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.
Johnson Finishes 13th in Rain-Delayed / Rain-Shortened 600
Jimmie Johnson finished 13th in Monday’s rain-delayed Memorial Day weekend event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
After the Coca-Cola 600 was postponed due to rain showers in the area Sunday night, Johnson started the event fifth when race activities resumed at Noon Monday.
The three-time champion ran between first and eighth for most of the race, but battled a loose, then tight car as the field worked around rain-delays. When the race was halted for the third time due to weather on Lap 227 of 400, Johnson came down pit road for four tires and fuel and returned to the track 13th. David Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon stayed on the track.
After making five laps under caution, NASCAR brought out the red flag for rain, freezing the field.
“It wasn’t quite how we wanted things to turn out,” said Johnson. “We were up front for most of the race but battled loose and then tight the last run. I think we would’ve been fine if we would have had some more laps. I know we did everything we could to get it in though.”
After a two-plus hour delay, the race was called and Reutimann was declared the winner. Johnson was credited with a 13th-place finish. Newman, Gordon, Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers rounded out the top five.
“I appreciate the fans who stuck around and watched on TV,” added Johnson. “We really wanted to get the Lowe’s Impala SS into Victory Lane for Memorial Day and especially for the more than 12,000 Lowe’s employees who were on our car. We’ll have to go get them at Dover.”
Johnson finishes 13th in Sprint All-Star Challenge
Jimmie Johnson started from the pole and led every lap of Segment 1 in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. But what looked to be a dominant car in the early stages of the event eventually crossed the finish line 13th.
After coming in for four tires and adjustments to a slightly-tight race car between the first and second segments, Johnson returned to the track to restart fifth. The two-time All-Star race winner quickly moved to third when the green-flag waved and remained there for the entire 20-lap run, despite reporting the 48 Chevrolet had become very tight.
A yellow flag for an optional pit stop was presented to teams between Segments 2 and 3. While many cars remained on the track, Johnson came down pit road for four tires and adjustments. He returned to the track 14th to begin Segment 3.
Johnson had driven to ninth place when the first caution of the night came at Lap 73. By the end of the third installment, he had moved to fifth, where he would restart for Segment 4, a 10-lap shootout to the finish.
But on the first lap of the final chapter, Johnson was tapped from behind by Denny Hamlin in Turn 4, and went spinning wildly across the track. Johnson made an incredible save and didn’t hit anything, but had to bring the Kobalt Tools Chevy down pit lane for four fresh tires.
“Fortunately I didn’t hit anything and nobody ran into us,” said Johnson. “But we lost so much track position and at that point we just kept coming to pit road and making changes to the car to try to get some more data for next weekend’s race. If you weren’t in those first two or three rows, you really didn’t have a shot. And I was there, but unfortunately got spun around on the back and lost all that track position and was just kind of riding from there.”
Johnson slowly and patiently worked his way through the field for the remaining laps, including two more caution periods, and finished 13th.
“We led a bunch at the beginning and we had a car that was really good for 10 laps,” explained Johnson. “With the final segment being a 10-lap shootout, I thought we were in great shape. I just wish I was on the front stretch partying after the race.”
Tony Stewart won the non-points event, collecting the $1 million dollar prize. Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Mark Martin finished sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossed the line 10th. Jeff Gordon was involved in a wreck and was credited with a 19th-place result.
