A few weeks ago a few pundits had written off Jimmie Johnson’s title hopes for a record extending his NASCAR championships to six due to a slow start in the Chase.
In the past two weeks has quieted those “experts” with a second at Dover and dominating win in Kansas despite starting a lowly 19th.
Johnson held off a late race charge by Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered finish created when Jeff Gordon's engine blew upon Lap 265. Kahne never got to a threatening position and was second .548 seconds in a race that went to lap 272 instead of scheduled 267.
The victory ended a 21-race winless drought; Johnson’s longest losing streak. It was also the champion’s second win of the year and 55th in career tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time list. It was also the 199 win for the Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) organization.
An amazing comeback by Carl Edwards, who finished fifth after struggling from the start of the race put him one point in the Cup Standings ahead of Kevin Harvick, who finished sixth.
Carl Edwards said “I cannot believe we finished fifth. It feels like a win. That's the best we've done with the worst ‑‑ the most we've done with a car that wasn't capable of winning ever, so I'm really proud of my guys who made good adjustments.”
Johnson shrugged off the dry spell “we’ve been close, but, haven’t got the job done. I've messed up, we've had pit road issues, we've had a lot of little things go wrong, and we've had a lot of second place finishes that should have been wins.”
Kahne, who will join HMS next year, and drives the Red Bull Toyota explained “Jimmie was the car to beat all day that I could tell, so I knew he was going to be fast once we got going, and he actually just jumped ‑‑ like he took off before I expected him to, so I just was thinking it was going to be a little bit later, and when he took off I kind of jumped it and hit the throttle maybe a little too aggressively, spun the tires and then got them back and was accelerating.”
Jimmie Johnson explained his restart “I just made sure I picked the lane which was not dirty.”
Brad Keselowski, who started 12th, also struggled early but came back to finish third and move up to fourth in the points.
“We were about a third‑ or fifth place car today and brought home a third, so proud of that effort. Kasey looked really good there at the end,” he said.
Johnson led a race high 197 laps had as much as a 12-second over Tony Stewart at one point. Stewart ended up 15th after sliding into his pit stall causing a lengthy pit stop.
It there was frustration then jubilation for Johnson who moved to fourth in the points.
The late race cautions continually erased considerable margins. “All I wanted to see was the white. That whole process makes for a long race,” added Johnson.
In the past two weeks has quieted those “experts” with a second at Dover and dominating win in Kansas despite starting a lowly 19th.
Johnson held off a late race charge by Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered finish created when Jeff Gordon's engine blew upon Lap 265. Kahne never got to a threatening position and was second .548 seconds in a race that went to lap 272 instead of scheduled 267.
The victory ended a 21-race winless drought; Johnson’s longest losing streak. It was also the champion’s second win of the year and 55th in career tying him with Rusty Wallace for eighth on the all-time list. It was also the 199 win for the Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) organization.
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| Jimmie Johnson wins in Kansas. (Photo: nascar.com) |
An amazing comeback by Carl Edwards, who finished fifth after struggling from the start of the race put him one point in the Cup Standings ahead of Kevin Harvick, who finished sixth.
Carl Edwards said “I cannot believe we finished fifth. It feels like a win. That's the best we've done with the worst ‑‑ the most we've done with a car that wasn't capable of winning ever, so I'm really proud of my guys who made good adjustments.”
Johnson shrugged off the dry spell “we’ve been close, but, haven’t got the job done. I've messed up, we've had pit road issues, we've had a lot of little things go wrong, and we've had a lot of second place finishes that should have been wins.”
Kahne, who will join HMS next year, and drives the Red Bull Toyota explained “Jimmie was the car to beat all day that I could tell, so I knew he was going to be fast once we got going, and he actually just jumped ‑‑ like he took off before I expected him to, so I just was thinking it was going to be a little bit later, and when he took off I kind of jumped it and hit the throttle maybe a little too aggressively, spun the tires and then got them back and was accelerating.”
Jimmie Johnson explained his restart “I just made sure I picked the lane which was not dirty.”
Brad Keselowski, who started 12th, also struggled early but came back to finish third and move up to fourth in the points.
“We were about a third‑ or fifth place car today and brought home a third, so proud of that effort. Kasey looked really good there at the end,” he said.
Johnson led a race high 197 laps had as much as a 12-second over Tony Stewart at one point. Stewart ended up 15th after sliding into his pit stall causing a lengthy pit stop.
It there was frustration then jubilation for Johnson who moved to fourth in the points.
The late race cautions continually erased considerable margins. “All I wanted to see was the white. That whole process makes for a long race,” added Johnson.