Jimmie Johnson gambles, wins at Kansas Speedway
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Jimmie Johnson stayed on the track during a late caution to take over the lead, then held off hard-charging Kevin Harvick to win the rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
The six-time champ was chased across the line by Harvick and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon as the clock ticked past midnight into Sunday.
Most of the leaders were conserving fuel after pitting with 58 laps to go, and Johnson and Earnhardt decided to press their luck when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went into the wall, bringing out the final caution with 12 laps left. The Hendrick cars remained on the track while Harvick went in for right-side tires and fuel, and Martin Truex Jr. got a splash of gas.
Johnson built a quick lead on the restart, but Harvick quickly got around Earnhardt on his fresh tires down the front stretch and set his sights on the lead.
Harvick appeared to have the faster car, but he bobbled at one point on the back stretch, giving Johnson a little more space. Johnson maintained it the rest of the way to win for the third time this season and for the third time at Kansas Speedway.
“The 48 and 88 didn’t have the speed, and they gambled and had enough cars in between us that we didn’t have enough laps to get around them,” Harvick said. “It’s hard to know what’s right and what’s wrong. You know half of them are going to come in and half are going to stay out.”
Harvick still extended his points lead over Truex heading into next week’s All-Star race at Charlotte. Johnson is third in the standings as he chases his seventh championship.
Truex led a race-high 95 laps, but his pit decision proved costly.
Without tires, he faded on the final restart and finished ninth to extend a winless streak dating to the 2013 season.
“Really hate when it comes down to fuel mileage. It seems like I’m always at the wrong end of that deal,” he said. “It would have been fun to see whether we had anything for him.”
Joey Logano stormed to a top-five finish despite two pit-road penalties.
The first came just before a band of rain passed through, dousing the track and forcing a delay of 2 hours, 16 minutes. The other penalty came when Logano entered pit road with it closed, dropping him from sixth to the back of the line with 83 laps left.
Matt Kenseth was next in sixth, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch. Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10 with interim crew chief Todd Parrott calling the shots.
One of the bright spots all night was the heady driving of 18-year-old Erik Jones, who made his first Sprint Cup start in the No. 18 while Kyle Busch continues his recovery from a broken leg.
Jones spent most of the night near the front, even passing his idol Gordon with a daring move in front of the grandstand. But a bobble of his own doing with 72 laps left sent him sliding head-first into the wall, and he wound up finishing the race 25 laps down.