Subscibe to our feedJohnson Dominates at The Monster Mile
DOVER, Del. – Jimmie Johnson dominated Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Dover International Speedway, leading 298 of 400 laps on the way to his 42nd career win.
But it was a final 26-lap dash to victory that showed the tenacity of Johnson and the No. 48 Kobalt team.
See photo gallery of Team 48's Dover victory
After leading the event eight times for 295 laps and closing in on the win, a caution flag waved on Lap 365 for debris. Johnson led the field down pit road for four tires and adjustments but a slow pit stop placed him ninth when he returned to the track. Crew chief Chad Knaus assured Johnson that he had a car capable of driving back to the front and off Johnson went.
“Unfortunately we had a little hiccup on the last pit stop,” said Knaus. “We felt like we were going to come down pit road leading and be able to leave third or fourth with four fresh tires (behind those who took two) and make quick work of the guys ahead of us. Unfortunately we came out I think it was eighth or ninth and really had to lean on Jimmie a little bit to carry us out, and he did a great job.”
“We were only beat by two cars that took four tires, so it was a small hiccup,” added Johnson. “There's some guys that took two tires is really what put us back there.”
Because of the double-file restart, Johnson started on the outside of the ninth row and was forced to power his way through traffic to catch leaders.
On Lap 392, Johnson caught second-place running Greg Biffle and then set his sights on leader Tony Stewart. After a hard-fought four-lap battle for the lead, Johnson got around Stewart on Lap 398, going on to earn his fourth win at The Monster Mile.
“I was just trying to get what I could,” explained Johnson. “I didn't want to make a mistake like I did in Las Vegas and tear the car up trying to get back to the front. And before I knew it I got by the guys that were on 4 (tires) and was in third place, and kind of stalled out for a lap or two and searched around and found a new line. I ran him down and caught the 16 as he was getting passed by the 14 so that helped me make quick work of him, and then set the 14 up and took a few laps.
“It took a lot of commitment to get to his outside. I wasn't sure the car was going to stop sliding up the track. I thought it was going to hit the fence. Fortunately it grabbed just in time and changed directions and off I went and got alongside of him.”
Stewart, Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch followed Johnson to the finish line.
“When you can come to the racetrack and have a car that runs as well as what the Kobalt Chevrolet did today, it's the days that crew chiefs dream of,” said Knaus. “We were real fortunate to be able to lead a lot of laps. We were very fast in practice and qualified respectably.
“The thing I'm probably proudest of is the fact that our car actually responded to the adjustments that we were making to it. We could make very minor adjustments as the track was changing and the track would respond. It was nice. It was really a good day, and obviously Jimmie did a fantastic job there at the end.”
The result moved Johnson up one spot in the driver point standings to third, 64 points behind new leader Stewart. Jeff Gordon fell to second. Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman round out the top five.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Mark Martin finished 10th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12th and Jeff Gordon 26th. Gordon was driving a backup car after he wrecked his primary in qualifying. Martin is 12th in the point standings while Earnhardt Jr. is 18th.
Next Sunday’s event will be at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The event will be broadcast live on TNT with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.