SONOMA, Calif. -- While fuel mileage was predicted to play a factor in the outcome of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway, cautions were the spoiler of Jimmie Johnson's 15th-place run in the No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS at the 1.99-mile road course.
Johnson, who started on the outside pole of the 110-lap race, led 27 of the first 30 laps before the caution came out during green-flag pit stops on lap 30. Johnson had not pitted and was forced to come down pit road, putting him just outside the top 10 on the restart.
The Team Lowe's Racing driver tightened up on the ensuing run and was scheduled to come in for another stop shortly after a caution flew on lap 69. Johnson was third as the field was once again cycling through stops. After pitting he was relegated to 21st.
He spent the next part of the race trying to gain track position, but with fewer than 15 laps to go, the Lowe's driver was hit from behind by Greg Biffle's No. 16 car, spinning across the track and losing valuable spots.
With several cautions in the closing laps, Johnson was able to pass many cars in front of him, working his way from 23rd to a top-15 finish.
"Even when we were up front leading the car was a little tight through the center of the corners, and as the day went on and the track took rubber, I just got tighter and tighter through the center," said Johnson. "But it was a great effort.
"Our qualifying effort really helped," he continued. "Unfortunately, we missed the call on the strategy when we were on pit road and the caution came out. You just don't know when cautions are going to come. So it was just one of those deals."
Johnson added, "I got turned around late in the race and that didn't help us any. But we rallied back and got an OK finish and we'll move on."
Jeff Gordon had a chance to catch eventual winner Kyle Busch on the closing lap but was unable to get around second-place finisher David Gilliland.
Casey Mears finished fifth, and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag in 12th place.
The top-five order in the driver standings remains the same with Johnson in fifth. He is 326 points behind series leader Busch, who is followed by Jeff Burton, Earnhardt Jr., and Carl Edwards.
The next stop for the series will be the 1.058-mile oval of New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H. The June 29 race will be broadcast live on TNT and is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.
TOP 10 FINISHERS AT INFINEON
1. Kyle Busch
2. David Gilliland
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Casey Mears
6. Juan Pablo Montoya
7. Ryan Newman
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Carl Edwards
10. Tony Stewart
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' DRIVERS' FINISHING POSITIONS
3. Jeff Gordon
5. Casey Mears
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15. Jimmie Johnson
TOP 12 IN POINTS AFTER INFINEON
1. Kyle Busch
2. Jeff Burton -103
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -152
4. Carl Edwards -258
5. Jimmie Johnson -326
6. Jeff Gordon -367
7. Greg Biffle -389
8. Denny Hamlin -400
9. Kasey Kahne -450
10. Clint Bowyer -484
11. Tony Stewart -500
12. Matt Kenseth -516
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' DRIVERS' POINTS POSITIONS
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -152
5. Jimmie Johnson -326
9. Jeff Gordon -450
24. Casey Mears -902
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
New Hampshire International Speedway (All times Eastern)
Friday, June 27
Sprint Cup practice, noon, SPEED
Sprint Cup qualifying, 3 p.m., SPEED
Saturday, June 28
Sprint Cup final practice, 9 a.m., SPEED
Sprint Cup happy hour, 11:30 a.m., SPEED
Sunday, June 29
Sprint Cup race, 12:30 p.m., TNT
