An 11-car pileup at Richmond International Raceway relegated Team Lowe's Racing driver Jimmie Johnson to a 30th-place finish in Saturday night's Sprint Cup event.
Johnson, who swept Richmond last year with wins in both the May and September races, started the 400-lap event 12th. And while he fought the handling of the Lowe's Chevrolet throughout the evening, it was ultimately a lap 231 accident that sent Johnson home with the disappointing result.
As the 43-car field rounded turn 3 on the .75-mile oval, the No. 10 Dodge (Patrick Carpentier) was hit from behind and sent spinning. Drivers made drastic moves to avoid contact, but Johnson had nowhere to go and was unable to avoid the wreck.
"We were working on the car for the first half of the race and were getting it where we needed it to be when we got caught up in a wreck," said Johnson, who fell two spots to seventh in the Sprint Cup driver point standings. "There was nothing we could do. It's disappointing because the guys worked hard on the Lowe's Impala all night."
Following a 22-minute red flag period necessitated by an extensive cleanup, Team Lowe's Racing went to work on the No. 48 Impala SS. When Johnson returned to the track he was in 35th position.
Despite the team cutting off the car's hood and left-front quarter panel, Johnson was able to stay on the track and pick up five spots to cross the finish line 30th.
"It's unfortunate," said crew chief Chad Knaus. "We haven't been as fast as we wanted to be the whole time we unloaded here. We came (with a setup) real close to the way we were last year, and just with this tire it hasn't worked for us.
"A lot of people made the transition onto this tire a lot better, obviously," Knaus added. "When you go back there and you run in the back, that's the kind of thing that happens."
Denny Hamlin dominated Saturday night's Sprint Cup event, leading 381 laps (all but one lap under caution) before suffering a slow leak in his right-front tire and losing the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 382. Earnhardt Jr. looked to be closing in on his first win since the Richmond race in May 2006 until Kyle Busch spun him while trying to take the lead with three laps remaining. Clint Bowyer was able to drive beneath both cars during the incident to pick up his second career victory; Earnhardt Jr. finished 15th.
Casey Mears was involved in a race-ending accident on lap 355 and was left with a 36th-place finish.
Jeff Gordon was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver who didn't encounter trouble during the 11-caution event. While he struggled with his car's handling, he was able to keep his nose clean and bring home a solid ninth-place finish.
Following Bowyer (Chevrolet) to the line were Busch (Toyota), Mark Martin (Chevrolet), Tony Stewart (Toyota) and Martin Truex Jr. (Chevrolet).
With his runner-up finish, Busch took over the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver point standings. Jeff Burton fell to second, 18 points behind Busch. Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.
Next on the Sprint Cup schedule is Darlington Raceway. The series will compete there on Saturday, May 10.
In nine Cup starts at Darlington, Johnson has collected eight top-10 finishes. He also has completed all but two laps (99.9%) of competition there.
TOP 10 FINISHERS AT RICHMOND
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Kyle Busch
3. Mark Martin
4. Tony Stewart
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Ryan Newman
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Kasey Kahne
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FINISHING POSITIONS
10. Jeff Gordon
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
30. Jimmie Johnson
36. Casey Mears
TOP 12 IN POINTS AFTER RICHMOND
1. Kyle Busch
2. Jeff Burton -18
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -104
4. Clint Bowyer -123
5. Kevin Harvick -145
6. Denny Hamlin -146
7. Jimmie Johnson -177
8. Tony Stewart -198
9. Greg Biffle -226
10. Carl Edwards -265
11. Ryan Newman -283
12. Kasey Kahne -333
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS POINTS POSITIONS
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -104
7. Jimmie Johnson -177
13. Jeff Gordon -339 (6 out of 12th)
23. Casey Mears -553
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Darlington Raceway
Friday, May 9
Sprint Cup practice, 12:30 p.m. ET on SPEED
Sprint Cup qualifying, 2:30 p.m. ET on SPEED
Sprint Cup happy hour, 5:30 p.m. ET on SPEED
Saturday, May 10
Sprint Cup pre-race, 7 p.m. ET on FOX
Sprint Cup Series race, 7:20 p.m. ET on FOX
