Team Lowe’s Earns 5th-Place Finish in Pocono
Jimmie Johnson drove from 22nd to fifth in the final 22 laps of Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway to secure his eighth top-10 finish of the season.
Following an approximate one hour and 45 minute rain delay, Johnson began the scheduled 200-lap race 25th after he fought a loose car during Friday’s qualifying session.
Johnson quickly showed the field how strong the Lowe’s Chevrolet was, driving to 10th by Lap 53, sixth by Lap 100 and second by Lap 138.
When the third yellow flag of the day waved on Lap 154, Johnson and the rest of the field came down pit road for service. Just a few laps later another yellow flag was displayed and the leading cars, including Johnson, stayed on the track while drivers deeper in the field took advantage of the chance to fill up on fuel.
When the fifth caution period arrived, Johnson and the other leading drivers who hadn’t pitted before headed to pit lane for gas, forcing them to the back of the field when they returned to the track. Johnson found himself restarting 20th.
Five short laps later debris in Turn 3 forced another yellow and Johnson came down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted 22nd.
When the green flag waved on Lap 179, Johnson once again showed how good the No. 48 machine was, shooting through the field, picking off 16 cars in 20 laps by the time a Lap 199 accident caused a green-white-checker finish.
Johnson lined up sixth for the two-lap shootout and picked up one spot in the final dash to bring home the top-five finish.
“We had a great race car,” said Johnson. “We got up to second and were running with the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) on pace. And then the pit strategy stuff started coming into play and I was maybe a little cautious on some of the restarts trying to take care of myself and not tear up another race car. And maybe it cost me a little bit. But in the end, great performance. We had a top car, a top speed car all day long and I brought it home in fifth.”
The most dramatic moment of the race took place when contact between A.J Allmendinger and Kasey Kahne sparked an eight-car accident on the final lap of the event.
“There’s so much to lose and so much chaos on the track,” said Johnson. “It’s one thing when you’re at Bristol going 100 mph; but when you’re running 200 mph and seeing some of these moves, it was pretty crazy and I hope everybody is all right on the back stretch.”
Denny Hamlin earned his fourth win of the season. Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Johnson rounded out the top five.
Johnson moved up one spot in the driver point standings to sixth, now 214 points behind leader Harvick.
Team Lowe’s Comes from Three Laps Down to Finish 13th at Pocono
After coming back from a three-lap deficit in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race, Jimmie Johnson gained 12 positions in the final 13 laps to cross the finish line 13th.
Johnson started the 200-lap Pocono Raceway event second and led the first 22 laps before dropping to third. He remained in the top three until Lap 98, when he came down pit road for four tires while many others opted for two.
Johnson restarted 19th on Lap 102 but fewer than three laps later reported to the team that he had no power. He brought the Lowe’s Impala SS down pit road where the 48 team made a quick fix under the hood and sent Johnson back to the track on the lead lap.
But the problem on the car wasn’t fixed and Johnson began running dangerously close to NASCAR’s minimum speed requirement, falling as low as 38th on the leader board.
Despite losing three laps to the leader, because there were no cars one lap down, Johnson continued to get the “Lucky Dog” award as yellow flags waved, allowing crew chief Chad Knaus and team to work under the hood as they gained laps back.
During a lengthy caution period with around 50 laps remaining, the team replaced several things under the hood of the Lowe’s machine and Johnson took off.
Thanks to a few quick cautions, Johnson moved back to the lead lap on Lap 174. On Lap 180, Johnson avoided a six-car accident and moved to 25th, where he restarted on Lap 187 before making his final charge to the front.
The 13th-place result allowed Johnson to remain second in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 197 behind leader Tony Stewart.
Johnson Finishes 7th at Pocono
Jimmie Johnson was slated to start third in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Pocono Raceway after Friday’s qualifying session was canceled due to rain.
But when pole-sitter and points-leader Tony Stewart wrecked his primary racecar in Saturday’s practice session, Johnson’s inside row moved up, allowing him to start from the top spot.
Johnson led 31 of the first 38 laps before falling victim to Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. The Lowe’s Chevrolet continued to run in the top-five for the next 65 laps.
On Lap 104 of 200, as Johnson was entering pit road for a green-flag stop, the caution flag came out for debris. Johnson continued to his pit stall and took four tires and fuel but as a penalty for pitting too soon was forced to start at the tail end of the longest line when the green flag waved.
“It was an exciting race,” said Johnson. “We were in a great position and unfortunately, coming to pit road to pit and the caution came out and I couldn’t see a flagman or lights or anything. But luckily, we rebounded from that and had a great car and drove up to the top five.”
Johnson restarted 25th, but quickly drove through the field, reentering the top-10 by Lap 123 of 200.
By Lap 170, Johnson had moved to third-place, just 1.5-seconds behind leader Stewart. Biffle was running second. By Lap 190, most of the top five cars slowed their lap speeds in order to save fuel, including Stewart, second-place Edwards, and Johnson.
“At the end we were just playing a fuel game,” explained Johnson. “I didn’t play it well enough. I had to run too hard at the start of that run to stay ahead and I just used up too much gas and I ran out coming into the tunnel turn.”
On Lap 199 of 200, Johnson caught Edwards for second place, but ran out of fuel in Turn 3, dropping to the bottom of the track. Johnson coasted to the finish line and was credited with a seventh-place finish. Stewart won the race.
“I tried,” said Johnson “And it was funny. I was just kind of riding and wondering who was going to go and when because everybody was about half-throttle. I was trying to get to the end on gas and I thought Carl (Edwards) ran out on the front so I got in the gas and got by him and I went down through (Turn) one and came down the backstretch and I ran out. And I’m like, oh yeah. Figures. So it was one of those days. But a big congratulations to Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing. Those guys have been doing a great job.”
The result allowed the three-time Champion to maintain the third spot in the driver standings, 103 points behind leader Stewart. Jeff Gordon is still second, 71 points back. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch round out the top-five.
The top five-finishers at Pocono were: Stewart, Edwards, David Reutimann, Gordon and Newman.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 19th and 27th, respectively. Martin is currently 13th in the point standings while Earnhardt Jr. is 20th.
