Johnson Boss Of Pepsi 500
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Jimmie Johnson dominated at Fontana – pretty much making it a snoozefest race |
Forget the rivalry between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
In Sunday’s Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway, there was only one car that counted, the No. 48 Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson led 228 of 250 laps and held off a late-race challenge from Greg Biffle, who lost ground when the water temperature in his No. 16 Ford skyrocketed to 260 degrees when a paper wrapper stuck to his grille after a restart on Lap 223.
As the laps wound down, Biffle told his team, “Doing all I can, man. I can't catch him. He’s beating me too bad in (Turns) 3 and 4."
Johnson beat Biffle to the finish line by 2.076 seconds. Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
In winning his third race of the season and the 36th of his career — breaking a tie with Mark Martin for 17th on the all-time victory list — Johnson also shattered Biffle’s record of 168 laps led at Fontana, set in 2006.
Johnson also qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with one race to go – Saturday at Richmond – before the 12-driver field is set. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton also clinched spots. Busch and Edwards already had clinched spots.
Johnson’s dominance forced other teams to gamble in the pits. Biffle, Edwards, AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman took two tires on Lap 163 and held the top five positions for a restart on Lap 166.
Less than two laps after the restart, however, Johnson had regained the lead after passing Biffle through Turns 3 and 4.
Two tires didn’t work, but neither did four.
After a slower-than-usual pit stop on Lap 183 — under caution for Robby Gordon’s spin off Turn 4 — Johnson restarted fourth on Lap 186. Within three laps he had run down David Reutimann, Edwards and Biffle to regain the top spot.
Results
FIN |
ST | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | PTS/BNS | LAPS | STATUS |
1 | 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's / Jimmie Johnson Foundation | 195/10 | 250 | Running |
2 | 15 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 175/5 | 250 | Running |
3 | 21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 165/0 | 250 | Running |
4 | 33 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 160/0 | 250 | Running |
5 | 37 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | R+L Carriers | 160/5 | 250 | Running |
6 | 26 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 150/0 | 250 | Running |
7 | 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 146/0 | 250 | Running |
8 | 4 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser | 142/0 | 250 | Running |
9 | 12 | 44 | David Reutimann | Toyota | UPS Store / Toys for Tots Literacy Program | 143/5 | 250 | Running |
10 | 31 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Jack Daniel's | 134/0 | 250 | Running |
11 | 18 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | AMP Energy / National Guard | 130/0 | 250 | Running |
12 | 19 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 127/0 | 250 | Running |
13 | 22 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | AAA Insurance | 129/5 | 250 | Running |
14 | 2 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger | Toyota | Red Bull | 126/5 | 250 | Running |
15 | 3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Pepsi / DuPont | 123/5 | 250 | Running |
16 | 17 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | Kodak | 115/0 | 250 | Running |
17 | 27 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | AT&T Mobility | 117/5 | 250 | Running |
18 | 5 | 10 | Patrick Carpentier * | Dodge | Sears Auto Center / Valvoline | 109/0 | 250 | Running |
19 | 7 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 106/0 | 250 | Running |
20 | 23 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Dodge | Texaco / Havoline | 103/0 | 250 | Running |
21 | 24 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | Cheerios / Betty Crocker | 100/0 | 250 | Running |
22 | 14 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | Subway / Home Depot | 97/0 | 250 | Running |
23 | 42 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | CitiFinancial | 94/0 | 248 | Running |
24 | 13 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal | 91/0 | 248 | Running |
25 | 39 | 66 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | State Water Heaters | 88/0 | 248 | Running |
26 | 16 | 5 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Cheez-It / CARQUEST | 85/0 | 248 | Running |
27 | 41 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Target | 82/0 | 248 | Running |
28 | 34 | 28 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Hitachi "Inspire the Next" | 79/0 | 248 | Running |
29 | 32 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. * | Dodge | Penske Truck Rental | 76/0 | 248 | Running |
30 | 8 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Caterpillar | 73/0 | 248 | Running |
31 | 10 | 8 | Aric Almirola | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 70/0 | 248 | Running |
32 | 40 | 21 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Little Debbie | 67/0 | 248 | Running |
33 | 30 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA AUTO PARTS | 69/5 | 248 | Running |
34 | 6 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | McDonald's | 61/0 | 248 | Running |
35 | 35 | 00 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Affliction "Day of Reckoning" | 58/0 | 248 | Running |
36 | 25 | 01 | Regan Smith * | Chevrolet | DEI / Principal Financial Group | 55/0 | 248 | Running |
37 | 29 | 15 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Johns Manville / Menards | 52/0 | 248 | Running |
38 | 38 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | Wells Fargo | 49/0 | 248 | Running |
39 | 9 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 46/0 | 247 | Running |
40 | 36 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Monster Energy | 43/0 | 247 | Running |
41 | 28 | 96 | Ken Schrader | Toyota | DLP HDTV | 40/0 | 246 | Running |
42 | 43 | 08 | Johnny Sauter | Dodge | FUBAR All Natural Drink | 37/0 | 161 | In Pit |
43 | 20 | 78 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | Furniture Row/ DenverMattress.com | 34/0 | 67 | In |