of 400) of not having a big one and then we always seem to have that big one at the end.”
Johnson’s Kobalt Tools machine was towed back to the garage while he was seen and released from the infield care center.
“I couldn’t really tell from where I was (if people were too aggressive),” continued Johnson. “I would just be speculating, but the energy inside the draft changes as the laps wind down. We all know that every move you make could be worth five or 10 points on the track in position. You could sense it. We knew it was coming and you could feel it building and sure enough it happened.”
Johnson’s finish resulted in him falling one spot in the driver point standings. He’s now 3rd, 225 points behind leader and race winner Kevin Harvick and 13 points behind second-place Jeff Gordon.
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.
Disappointing Night in Charlotte for Team Lowe’s Racing
Jimmie Johnson finished 37th in Sunday’s 600-mile Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Johnson started the Memorial Day weekend event fifth and slowly worked his way to the front of the field during the first quarter of the 400-lap competition.
The Lowe’s Chevrolet took the lead for the first time on Lap 94 and went on to lead 36 laps before a Lap 166 incident halted his progress.
As Johnson rounded the 1.5-mile track, the back end of the No. 48 machine got loose and Johnson smacked the wall coming out of Turn 4. The caution flag waved and Johnson came down pit road for repairs to the right rear of his Chevrolet.
After several trips down the pit lane, Johnson found himself in 25th place and battling for position to stay on the lead lap.
But as Johnson circled the asphalt oval trying to regain track position, he found himself loose once again and lost control of the Lowe’s Chevy on the backstretch, making contact with the outside and inside walls, sustaining heavy damage and coming to rest on the grass.
Johnson made his mandatory trip to the infield care center while the 48 machine was towed to the garage by a wrecker.
While many assumed the night was over for the Lowe’s team, the crew went to work, replacing the front end of the Lowe’s Impala and sending Johnson back to the track on Lap 307 to gain as many points as possible.
Johnson maintained the minimum speed necessary and completed the remaining 93 laps, finishing 37th, 36 laps down.
“That first (incident) was just a racing deal,” said Johnson. “I got in the fence and did some damage and we were trying to recover from that and I was trying to run from the leader, trying to be respectful of the leader, and I had the leader on my tail. We made some big adjustments to the car and basically adjusted it to free it up there and I just spun out off of (Turn) 2.”
“We’re just racing,” added Johnson. “We’ve had some bad luck and made some mistakes. I’ll be back next week.”
Kurt Busch, who won last weekend’s All-Star event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, took home the victory. Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and David Reutimann followed Kurt Busch to the finish line.
Lowe’s Racing Finishes 13th in All-Star Extravaganza
Jimmie Johnson commanded the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Challenge Saturday night, leading a race high 56 laps and dominating two of the four total segments.
Johnson started the 100-lap exhibition race seventh after rain washed out qualifying and the field was set by order of the qualifying draw.
He quickly showed the strength of the Lowe’s Chevrolet by climbing through the field dominating the second and third segments of the four-segment event.
He led the 21-car field down pit road following Segment 3 where teams took a 10 minute break to make changes to the car and get prepared for a final 10-lap dash to the finish. Following the break, the cars made one pace lap around the 1.5-mile speedway before returning to pit road for mandatory 4-tire pit stop. Johnson returned to the track third.
“I was pinned down on the inside on that final restart. Really, the restart before that when we were leading and came off pit road third,” said Johnson. “Man, being at the head of the pack was so important and especially the outside lane for the first lap or two. I didn’t have that luxury; I was pinned on the inside and still had a great car. I just couldn’t get going on those first two laps kind of.”
Only green flag laps counted in the 10-lap segment, leaving plenty of time for action in the Saturday night extravaganza.
As Johnson raced around the oval trying to reclaim the top spot, teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were aggressively battling for real estate ahead of him. While Johnson cautiously tried to avoid any ensuing incidents, Kurt Busch snuck by him and moved to the lead.
“I knew mentally to be prepared that anything can happen at the end of this thing and I knew how important it was to restart in control of the field. I knew I lost that control when I came off pit road in third. I was needing a mistake and I almost had one when the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the No. 11 (Hamlin) got together. But I was so occupied watching them and got out of the gas, I wasn’t sure where they were going to go, then the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) came blowing by on the inside. That was my opportunity there and I was just maybe a little too cautious wondering where they were going to end up.”
On the second-to-last restart of the race, Kurt Busch picked the outside lane and took the green flag with Johnson beside him.
Busch pulled away again, but before the cars got back to the finish line, Johnson spun across the infield grass to put the race under yellow for the sixth time.
“That last time, knew we were coming to the white. Knew I had to clear the No. 11 (Hamlin) on the outside of me so I just kept my foot in it and I could feel them outside of me kind of pulling the back end of my car around but I said the hell with it, it’s the All Star race. Kept my foot to the floor and hoped that I made it off the turn and I didn’t. It turned around on me.”
Johnson didn’t make contact with anything, but came down pit road where the team cleaned the grass off the grill of the Lowe’s Chevy. He returned to the track as the last car on the lead lap, avoided trouble and brought home a 13th-place result.
Kurt Busch went on to win the event, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Hamlin and Tony Stewart.
Pit Road Penalty Relegates No. 48 to 16th-Place Finish
For the third time in a row at Dover International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson led over half the laps in the Sprint Cup Series event. But while the first two trips ended in Victory Lane, this one ended in disappointment after a late-race penalty on pit road forced Johnson to a 16th-place result.
Johnson started the 400-lap race from the fifth spot and took command early, grabbing the lead for the first time on Lap 24 and leading a total of 225 laps, the most of any driver.
Johnson spent much of his afternoon battling with eventual race winner Kyle Busch but was the class of the field and looked to be closing in on his seventh Dover win.
As teams made their final green-flag pit stops of the afternoon with fewer than 40 laps remaining, Johnson and Busch entered pit road together, in first and second places.
Following a speedy pit stop by the Lowe’s crew, Johnson exited his pit and pulled alongside Busch, barely edging past him to retake the lead off pit road. But as Johnson came up to speed on the one-mile concrete oval, NASCAR communicated to the team that the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet had surpassed pit road speed upon exit and Johnson was forced to return to the pit lane for a pass-through penalty.
“I had been leaving the pit box really good each time and there are some cues there from the spotter and we need to be able to calculate where we need to check up to be doing the right thing,” explained Johnson. “And evidently I just got out of the pits much better than I did any other time. As I got to my mark I heard my spotter and saw my lights and I was conservative because I didn’t want to make any mistakes in the end and I saw Kyle was going to beat me so I just kind of gave up that final segment off pit road and I got nailed.”
The penalty resulted in Johnson losing a lap to the leaders and he was never able to make up the lost positions.
“When I look back at the last few races I know the results aren’t what we want,” said Johnson. “But we were competitive at some of the tracks and we had bad luck at some of the tracks, and today we lead a lot of laps and ran up front so it’s a long season and there are tracks that are good for race teams and there are tracks that are bad for race teams and we knew coming here this would be good and next week at Charlotte is going to be another good one for the 48 team and hopefully we don’t leave a trophy behind there.”
Johnson’s 16th-place finish moved him to fourth in the driver point standings, now 131 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Frustrating Night at Darlington for Lowe’s Team
Johnson started the 367-lap competition 22nd and fell victim to two minor incidents early in the race before A.J. Allmendinger’s car slammed into the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet on Lap 180, totaling both machines and ending the night early for the Lowe’s team.
“I have to see where he even came from,” said Johnson. “All I know is last minute I saw a green bumper and it was a hard hit. Unfortunately, we had all kinds of issues tonight. Got caught up in all kinds of little small things, but still had a very fast race car and I think we could have salvaged a top-10, top-five finish today. It is too bad. Just wrong place, wrong time I guess.”
Johnson’s Lowe’s Chevrolet earned its ‘Darlington Stripe’ early when he made contact with the outside wall. On Lap 83, Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. tangled while trying to avoid a loose Greg Biffle.
Johnson visited pit lane several times throughout the night for repairs and was hoping to salvage a solid finish when he and Allmendinger made contact.
“We had a tough night and a bunch of small issues but we were still fighting through all that and there on the lead lap,” added Johnson. “Hopefully we were going to have a top-10 finish but we got slammed over there in (Turns) three and four.”
Johnson was able to maintain the second spot in the driver point standings, now 110 points behind current leader Kevin Harvick. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth are 3rd-5th.
