Subscibe to our feedJohnson Runs out of Fuel on Final Lap at Michigan; Finishes 22nd
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Despite starting third and leading 146 laps in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Michigan International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson finished 22nd after running out of gas on the final lap.
The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion dominated the 200-lap race before running out of gas just after taking the white flag. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin passed Johnson and second-place running Greg Biffle, who also ran out of gas, for the win.
Click here to see photos from the LifeLock 400 at Michigan.
“It's a shame to have such strong racing and come back with a 22nd-place result,” said Johnson after climbing out of the Lowe’s Impala. “But what do you do? We raced hard. We led the most laps. At a time when it's tough to pass guys on big tracks, we went up there and passed the No. 5 (Martin) and passed the No. 16 (Biffle). So on the bright side of things, I’m really happy with the performance we had and we really closed the gap on these guys here at Michigan, but unfortunately we didn't win.”
Johnson showed he had the dominant car early in the race, taking the lead from pole sitter Brian Vickers in the opening laps. Johnson radioed in few problems to crew chief Chad Knaus and the crew made minimal adjustments throughout the day.
When a caution flag flew on Lap 152, Knaus brought the Lowe’s Chevy down pit road for a final pit stop, packing it with gas and putting the team close to the window to make it to the finish without refueling. Johnson restarted third after the stop and methodically caught Martin and Biffle, who were running second and first, respectively. Johnson went on to lead the remaining laps before running out of gas on the final circuit.
“That happens sometimes,” said Johnson. “The car that leads the most laps doesn't win. Unfortunately we're in that category today but it wasn't from a lack of effort. Great pit stops, great race car. We had an awesome day; we were just one lap short on fuel. I guess I had to work harder than we factored for getting by the No. 5 and the No. 16. I drove up through there and got by them and got back to the lead and thought we were in great shape and unfortunately we ran out of fuel."
Johnson remains third in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 142 behind leader Tony Stewart.
Next Sunday’s event takes place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course is one of only six tracks on which Johnson hasn’t won a Cup race. The event will be broadcast live on TNT beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.