Jimmie Johnson Wins At Michigan
Jun 15, 2014; Brooklyn, MI, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson burns out after winning the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmie Johnson won the Quicken Loans 400 on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. It was one of the few firsts left for Johnson in his storied career as Johnson had never won a race at MIS.
Johnson used pit strategy to get to the front and then stretched his fuel mileage to hold off Sunday’s pole sitter, Kevin Harvick for the win. Harvick finished second for the third straight time at Michigan.
“We finally got one!” Johnson radioed crew chief Chad Knaus.
BradKeselowski finished third, followed by Paul Menard, KaseyKahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rookie Kyle Larson rallied from an early wreck and a late speeding penalty to finish eighth.
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
"“Yeah, I never thought we’d get one here,” Knaus said.“It seems like we’ve had the opportunity here in the past, and with less than five laps to go, something always seemed to go wrong. We had to work the pit strategy correctly today, and it was the right call. Today was a lot of fun.”"
The race got off to a choppy start as the first full circuit under a green flag wasn’t completed until the 12th lap. A stiff wind blowing across the track seemed to contribute to handling problems as drivers entered the turns.
Brian Vickers lost control of his No. 55 Toyota entering the third turn of the first lap, spinning into the infield grass and collecting Travis Kvapil.
"“It’s frustrating; the car just came around going into 3,” said Vickers, “I was trying to back the corner up and was taking it easy and just got loose, and it came around. I don’t know what happened. The track seems really slick right now, and it’s frustrating.”"
Rookie Kyle Larson lost control off turn 2 in an incident that also involved Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith.
In a bizarre twist, Larson’s Chevrolet actually seemed to go faster despite a damaged bumper cover. The Chip Ganassi Racing rookie ran in the top 10 for much of the remainder of the race.
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Beyond the Flag
Kyle Busch experienced trouble as well, he was running sixth when he suddenly slowed on a restart on Lap 79 and dropped to the rear of the field. Busch pitted and then took his car to the garage with a broken left rear wheel hub.
The first half of the race was dominated by drivers with Hendrick Motorsports horsepower. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chevrolet driven by Harvick has a Hendrick engine, and led the first 18 laps before giving up the top spot to Hendrick’s Jeff Gordon. The four-time champion led 36 of the next 38 laps before Harvick retook the lead for 18 laps. Jimmie Johnson then led 12 of the next 26 laps, trading the lead with early race favorite, Joey Logano (who led 14 laps before halfway).
All four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished inside the top seven.,
The win is Johnson’s third in four weeks and Hendrick Motorsports fifth straight. It is an important win for Mr. Hendrick and the Lowes team with the race being 70 miles away from GM headquarters.