TALLADEGA, Ala. -- All things considered, Jimmie Johnson can't be too disappointed with his 13th-place finish in Sunday's Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
With a game plan that called for him to drop back early and surge to the front in the final 40 laps, Johnson ultimately worked his way up to second position for a restart with five laps left in the 188-lap race.
Johnson No. 48 Lowe's Chevy was pushing Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Toyota in the closing laps when Waltrip's engine blew, costing Johnson momentum and any chance he might have had to win the race.
To make matters worse, the Lowe's Chevy sustained minor damage in a 12-car wreck in turn 2 on the final lap that caused the race to end under caution with Kyle Busch as the winner. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second, followed by Denny Hamlin, David Ragan and Brian Vickers.
The 13th-place result dropped Johnson one position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship standings. He leaves Talladega fifth, three points behind fourth-place Hamlin and 102 behind leader Jeff Burton.
"Remember, you do have an in-car camera, so keep those hand gestures to a minimum," crew chief Chad Knaus warned his driver during the pace laps.
"That takes the fun out of it," Johnson replied.
"It's your money," Knaus rejoined, referring to possible NASCAR fines for inappropriate behavior.
"Two to go this time by," said spotter Stevie Reeves, returning the attention to the race at hand.
"One hundred eighty-eight laps today," Knaus interjected. "Patience, keep it straight, and let's have fun at the end."
"Thanks for everything," Johnson said to his crew. "You're the best."
From the outset, Johnson adhered to his game plan. He started 10th but quickly dropped to the rear of the field. By lap 10 he had fallen to 38th, accompanied by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Casey Mears.
On lap 19, Knaus reported on Johnson's deficit to leader Tony Stewart.
"Still right at six seconds," Knaus said reassuringly. "You're doing fine."
"The first 11 cars have pulled away a little bit," Reeves added.
"The 17 touched the wall in turn 2," Reeves radioed moments later. "Caution's out."
During the first caution of the race, Johnson reported on the respective oil and water temperatures in the Lowe's Chevy. "Two hundred and 230 that whole run there," he said.
"We should probably try to lead a lap, shouldn't we?" Johnson asked, suggesting that he keep the car on the track for the first lap after the pits opened, hoping to lead under yellow and collect five bonus points.
"A lot of people will try that," Knaus replied.
Knaus was right. Third-place qualifier Ken Schrader led the group of drivers who stayed on the track and got credit for leading lap 21.
"OK, bring it around and pit this time," Knaus said.
Johnson was still deep in the pack for a restart on lap 24, and he began to fall farther behind the lead pack than either he or Knaus was comfortable with.
"What's killing us is that 9 car up there leading the second pack," Knaus said on lap 29. "He's running way too slow."
"We can try to catch him," Johnson suggested.
"You're gaining on them a little bit," Knaus said on lap 31. "Two-tenths (of a second) faster than the leader there. You guys will get going."
On lap 33, Knaus added, "We're gaining on that second pack pretty quick. We've just got to stay organized."
On lap 39, the Lowe's Chevy was running comfortably in 39th position, 10 seconds behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was leading at the time.
"The '8's coming across in front of you," Reeves warned on lap 52, after Aric Almirola blew a tire and dropped to the apron. No caution was called because Almirola exited the track safely.
By lap 55, Johnson had climbed to 31st position, drafting to within five seconds of the leaders.
"OK, Jimmie, you've got the 99 stuck on the top there, in the middle of your pack," Reeves said on lap 57, referring to the Ford of Carl Edwards, which had made an unscheduled pit stop because of a flat right front tire.
Johnson brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits for a green-flag stop soon after.
"Right side tires, guys," Knaus said. "No adjustments. Pit back a little bit, in case we have to get around the 40 (David Stremme)."
The two-tire stop elevated Johnson to sixth in the running order. "You're going to be good there if you want to hang out a little while," Knaus suggested.
"OK, 'til business picks up," the driver replied.
On lap 70, still running sixth, Johnson reported on the handling of the Lowe's Chevy. "I feel like I'm putting a bit more wheel into it than I need to," he explained. "Maybe we can loosen it up a little bit."
On lap 78, Johnson and Earnhardt hooked up in a two-car draft to the outside and surged toward the front.
"Two cars hooked up earlier and went to the front, just like you're doing right now," Reeves said.
The Lowe's Chevy led briefly on lap 82 and collected the bonus points, but Stewart and Hamlin surged back in front on the following circuit.
"Junior's still pushing you," Reeves said moments later.
By lap 85, Johnson had dropped back again, still following the race strategy.
"Am I at the back of our group?" Johnson asked.
"Yeah. There's not a big group behind you," Reeves replied.
"Jimmie, I need you to ride a little bit," Knaus interjected. "We're a little short on fuel."
"Lot of three-wide up there, Jimmie," Reeves warned on lap 89. "I'm watching 'em."
Anticipating another green-flag pit stop on lap 102, Knaus told Reeves to confer with other spotters to ensure the Lowe's Chevy would have drafting partners when it left pit road.
"Make a deal with the 78 (Joe Nemechek's) spotter," Knaus said. "(Lap) 102 on track, 103 leaving," he added, referring to the timing of the stop.
"And the 01 (Regan Smith's) spotter, too, if he wants to get on board with us," Knaus said moments later.
"We're going to do four tires," Knaus said on lap 94 as the race reached the halfway point.
"Pit this time," Knaus instructed his driver on lap 102. "Four tires. One (pound of air pressure) out of the left rear. Raise the panhard bar one (round)."
"Stay tight," Knaus said two laps after the stop. "A bunch of the leaders took two tires, so we're going to have to push a little bit."
The four-tire call hurt the position of the Lowe's Chevy, which had fallen more than 10 seconds behind Earnhardt, who was leading at the time.
"We're about 10 seconds back, and, obviously, we don't have a very good group," Knaus said on lap 107. "We've pulled away from the 24 (Jeff Gordon) a little bit. What do you want to do? We could drop back to the 24 and try to pick up some more speed."
"Then we'd lose a lot more ground," Johnson responded.
Four laps later, however, that course of action became necessary.
"The group ahead of us is three quarters of a second faster than we are," Knaus explained. "The only chance we have, if it stays green, is to drop back to the 24."
"Schrader's coming back to you," Reeves added. "I told Jeff (Gordon) what you're doing."
But the whole complexion of the race began to change on lap 116 when Edwards blew a right front tire and slammed the wall.
"Four tires here?" Knaus asked as the Lowe's team prepared for a pit stop under caution. "Jimmie, how did it handle?"
"Running where we were, I couldn't evaluate," Johnson replied.
"Pit this time around," Knaus instructed as soon as pit road was set to open. "We'll go for track position. I'm starting to get a little nervous. We'll have an open pit behind us, so stop real short."
"Let's just make sure we're close to the front draft, and with 30 or 40 to go, we'll start racing," Johnson said.
Johnson was 20th when the field restarted on lap 122.
On lap 144, Stewart cut a right front tire and brushed the wall.
"Forty (laps) to go still?" Johnson asked as the cars rolled under caution. "Forty-three after the pit stop," Knaus replied.
"Let's go four tires, and I'll try to get up there," the driver replied. "I don't think it's time to go yet. Let's just play it out and learn from what happens here. We'll have another caution."
"We're good to go from here," Knaus said, indicating the Lowe's Chevy could finish the race without refueling.
Knaus also had something special planned for the pit stop. First, he asked Johnson to check his temperature gauges.
"Each time I've looked at it, it's been 200 to 205," Johnson answered.
"Get a piece of tape ready," Knaus told the crew. "We're going to tape up the left side of the lower grille opening. The lower opening. There's a three-quarter inch opening. The left side only. The very bottom."
The tape on the grille was an aerodynamic enhancement, similar to what race teams do for qualifying laps. The danger of adding tape to the grille is the possibility of overheating.
"OK, Johnson," Knaus said after the tape was in place. "It's up to you now."
On lap 160, Montoya tapped Paul Menard's Chevy and sent it spinning, bringing out the fourth caution of the race.
"It'll be 25 to go when we take the green," Knaus said.
"If we don't need fuel, we should stay out," Johnson said. "Ten-four," Knaus replied.
"How's your temps?" Knaus asked on lap 161. "I didn't look when we were running, but it's 225 under caution right now," Johnson radioed back.
"That's perfect," Knaus said.
Johnson was first for a restart on lap 164, but the green flag lasted less than a lap.
"Wave off, caution's out," Reeves said. "Bumper cover in (turn) 1."
The field race returned to green on lap 169, but a wreck involving Earnhardt, Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Jamie McMurray slowed the field again on lap 173.
"That got my blood flowing," said Johnson, who narrowly avoided the melee.
"I'll bet it did!" Knaus replied.
After the subsequent restart on lap 178, Johnson surged to the front, pushing Michael Waltrip into the top spot. But Labonte's spin on lap 180 slowed the field for the seventh time.
"You got hooked up and you really took off, didn't you?" Knaus exclaimed as the cars rolled under caution.
"I just hope we didn't get there too early," Johnson replied.
"You do what you can," rejoined Knaus.
"You're going to have five laps to go when you take the green," Knaus said on lap 182. "A lot of bogeys around you."
Waltrip and Johnson restarted 1-2 on lap 184, but Johnson's hopes faded when he lost his drafting partner after Waltrip's engine lost power. Then came the last-lap wreck that damaged the Lowe's Chevy.
"The 55 blew up when I was pushing him," Johnson told Knaus.
"We were in a good position toward the end but got there just a little too early," Johnson said. "The No. 55 (Waltrip) and I were working well together, but I think he blew up there at the end with me pushing him (which Waltrip confirmed). We got some damage on the last lap, but we came out OK today in the Lowe's Impala SS."
