Subscibe to our feedTeam Lowe's Racing has Perfect Weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway
Jimmie Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing pulled off the perfect weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, leading all three practice sessions, earning the pole position Thursday evening (by posting the fastest qualifying lap of any Sprint Cup race this season) and leading 92 of 334 laps on the way to Victory Lane in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series event.
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This is Johnson’s sixth win at the hometown track and his first since 2005. He has extended his Championship lead to 90 points over Mark Martin.
“It is a big boost,” said Johnson, the first driver to ever win three of the first five races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. “We've taken a lot of pride in the years to run well here in everyone's backyard. The fact that Lowe's is our sponsor and the track sponsor has always been something cool to win and celebrate and spend that moment with the Lowe's executives in victory lane has been special, and to do it here for the last race that the track is sponsored by Lowe's is cool. Glad to be back.”
When the green flag waved high above the 1.5-mile track, Johnson shuffled his way around the top 10. He remained there for most of the event, but eventually found himself upfront.
The No. 48 Lowe’s Impala led the race five times for a total of 92 laps (more than any other car), including the final 14, where Johnson pulled away from Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne for his 46th career win.
"We really struggled trying to get things right,” explained Johnson. “Trying to get the balance right on the short-run, the long-run. I thought the No. 9 (Kasey Kahne) had this thing in the bag. On that last pit stop on when it came to the restarts we had what we needed for five or six quick laps. This thing was fast. It worked.
"The perfect weekend which is what Chad (Knaus) always wanted to do. Win every practice, qualifying and the race and we got it."
Kenseth, Kahne, Gordon and Joey Lagano followed Johnson to the finish line.
Johnson now leads Martin (-90), Gordon (-135), Tony Stewart (-155) and Kurt Busch -177 in the Championship standings.
Next weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway will be the sixth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson has won five of the last six races at the half-mile Virginia track, including last fall’s event. Coverage begins Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.