bigbadbrother
03-01-2016, 12:50 AM
Jerry Bonkowski
Jimmie Johnson moved into a tie for seventh on NASCAR’s all-time wins list with Dale Earnhardt, capturing his 76th career Sprint Cup victory Sunday.
Johnson took the checkered flag in the Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch as the race went five extra laps past the scheduled 325-lap event.
Richard Petty (200 wins) is the all-time winningest driver in the Sprint Cup Series, followed by David Pearson (105), Jeff Gordon (93), Darrell Waltrip (84), Bobby Allison (84), Cale Yarborough (83), Dale Earnhardt (76) and now Johnson (76).
It was a 1-2 Hendrick Motorsports finish with Johnson, who is now qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and Earnhardt Jr. Johnson took the lead for good on lap 286 and held on for the remaining 44 laps.
Kyle Busch, who won the pole position on Friday, only to have it disallowed after the No. 18 Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection, rallied from starting at the back of the field Sunday to finish third.
Older brother and revised pole sitter Kurt Busch finished fourth, while Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Kevin Harvick, who led a race-high 131 laps, spun his tires on the final restart with two laps to go and fell back to a sixth-place finish.
Martin Truex Jr. finished seventh, followed by Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Only 12 cars were on the lead lap when the checkered flag fell.
There was only one caution flag in the race (for debris on Lap 210) until Lap 322 when Ryan Newman experienced a single-car spin after apparently experiencing a tire failure. That put the race into overtime.
There was a four-car crash involving Aric Almirola, David Ragan and two other drivers on the final lap, bringing out the third and final caution, sealing Johnson’s win.
HOW JOHNSON WON: Crew chief Chad Knaus wasn’t taking any chances. He brought Johnson in early on the final green-flag stop — 10 laps ahead of Harvick, who had a much slower stop. Johnson took the lead and stayed there. “It was definitely a gutsy call,” Johnson told Fox Sports. “The 4 car was awfully tough and it was going to take some strategy to get by him. When (Knaus) told me to whip it as hard as I could there, I just felt like I was going to take too much lap out of the tires, but it worked. I got rolling around the top and got to where I got to Victory Lane.” Another big key was the final restart. Johnson had a perfect jump, while Harvick spun his tires and fell back, ending any chance for a last-lap rally.
Jimmie Johnson moved into a tie for seventh on NASCAR’s all-time wins list with Dale Earnhardt, capturing his 76th career Sprint Cup victory Sunday.
Johnson took the checkered flag in the Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch as the race went five extra laps past the scheduled 325-lap event.
Richard Petty (200 wins) is the all-time winningest driver in the Sprint Cup Series, followed by David Pearson (105), Jeff Gordon (93), Darrell Waltrip (84), Bobby Allison (84), Cale Yarborough (83), Dale Earnhardt (76) and now Johnson (76).
It was a 1-2 Hendrick Motorsports finish with Johnson, who is now qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and Earnhardt Jr. Johnson took the lead for good on lap 286 and held on for the remaining 44 laps.
Kyle Busch, who won the pole position on Friday, only to have it disallowed after the No. 18 Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection, rallied from starting at the back of the field Sunday to finish third.
Older brother and revised pole sitter Kurt Busch finished fourth, while Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Kevin Harvick, who led a race-high 131 laps, spun his tires on the final restart with two laps to go and fell back to a sixth-place finish.
Martin Truex Jr. finished seventh, followed by Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Only 12 cars were on the lead lap when the checkered flag fell.
There was only one caution flag in the race (for debris on Lap 210) until Lap 322 when Ryan Newman experienced a single-car spin after apparently experiencing a tire failure. That put the race into overtime.
There was a four-car crash involving Aric Almirola, David Ragan and two other drivers on the final lap, bringing out the third and final caution, sealing Johnson’s win.
HOW JOHNSON WON: Crew chief Chad Knaus wasn’t taking any chances. He brought Johnson in early on the final green-flag stop — 10 laps ahead of Harvick, who had a much slower stop. Johnson took the lead and stayed there. “It was definitely a gutsy call,” Johnson told Fox Sports. “The 4 car was awfully tough and it was going to take some strategy to get by him. When (Knaus) told me to whip it as hard as I could there, I just felt like I was going to take too much lap out of the tires, but it worked. I got rolling around the top and got to where I got to Victory Lane.” Another big key was the final restart. Johnson had a perfect jump, while Harvick spun his tires and fell back, ending any chance for a last-lap rally.