Team Lowe’s Grabs 1st Bristol Win, 50th Career Win
Jimmie Johnson took his first trip to Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday, earning his first win at the half-mile track, the 50th of his Sprint Cup Series career and the third of the season.
“I’m just proud of what we continue to do,” said Johnson following the race. “I mean, it’s one thing to have some success, but to continue to do it year after year, to find tracks that really are our weakest tracks, focus on them, get stronger and better at them, is a cool thing to experience. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. I wish everybody could see behind the scenes what effort goes into it from Chad’s side, everyone at Hendrick, building the cars, our engineers, the focus and dedication I have on how to drive this track better, the notes that we pour through, the conversations we have, trying to find the smallest details to make us better week in and week out at this track so we could finally win here.”
Johnson started Sunday’s race fourth and quickly moved to the front of the field, leading for the first time on Lap 6 of 500. He went on to run in the top five for the majority of the race, leading three times for 84 total laps.
When a caution flag waved with only 16 laps remaining, Johnson was running second and came down pit road for fresh tires. Johnson and race leader Kurt Busch opted for four tires while the remainder of the top 10 took only two.
“(Taking two tires) was a pretty easy decision for us,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “Obviously we were running in the second position coming onto pit road right behind the 2 car. We felt pretty confident that a lot of guys were going to take two tires, but I felt like if we had a really good pit stop, we’d roll out of the pits probably fourth. We had a good pit stop, and were sixth. With the amount of laps we had left, even though they were dwindling, I figured we’d have about 12 laps to go. We felt very confident we’d be able to get back up to the front, get a solid top five.”
Johnson lined up sixth when the race restarted on Lap 490 and quickly picked off the cars ahead of him, moving to third on the first lap and to the lead on Lap 494. The Lowe’s Chevrolet pulled away from the field during the final six circuits and crossed the finish line .894 seconds ahead of runner-up Tony Stewart.
“Every win is extremely special,” said Johnson. “But when a track kicks your butt for so long and you finally can win at that track, there’s just something really unique about that. That’s what I experienced today.”
Johnson moved to third in the driver point standings, 14 behind leader Kevin Harvick.
The Sprint Cup Series will continue short-track racing next weekend when they visit Martinsville Speedway. Johnson has won five of the last seven races at the paperclip-shaped track.
That event will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
CAREER NOTES:
Johnson’s Bristol win moves him to a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.
Johnson needed only 296 starts to hit the 50 mark. Only three drivers have reached 50 victories quicker – Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293).
Team Lowe’s Escapes from Bristol with Eighth-Place Finish
Jimmie Johnson finished eighth in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Johnson started the event 21st and quickly drove to the top ten when the green-flag dropped. He remained there throughout the evening, leading 107 of 500 laps.
A pit road mishap on Lap 423 forced Johnson to come back down pit road and the Lowe’s Chevy returned to the track 21st.
Johnson barely escaped an accident on Lap 438 and moved to the eighth position by Lap 469. He remained there the final 31 laps and collected his 15th top-10 finish of the season.
“We were the fastest car out there,” said Johnson. “We should be in victory lane. It’s just a bummer, really disappointed.”
The result bumped Johnson back to second place in the driver point standings, 220 behind leader Tony Stewart. Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards round out the top five.
Team Lowes Finishes 3rd at Bristol Motor Speedway
Jimmie Johnson was looking for two things during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway: a solid finish and a jump in the driver point standings.
Mission accomplished.
Driving the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet Impala SS, Johnson led two times for 88 laps on the way to a third-place finish at the half-mile short track. The top-five result boosted him to ninth place in the driver standings, just 38 points out of fifth.
“Great effort,” said Johnson, who also finished third at Bristol in the fall of 2004. “My guys sat me down a couple weeks ago, we went through our data. I made a wish list of what I wanted the car to do. Chad (Knaus) and the guys really gave me what I needed.
“I wish we could go race again for 500 more because with a couple small adjustments and the rhythm I was picking up on the racetrack, things were really starting to make sense to me.”
Johnson started the race third but stayed out during an early caution period to take the lead. He quickly showed the speed of his Lowe’s machine by leading the next 47 laps before being passed by eventual race winner Kyle Busch on Lap 68.
Despite hard racing with Busch and second-place finisher Denny Hamlin, Johnson never fell out of the top three until a mishap during a Lap 454 pit stop.
“We had a problem I think with getting the left rear on,” said Johnson. “I’m not exactly sure what happened but they were fighting with it.”
“We were lucky there weren’t a lot of cars on the lead lap and we were strung out on pit road – we still came out fifth,” Johnson added.”
Even with the slow pit stop, Johnson restarted the race in fifth place and steadily picked off Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne to return to third.
When Joey Logano lost an engine on Lap 495 of the scheduled 500, NASCAR threw a final caution flag, setting up a green-white-checker restart.
Johnson followed Busch and Hamlin to the green flag and held off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon to maintain his third-place finish.
“I’m very pleased,” said Johnson. “In some ways to be that close to a win and to see the 18 car pull into Victory Lane, I can now see what the leaders do, and I can visualize being in that position someday, where before we were so far off and had some decent runs but really weren’t in the race, racing for the win. Today we did that. So I’m very proud of all the work.”
The result marks Johnson’s third top five and seventh top-10 finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.
No. 48 crew earns pit road award in Bristol
The weekly competition recognizes over-the-wall pit crews for their speed in servicing the Cup cars.
Johnson’s crew was awarded the Tissot win after its Lowe’s Chevrolet Impala SS spent the least amount of time on pit road (235.745 seconds) during the 503-lap race at the famed half-mile Bristol oval. The quick stops lifted the three-time defending Cup champion to a solid third-place finish.
“Bristol is one of the most challenging as far as pit road goes,” said Chad Knaus, crew chief of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. “There’s a lot that goes on and there’s not a lot of room to work. The (No.) 48 crew did a good job and the fact that they were consistent all day getting Jimmie out of the pits helped the No. 48 Lowe’s Impala to a third-place finish.”
Johnson’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Mike Lingerfelt (front-tire changer), Art Simmons (front-tire carrier), Jeremy West (rear-tire changer), Andy Brown (rear-tire carrier), Kenneth Purcell (jackman), Rich Gutierrez (gasman), Mike Knauer (catch can) and Ron Malec (eighth man). The team’s pit crew coach is Greg Morin.
For winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, the No. 48 team will receive $5,000. The team with the most pit road wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will earn a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the driver and over-the-wall crew members.
