Team Lowe’s Earns First Road-Course Win
Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team checked one more track off their “to-do” list Sunday by earning their first career road-course victory at Infineon Raceway.
Johnson started second in the 110-lap race but passed pole sitter Kasey Kahne on the first trip around the 1.99-mile track to officially lead the first lap. He proved the dominance of his Lowe’s Chevrolet by leading the first 33 laps before giving up the top spot for a green-flag pit stop on Lap 34.
He quickly resumed the lead when the field cycled through pit stops, leading another 15 circuits by Lap 57.
When a caution flag waved on Lap 58, Johnson and others headed down pit road for four tires and fuel while six drivers remained on the track. Johnson lined up seventh for the restart on Lap 61 and had driven to third by Lap 63.
Marcos Ambrose, who took the lead on Lap 62, soon found Johnson in his rearview mirror and battled the Lowe’s machine for the top position before Johnson came down pit road for his final green-flag stop on Lap 79.
Before the entire field was able to make green-flag stops, the yellow flag waved for a spinning No. 20 car and Johnson lined up fifth for the restart on Lap 88 behind those cars which hadn’t yet pitted. Ambrose and Johnson quickly drove to first and second place when the race restarted and Ambrose went to work holding off a hard-charging Johnson the following 14 laps.
But when a final caution period took place on Lap 103, Johnson was poised to capitalize on a critical mistake which Ambrose made.
Ambrose turned his engine off on the track while making caution laps in an attempt to save fuel and was unable to get it to restart. He pulled aside, refired his machine as other cars passed, and drove back to the front of the field to reclaim the top position.
But NASCAR rules state that drivers must maintain the speed of the caution car under a yellow flag and NASCAR officials placed Ambrose in the seventh spot for the restart, moving Johnson to the lead with four laps remaining.
Johnson had a great restart on Lap 106 and drove away from second and third place Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick to take the checkered flag 3.105 seconds ahead of Gordon.
“We led a lot of laps today which was really nice to do,” said Johnson. “Had to make some good passes at times. Feel like it was a complete day, complete weekend. Very proud to see all the hard work that Chad has put into our road course program, Hendrick Motorsports, what they have done, all those test days we left frustrated, mad. We just had one three or four weeks ago and I don’t think we talked for a day or two after that one. It’s so frustrating trying to find a little something that makes a difference. To have that all come full circle and be here is really cool.”
This is Johnson’s 307th career start and 51st win. He jumped two spots to second in the driver point standings.
“I think it was a great performance by the whole team, like Jimmie said,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “All weekend long. Collectively from Hendrick Motorsports team standpoint, I think we probably test, practice, prepare for the road course races probably 50% more than what we do for the ovals. If you look at comparison ratios how many road course races we run versus ovals, it’s been an amazing effort.”
“We knew we were behind,” continued Knaus. “We had to get our product better. We felt like our drivers needed to get better. We put a lot of effort into it. Jimmie personally has put a lot of effort into upping his road course racing capabilities and he’s done a great job… I’m very proud. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort from the company’s standpoint, 2 4 8 shop and from the 48 team in particular.”
Chicago, Michigan, Homestead and Watkins Glen remain on Johnson’s no-wins list.
Team Lowe’s Finishes 4th at Infineon Raceway
Jimmie Johnson finished fourth in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Infineon Raceway.
Aside from a penalty for speeding on pit road, Johnson ran in the top-10 throughout the event before earning his second career top-five finish with an 11th-place result at the 1.99-mile road course.
“Yeah it was a good finish,” said Johnson, who remains third in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. “Unfortunately we were speeding on pit road and I had to come back from that. I passed a lot of cars so very proud of the effort, very proud of the race car.”
The only hiccup of the day occurred when Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy made contact with the No. 2 car of Kurt Busch in the ess turns of the speedway on Lap 90 of 110.
“Unfortunately I got together with the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) getting into the esses and got him into the wall so I had to find him and apologize,” explained Johnson. “It was just a racing deal, nothing more. It left a bruise on the left front but other than that it was a good day.
“We went through a lot with the pit road speeding penalty and we had to fight back from that. But what a great race car. Chad (Knaus) and the guys did a great job. I was real fast on the long runs so I could just work away at it. I’m very proud of this Lowe’s Impala in the top-four here at Infineon Raceway. This has been a tough, tough track for us so we are getting better and making progress.”
Kasey Kahne grabbed the victory with Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose, Johnson and Denny Hamlin following him to the finish line. Stewart remains the Sprint Cup Series points leader, followed by Jeff Gordon (-84). Johnson (-157), Kurt Busch (-280) and Carl Edwards (-313).
