Team Takes Points Lead with 9th-Place Martinsville Finish
Jimmie Johnson earned his 16th top-10 finish in 17 starts at Martinsville Speedway with a ninth-place result in Monday’s rain-delayed race.
The result propelled Team Lowe’s Racing to first place in the point standings, 14 ahead of second-place Greg Biffle.
Johnson started the event from the third spot after rain washed out Friday’s qualifying session and the field was set by driver points. When the green flag waved, Johnson began battling a loose Lowe’s Chevrolet, but it quickly took a turn and became tight, a condition he would fight throughout the race.
As the laps ticked off, Johnson maintained top-five position on the track as the Lowe’s crew went to work during pit stops. They continued to work on the free condition but Johnson remained tight throughout the race, falling as low as 13th.
Team Lowe’s Racing was running eighth and looked to be closing in on a top-10 finish when Jeff Burton brought out the yellow flag with seven laps remaining. Crew chief Chad Knaus opted not to pit and Johnson lined up sixth, on the outside of row three, when the race restarted.
Johnson wasn’t able move down the track to the inside line and lost several positions before a final caution flag waved with two laps to go.
With a green-white-checkered finish looming, Johnson lined up 11th and set his sights on a top-10 finish. When the race resumed, Johnson battled his way around the track for two frantic laps.
“It was chaos,” said Johnson. “It is amazing the way these bumpers line up. Somebody four cars back can start pushing the guy four cars ahead if he just gets in there and stays in the gas. Looked like someone started pushing the No. 17 (Kenseth) the way that whole thing looked in front of me. I saw the No. 24 (Gordon) leave the bottom and we go in the next turn and the No. 17 was off the bottom. It looked pretty crazy from where I was sitting.”
Johnson escaped unscathed and crossed the finish line ninth.
“We were trying some stuff through the company, especially on the 48 car today,” explained Johnson. “We thought we would get it sorted out in practice and just came up a little short. Didn’t get enough time with our new ideas. Good race experience with it today and we know what we were trying here today will help us at other tracks down the road. In some respects you wish you could just come back with the same stuff all the time and have it work but this garage area doesn’t sit still. With the fast start we have had we wanted to be smart and try some things out. Ninth today was about it for us.”
The finish propelled Johnson to first place in the driver point standings, 14 points ahead of Greg Biffle and 16 ahead of Matt Kenseth .
Teams will enjoy an off weekend before heading west to Phoenix International Raceway for the next Sprint Cup Series event.
The April 10 event will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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.
Chad Knaus Named WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Martinsville
Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy driven by three-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, has been named the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
After starting in the ninth position due to qualifying being rained out, Johnson began fighting a tight race car early in the race. With three cautions in the first 70 laps, Johnson was the only driver on the lead lap to pit twice, losing vital track position and falling as low as 25th place by lap 100.
“We went ahead and took the opportunity to pit and try to make the car a little bit better because we knew if we didnt take the opportunity then, we wouldnt have enough time to get back up through the field,” said crew chief Knaus.
Knaus’ patience and his crew’s flawless pit stops paid off as Johnson moved up the leaderboard and soared past leader Denny Hamlin with 70 laps to go. Hamlin slipped by Johnson 26 laps later, but in crunch time with 15 laps to go, Johnson made the final pass of the day for the lead, and sailed to victory.
“We didnt have an easy day today,” said Johnson. “We had to stay together as a team, work through a lot of changes, a loss of track position to make the car better and fight for the front, count on pit stops, count on good driving. It took a team effort today. Im very proud of that.”
“I was really impressed with the way [the No. 48 team] handled business this weekend,” said Jeff Hammond FOX Sports analyst and WYPALL Wipers spokesman. “Knaus and his team are proven winners, it’s hard to keep them out of Victory Lane for too long. It’s not a surprise that they won again [five of the last six races] here in Martinsville.”
Bob Osborne, crew chief for the No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford (Carl Edwards), Todd Berrier, crew chief for the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing (Kevin Harvick) and FOX/Speed Channel analyst Hammond, along with representatives from the WYPALL Wipers brand, serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly wins will be honored as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
Former winners of the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge include Tony Eury, Sr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), Robbie Reiser (Matt Kenseth), Doug Richert (Greg Biffle), Mike Ford (Denny Hamlin) and Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson).
Knaus, Johnson and Team Lowes Win at Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson helped Rick Hendrick celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory in a special way Sunday – by taking him to Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 of the last 13 races at the .526-mile track; Johnson has won five of the last six.
The result marks Johnson’s 41st Sprint Cup Series win and his 14th top-10 finish in 15 starts at Martinsville.
Starting from the ninth spot due to qualifying being cancelled, Johnson found himself fighting a tight race car early in the 500-lap Sprint Cup Series race.
With three cautions in the first 70 laps, Johnson was the only driver on the lead lap to pit twice, losing vital track position to work on the racecar. On Lap 100, the Team Lowe’s Racing driver was running 27th.
“It didn’t start out the way we wanted to, for sure,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “We didn’t get a lot of practice on Friday because of the rain. The new tire threw everybody for a loop. When we started the race, we kind of went a different direction than what we thought, than what we had in the past. The car wasn’t what it needed to be.”
“We caught a couple cautions pretty early,” Knaus continued. “We went ahead and took that opportunity to pit and try to make the car a little bit better because we knew if we didn’t take the opportunity then, we wouldn’t have enough time to get back up through the field.”
Slowly, Knaus found the right setup for the No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS. On Lap 235, Johnson broke into the top 10 for the first time.
The longer the race went, the better Johnson was and on Lap 430 the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion passed Denny Hamlin for his first lead of the day.
“Fortunately enough, we got the car better,” explained Knaus. “It took the whole race to get it there. Jimmie did a really good job, showed a lot of patience, and the pit crew did a great job with the pit stops.”
Johnson and Hamlin would go on to swap the front spot two more times before Johnson muscled his way around Hamlin for the final pass with 16 laps remaining.
“I just patiently worked away at him and got in an area where I could try to out brake him and get into position in turn three,” said Johnson. “I got in there alongside of him and he kept coming down to go to the inside line. We made some contact. I think I went up over the curve. We were both sideways. Fortunately nobody tore anything up.”
“I think it’s really tough, short track racing,” continued Johnson. “I think Denny was trying hard to protect his lead, winning in his home state. I wanted to get to the front really bad because I want to win one.”
Johnson now has more wins at the paperclip-shaped short track than any other venue on the Sprint Cup Series circuit. He has five victories at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
