Subscibe to our feedJohnson Finishes 9th in Rain-Shortened Sprint Cup Event
Jimmie Johnson finished ninth in Sunday’s rain-shortened Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
After the field was set by driver points due to inclement weather on Friday, Johnson started the scheduled 301-lap race third when the green flag waved. While the No. 48 Kobalt Tools Chevrolet wasn’t that comfortable for Johnson early, Chad Knaus and the No. 48 crew went to work and on Lap 50 Johnson took his first lead.
The two-time New Hampshire winner went on to lead two times for a total of 93 laps throughout the day, more laps than any other driver.
Click here to see photos from the Lenox Industrial Tools 301
Eventually Johnson lost the lead and restarted the race fourth on Lap 180 after a 12 min. and 48 sec. red-flag period brought out by an eight-car accident in Turn 1. Johnson quickly drove to third when the race resumed but lost valuable track position when Kurt Busch made contact with his Lowe’s Impala.
The contact with Busch coupled with a round of green-flag pit stops late in the race left Johnson running in the 20s at one point. But as the pit stops cycled through and Johnson passed competitors, he found his way back to ninth when the rain began to fall on Lap 268.
"We had a decent finish and a decent run,” said Johnson. “We led laps early and hoped to be in contention for the win - I think we may have even led the most laps. But contact with the (No.) 2 car took us out of the running. We just never could rebound from that, but still a decent day."
Rookie Joey Lagano was among a group of drivers who were out of sequence with most of the field’s pit cycle. The weather arrived just in time for Lagano as he was able to remain on the track and be in the top spot when the race was called on Lap 273.
Johnson remains third in the Sprint Cup driver point standings, 169 points behind leader Tony Stewart.
The series will travel to Daytona International Speedway for next Saturday’s 4th of July event. The race will be broadcast under the lights on TNT, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.