Team Lowe’s Picks Up Fourth Consecutive Championship
Jimmie Johnson clinched his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series Championship by finishing fifth in Sunday’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, becoming the first driver in NASCAR’s 60-year history to accomplish the feat.
“I am just blown away by the things we’ve been able to accomplish over the last eight years in the sport,” said Johnson following the race. “Obviously the last four years have been just unbelievable. To love the sport like I do and respect it like I do, and the history, the pioneers of this sport from Bill France, Sr., to the Petty family, you go through many eras up to Mr. Hendrick and what he’s done over the last 25, to look at all of that and to have done something that’s never been done in the sport before is so, so amazing and something I am so proud of.
“I’ve always set my marks high and really wanted to try to set high marks and all those kinds of things, but I had no clue this stuff would happen,” continued Johnson. “(I’m) just so honored, so happy, so fortunate.
Crew Chief Chad Knaus extended his crew chief record for consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships to four. In 2008, Knaus set the record with three consecutive Cups.
“I’m really excited,” said Knaus. “Man, what a fantastic job by this team this year. I can’t say enough about the way that the guys worked. They really focused on what we needed to do to get into the Chase, get ourselves in position to be able to go out there and try to battle for this championship. I couldn’t be prouder of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. To have three cars in the top 5, that’s pretty amazing.
“I think that with Lowe’s and Hendrick Motorsports behind us, I think we can go into the next few years comfortable and aggressive and be able to get after it. We’re very fortunate to have Lowe’s and sign those guys back up. Jimmie just signed back with HMS for a few more years, and that’s a great thing. I think we’ve got some good stuff coming in the future. I’m really, really excited about it. Our team is stronger than it’s ever been. It’s a bit of a dream.”
Heading into the 267-lap race, Team Lowe’s Racing led second-place Mark Martin by 108 points and had to finish 25th or better to clinch. Johnson started the race first, ran in the top 10 throughout the event and led two times for 28 laps on the way to his 16th top-10 finish of 2009.
Martin took the checkered flag 12th and finished 141 points behind Johnson in the final point standings.
Johnson has 18 Chase wins in 60 Chase races, a winning percentage of 30%. The next highest number of Chase wins by a driver is six. In this season’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Johnson collected four wins, seven top fives, nine top-10s and had an average finish of 6.8. Johnson finished the 2009 season with seven wins, 16 top fives and 24 top 10s.
“It is unbelievable,” said Johnson. “Four championships in eight years. 47 wins. Everything this team has done is truly amazing. I know that the fans and everybody respects what this race team has done. I can’t wait where this race team ends up. We’ve got a lot of racing ahead of us. I know that we are solidly in the record books. But I know we have a lot more to accomplish.”
Johnson, Team Lowe’s, Earn 47th-Career Win in Phoenix
Jimmie Johnson earned his 47th-career victory on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, extending his lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship to 108 points over second-place Mark Martin.
Johnson dominated the 312-lap race Sunday, leading 238 laps to win for the fourth time in the last five races at Phoenix. It was his seventh victory of the season, and fourth since this year’s start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
“First of all I have to thank this race team for having the strength and mental attitude and everything that they do to bounce back last week, to show up and put a butt-kickin’ on everybody today,” said Johnson. “Very proud of Chad and the guys. Great stops, great car. At the start of the race we were a little loose but still running second and third.
“When we put new tires on, the car came to life and then we had a couple of small adjustments that really, really helped it. I could get out to a nice comfortable lead and ride and protect what I had and work my way through traffic. Not with ease, but better than the other guys. We had a great finish.”
Johnson now needs to finish 25th or better next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway to grab a spot in NASCAR’s record books, becoming the first driver to ever win four consecutive championships.
“That’s a great position to be in,” said Johnson. “We finished 38th last week so I can’t put my guard down. Anything and everything that could go wrong last week did. Going into this next week we just need to show up and race smart and do our thing.”
Martin is the only driver still in mathematical contention to catch Johnson. Once Johnson starts the race at Homestead, Jeff Gordon will no longer be able to catch him.
“Obviously one more race to go,” explained Johnson. “We saw in Texas anything can happen so we don’t need to get too excited about things. One-o-something is better than 73. I’m very excited about it and I hope all the employee owners at Lowe’s are excited. We’ll see what we can do.”
Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, and Martin Truex Jr. followed the Lowe’s Chevy to the finish line.
Johnson now leads Martin (-108), Jeff Gordon (-169), Busch (-211) and Tony Stewart (-285) in the Championship standings with one race remaining.
The Sprint Cup Series will visit its last stop on the circuit next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The event will be broadcast live Nov. 22 on ABC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Rough days ends with 38th-place finish in Texas
Jimmie Johnson started 12th in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway but was involved in a Lap 3 accident and credited with a 38th-place result. He is now 73 points ahead of Mark Martin in the point standings.
“It was definitely not the day we wanted,” said Johnson. “We did not want to lose points like that. Luckily we had a big margin. We’re going to two great tracks for us here and we’ll just keep racing. We’ve been saying all along that anything can happen, I just wish the Sam (Hornish) could have waited a little while longer before he hit something. Instead, he lost it and hit me and off we went.”
When Johnson took the green flag, he quickly began moving through the field and passed a couple of cars in the first two laps. But as the Lowe’s Chevy went three-wide and moved to the outside of Sam Hornish on Lap 3 to take a top 10 position, Hornish’s car was tapped by David Reutimann who was on the inside.
That forced Hornish to become loose and he made contact with the left side of Johnson’s machine, sending him scurrying up the track. Johnson managed to avoid contact with the outside wall, but crossed back down the 1.5-mile oval and slammed into the inside retaining wall on the backstretch.
Crew chief Chad Knaus called Johnson to the garage area where the team went to work on the No. 48 Impala SS, including replacing the front and rear suspension as well as the drive shaft.
Johnson spent an hour and eight minutes in the garage before returning to the track, over 100 laps down.
“I just played back through the crash (while sitting in the garage) and what happened and if I could have done anything differently,” explained Johnson. “I could have maybe given him more room, but I would have had a more direct angle at the wall and would have hit the outside wall.
“So, when I think back, I was just hoping he’d get out and hoping there would be some cautions and we could make up some spots and the first report Chad (Knaus) gave me wasn’t good. He thought we were going to have to put the car on the truck because it was so torn up. So, as time went on I could see their spirits lift and I knew we could at least get back out on track. I started to focus on things I needed to.”
Johnson went on to pick up six spots in the remaining laps, finishing 38th.
“It’s just one of those things,” added Johnson. “There’s not a lot we can do about it. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The guys did a great job to get this car back out on track to pick up some more spots. And we’ll go to Phoenix and race.
“We’ve got two great race tracks for us (coming up, Phoenix and Homestead). We didn’t want this by any means but we’re still in a great position and we’ll go to Phoenix and race.”
Kurt Busch went on to win the 334-lap event, moving to fourth place in the point standings.
Johnson now leads Martin (-73), Jeff Gordon (-112), Busch (-171) and Tony Stewart (-178) in the Championship standings with two races remaining.
Team Lowe’s Finishes 6th at Talladega; Extends Points Lead
Jimmie Johnson once again extended his lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship by finishing sixth at Talladega Superspeedway.
Johnson started the race from the pole position after qualifying was canceled for weather and the field was set by driver points.
Shortly after the race began, Johnson found himself riding in the back of the pack after green-flag pit stops put him off sequence with the leaders. He remained there for most of the race until fewer than 20 laps remained, when he began to make a charge toward the front.
He barely avoided a late-race crash on Lap 184 of 188 that took out five cars and left the No. 39 machine of Ryan Newman resting on its roof as emergency workers cut him out. He had no injuries.
Crew chief Chad Knaus sensed a lengthy delay and called the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy down pit road for fuel. When cars ahead of Johnson began to run out of gas because of the red-flag period, Johnson moved up on the track, restarting 11th when the green-flag waved.
The field was forced to a green-white-checker restart when a 13-car accident took place on the final lap, leaving Johnson with a sixth-place result.
“I feel good about things,” said Johnson. “I am very, very happy. I hate to see so many (torn) up cars and the big wreck that took place, but for us what really made the difference, obviously we were conservative all day long. But (crew chief) Chad’s (Knaus) decision to take fuel; there were just a few of us that took fuel, and we had the wreck and the red flag. At that point guys just started running out of fuel.
“The caution came back out and waved off the restart a few times,” added Johnson. “Then more guys ran out and hit pit road. And we went from 25th up to, I think, 11th before we took the green. We had some good moves I made through that opening lap to get up to speed and all that kind of thing. I was far enough ahead to not be caught up in the (final) wreck – because at least the car on the outside of me and right behind me was cleaned out.”
Jamie McMurray went on to be the unlikely winner, followed by Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton.
Johnson now leads Mark Martin (-184), Jeff Gordon (-192), Juan Pablo Montoya (-239) and Tony Stewart (-279) in the Championship standings with three races remaining.
“I’m not going to let up and lose focus of the job I need to do and allow the championship to be in the forefront of my mind until it’s mathematically locked out” said Johnson. “I can lose 165 points next week if I miss a shift and blow the engine at the start of the Texas race and Mark (Martin) has a perfect day.”
“So with all that in mind, yes, I am feeling much better about things,” Johnson continued. “I was so concerned about this race. I thought I was going to lose points with about three or four to go. So to have it turn around and lead with points over the guys, I didn’t expect it. Very, very good situation we’re in. But I just can’t stop doing what I do… Racing will reach up and bite you at any point and anything can happen.”
The next stop on the Sprint Cup Series schedule will be Texas Motor Speedway.
Team Extends Points Lead at Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson extended his lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship to 118 points over Mark Martin by finishing second in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway.
Johnson started the 500-lap event 15th and quickly showed the field how good the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was by cruising into the lead in under 60 laps.
The runner-up finish is Johnson’s ninth top-five result in his last nine starts at the half-mile track. It is also his 15th top-10 in 16 career starts there.
After taking the lead for the first time on Lap 59, Johnson went on to lead five more times for a total of 164 laps. But when Denny Hamlin passed the Lowe’s Chevy on a long green-flag run late in the race (Lap 363), Johnson was never able to regain the top spot.
He concentrated on a hard-charging Juan Pablo Montoya and teammate Jeff Gordon in a series of late-race restarts to hold on to the runner-up finish.
“Yeah, it went well for us,” said Johnson. “At times had a really fast car and the best car. The last run or two at the end the 11 had their stuff right. I was just a little too loose to do anything with him. Over the long haul we were probably the second best car the last two or three stops and finished where we should have, so I’m happy with that.
“I was nervous with those restarts at the end,” continued Johnson. “I hoped that I might have a chance to get by Denny, but at the same time being stuck in that outside lane there was so much too lose, I was really nervous about just getting to the bottom and protecting the position I was in. All in all, a good day. I wish we could have won, but we just didn’t have anything for the 11 on that last run.”
Hamlin led the final 139 laps for the win. Montoya, Kyle Busch and Gordon rounded out the top five.
Johnson now leads Martin (-118), Gordon (-150), Tony Stewart (-192) and Montoya (-200) in the Championship standings with four races remaining.
The Sprint Cup Series circuit will now travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the next event on the schedule.
Team Lowe’s Racing has Perfect Weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing pulled off the perfect weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, leading all three practice sessions, earning the pole position Thursday evening (by posting the fastest qualifying lap of any Sprint Cup race this season) and leading 92 of 334 laps on the way to Victory Lane in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series event.
This is Johnson’s sixth win at the hometown track and his first since 2005. He has extended his Championship lead to 90 points over Mark Martin.
“It is a big boost,” said Johnson, the first driver to ever win three of the first five races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. “We’ve taken a lot of pride in the years to run well here in everyone’s backyard. The fact that Lowe’s is our sponsor and the track sponsor has always been something cool to win and celebrate and spend that moment with the Lowe’s executives in victory lane has been special, and to do it here for the last race that the track is sponsored by Lowe’s is cool. Glad to be back.”
When the green flag waved high above the 1.5-mile track, Johnson shuffled his way around the top 10. He remained there for most of the event, but eventually found himself upfront.
The No. 48 Lowe’s Impala led the race five times for a total of 92 laps (more than any other car), including the final 14, where Johnson pulled away from Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne for his 46th career win.
“We really struggled trying to get things right,” explained Johnson. “Trying to get the balance right on the short-run, the long-run. I thought the No. 9 (Kasey Kahne) had this thing in the bag. On that last pit stop on when it came to the restarts we had what we needed for five or six quick laps. This thing was fast. It worked.
“The perfect weekend which is what Chad (Knaus) always wanted to do. Win every practice, qualifying and the race and we got it.”
Kenseth, Kahne, Gordon and Joey Lagano followed Johnson to the finish line.
Johnson now leads Martin (-90), Gordon (-135), Tony Stewart (-155) and Kurt Busch -177 in the Championship standings.
Next weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway will be the sixth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson has won five of the last six races at the half-mile Virginia track, including last fall’s event.
First-place finish at California leads Team Lowe’s to Top of the Chase
Jimmie Johnson held on during a frantic finish to Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway to earn his fifth win of the season. He now leads the standings in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Johnson started the race third and maintained top 10 position throughout the day. He battled Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead early in the race and swapped the top position with teammate Jeff Gordon several times in the closing laps.
“It is such a long race and so much takes place,” said Johnson, who led 126 of 250 laps on the way to his 45th career win. “Just a solid day all along. I’m so proud of this Lowe’s team. I’m so thankful to Lowe’s for allowing me to put the (Jimmie Johnson) foundation on the side of the car. Man what an awesome car and what an awesome day. Those cautions at the end really had me nervous. I just didn’t know what to do on the restarts.”
While there were only three cautions in the first half of the event, the yellow flag waved five times in the final 65 laps, including an eight-car accident that brought out the red flag with six laps remaining.
When the race restarted for the final time, there were three laps to go. Johnson lined up on the inside of Gordon and led the field to the green flag.
After several tight double-file restarts, Johnson had no problem the final time, cruising away from Gordon and Montoya and crossing the finish line 1.603 seconds ahead of Gordon.
“The restarts were really tough because it’s such a long straightaway and the draft is so important that the guy who is in the second row really controls who ends up with the lead going into Turn 1,” explained Johnson. “So I was doing it wrong for a while and finally on that last restart I got it right and we had such a good car that I felt like if somebody did pass me I could get back by him in a couple of laps. So with the green-white-checkered at the end I had to get it right and luckily I did.”
Johnson is now in first place in the standings, 12 points ahead of Mark Martin.
“That’s awesome,” said Johnson. “That’s what we wanted. Keep chipping away at it but obviously there’s a lot of racing left. We’re in good shape. My home state, Jimmie Johnson Foundation on the side of the car, fans are going crazy, I can’t thank them enough. I’m just really, really happy.”
The next stop on the Sprint Cup Series circuit is Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Johnson and Team Lowe’s, Finish Ninth at Kansas
Jimmie Johnson finished ninth in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway. He remains second in the driver standings, now 18 points behind leader Mark Martin.
After starting from the 11th spot, Johnson moved quickly into the top 10 and the Lowe’s team made minor adjustments throughout the day to help tune in the Kobalt Tools Chevrolet. On Lap 62 Johnson took the lead for the first time and led for a total of 53 laps, consistently battling Greg Biffle for first place.
Around the halfway point of the race, Johnson brought the 48 Chevy down pit road for four tires, while many of the leaders only took two. It sent Johnson back to the track in 11th spot, putting him in dirty air and making it tough to pass.
“We had such a good car we felt like four was really the way to go,” said Johnson. “We certainly lost some track position and were in dirty air. I don’t know, something happened. We were so fast the run before. I had come through traffic a couple of other times. Then the car was really tough to drive, edgy and all over the place so I’m not sure what happened. We’ll have to get home and look at the car and see what is going on there. It could have just been the track position. So many guys took two and we took four.”
He continued to battle for top-ten position throughout the event but was never able to make a charge and finished ninth.
“There at the end, we were just trying to get some track position back and I just didn’t have the speed that I had the start of the race and had lost a couple of more spots,” explained Johnson. “At the end of the day, we finished ninth and that isn’t too bad. We hate to see guys we are racing in points ahead of us but that’s the way it goes.”
Tony Stewart picked up his first win of the Chase by beating Jeff Gordon to the finish line. Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
Next weekend’s race at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.) will be the fourth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson is the defending race winner of that event.
Team Lowe’s Racing Dominates at Dover
Jimmie Johnson dominated Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Dover International Speedway, starting from the pole and leading 271 of 400 laps on the way to his 44th-career victory.
When the green-flag waved over the one-mile concrete oval, Johnson immediately reported a much more “stable” Lowe’s Chevrolet from the previous day’s practice. While he had to work with a loose car early in the race, Johnson never fell below 11th and quickly worked his way back to the front.
“Qualifying Friday went really, really well for us,” said Johnson. “Yesterday, we could post a decent lap, and I could slide the car around the corner and run some okay times. But I was a little nervous yesterday after practice, and knew that we needed to build some comfort in the car. If I was in traffic, I was going to really have my hands full.”
“Last night we went through some options and talked about changes,” explained Johnson. “After that Chad worked on a few ideas and talked with Greg Ives and got back with me later in the night. The suggestions he mentioned just kind of hit something in my stomach, and just hit me inside like that is what I need. …So I woke up this morning very optimistic. And by about lap two or three I knew we had a very balanced car, and we’d be competitive all day long, get a solid finish.
“I wasn’t sure it would go as well as it did and lead as many laps and all that kind of thing. But I had a good sign, good indication early that we were going to be competitive.”
Johnson ended up leading the 400-lap race three times for a total of 271 laps, including from Lap 176 to 400.
“You know, obviously it was a great day for us,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “Jimmie did a fantastic job. He really manned up today. He did a really, really good job of handling the car. The thing that’s always encouraging to me is everybody pictures Jimmie as a calm guy and very fluid with the steering wheel, and very fluid with his inputs. I think he really enjoys coming here because this is a place you have to get up on the wheel, and chew on the steering wheel and be aggressive, and tell the car what to do.”
“It was all Jimmie today,” added Knaus. “Pit crew did a solid job. We did a decent job making adjustments, but it wound up in Jimmie’s hands. He made it fantastic.”
The win moves Johnson to a tie with Bill Elliott for 14th on NASCAR’s All-Time Wins list.
“That’s so cool,” said Johnson. “It really, really is. I can remember growing you and watching Bill in that No. 9 car. And to be able to be that high in the record books and to be with the greats in the sport, it means a lot to me. It’s something that I really never thought would take place, and it’s something I’m experiencing now and the emotions and the thoughts that come with.
“So it’s a great honor. An exciting thing for me is I feel like there is a lot of racing left in me and a lot of competitive racing. I can keep climbing that ladder and be higher up there in the record books.”
Johnson’s five wins at Dover also tie him with David Pearson for victories at the track, behind Richard Petty and Bobby Allison who each have seven. Additionally, he has the most Dover wins of any active driver. Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon have four each.
“We’re just going to have to do what we can,” said Johnson. “There is no free lunch in this sport, and especially racing Mark Martin. You’re going to have to earn every point. And you know, we’ve closed up a little bit on him today. There’s eight more to go.”
“I’m excited to see that we’ve gapped some of the other chase contenders,” continued Johnson. “Might not be exciting for the fans and everybody else, but the bigger gap we can put between us and those guys to single out the cars, the easier my job is. That’s what I hope we can keep doing.”
Martin followed Johnson to the finish line to finish second. Matt Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
Next weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway will be the third of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson is the defending race winner of that event.
Johnson Earns Top-5 at New Hampshire
Jimmie Johnson started 16th in the first event of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Johnson ran in the top 10 for nearly the entire event and required minor adjustments to fix a tight center on his No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS early in the race.
Various pit strategies began playing out from the midway point of the race. Johnson even led for 14 laps, earning five bonus points.
The closing laps brought out several cautions and double-file restarts produced some exciting closing laps. Johnson was able to stay out of trouble and maintained a fourth-place spot throughout, bringing home the first top-five finish for the Lowe’s team in the Chase.
“Yeah, good day for us,” said Johnson. “Strategy got a little weird there in the middle part of the race. Cautions at the end really weren’t working for us, we were starting to catch the 2 (Kurt Busch) and the 5 (Mark Martin). The way the tires were cycling around. It worked out well. We were running strong all day long and I’m glad we got a good top-five. Great start to the Chase — very happy with things.”
Johnson’s fourth-place finish puts him in a tie for second in points with Denny Hamlin, 35 points behind leader Mark Martin.
The second race in the Chase takes place at Dover International Speedway where Johnson has four wins and six top-five finishes in 15 starts.
