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.
Lowe’s Chevy Short on Fuel at Michigan
Jimmie Johnson dominated Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway, leading 165 of 200 laps before running out of fuel with fewer than two laps remaining.
“Certainly frustrating,” said Johnson. “We had a lot of power under the hood. It takes a lot of fuel…we had a great car. It’s not fun to have stats like we do here, leading laps and not go to victory lane, but we are working hard at it.”
Johnson started the race fourth and led six times throughout the event, only falling out of the top three due to pit cycles.
Johnson, who has never won at the two-mile track, had the car to beat all day. He reported a tight Lowe’s Chevy early and a loose car late, but never had a hard time staying up front. The No.48 team pitted for the final time on Lap 149 for four tires and fuel. But despite saving gas under caution, and also while leading, Johnson was unable to make it the final 51 laps.
“We had the fastest car by a bunch and I hate it for Jimmie and I hate it for all my guys,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “We just really didn’t have a choice. It’s just like the last race here. When you lead all the laps; when you get to the end, you don’t want to just fall back and settle for a fifth or a sixth-place finish. That’s not what we wanted to do. Fortunately enough, we’re in a position to where if it would have worked out, we would have been great. It would have a storybook ending for us, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
On Lap 198 Johnson reported to the team that he was out of gas and came to pit road. He returned to the track and crossed the finish line 33rd.
“Just the way it goes,” said Johnson. “We did all that we could. Unfortunately we didn’t make it. This car makes a lot of horse power and I’ve got to thank the engine shop for that. Days like to day it didn’t work out. So I’ve just got to thank this crew for working so hard, all the Lowe’s employees and a big congratulations to (race winner) Brian (Vickers).”
The result dropped Team Lowe’s Racing to third in the point standings, 19 points behind second place Jeff Gordon and 303 behind leader Tony Stewart.
Johnson Runs out of Fuel on Final Lap at Michigan; Finishes 22nd
Despite starting third and leading 146 laps in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Michigan International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson finished 22nd after running out of gas on the final lap.The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion dominated the 200-lap race before running out of gas just after taking the white flag. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin passed Johnson and second-place running Greg Biffle, who also ran out of gas, for the win.
“It’s a shame to have such strong racing and come back with a 22nd-place result,” said Johnson after climbing out of the Lowe’s Impala. “But what do you do? We raced hard. We led the most laps. At a time when it’s tough to pass guys on big tracks, we went up there and passed the No. 5 (Martin) and passed the No. 16 (Biffle). So on the bright side of things, I’m really happy with the performance we had and we really closed the gap on these guys here at Michigan, but unfortunately we didn’t win.”
Johnson showed he had the dominant car early in the race, taking the lead from pole sitter Brian Vickers in the opening laps. Johnson radioed in few problems to crew chief Chad Knaus and the crew made minimal adjustments throughout the day.
When a caution flag flew on Lap 152, Knaus brought the Lowe’s Chevy down pit road for a final pit stop, packing it with gas and putting the team close to the window to make it to the finish without refueling. Johnson restarted third after the stop and methodically caught Martin and Biffle, who were running second and first, respectively. Johnson went on to lead the remaining laps before running out of gas on the final circuit.
“That happens sometimes,” said Johnson. “The car that leads the most laps doesn’t win. Unfortunately we’re in that category today but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. Great pit stops, great race car. We had an awesome day; we were just one lap short on fuel. I guess I had to work harder than we factored for getting by the No. 5 and the No. 16. I drove up through there and got by them and got back to the lead and thought we were in great shape and unfortunately we ran out of fuel.”
Johnson remains third in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 142 behind leader Tony Stewart.
Next Sunday’s event takes place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course is one of only six tracks on which Johnson hasn’t won a Cup race. The event will be broadcast live on TNT beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
