Jimmie Johnson scored a BIG win in Texas in the Duck Commander 500 and locked his name on the 2015 NASCAR Chase Grid.
When the green flag dropped at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday (4/11) Kevin Harvick did what has done all year long so far. He showed that he would be one of the cars to beat to win the race. Kevin used his front row starting position to lead the first 33 laps of the 334 lap race. He led 96 laps in total by the end of the race.
While Kevin showed he was one of the cars to beat, Jimmie Johnson made the statement that he was THE car to beat by leading a race high 128 laps at the track where he was already the all-time winner. Jimmie put his #48 Chevrolet in the lead on lap 109 for the first time and race to the front another eight times by the race finish.
Although it was Jimmie and Kevin leading the most, there were seven other drivers that led and the race lead was exchanged 29 times during the Duck Commander 500.
When the last caution out of eight during the race happened on lap 310 a handful of drivers decided to gamble and stay out instead of pitting. That put Jimmie, Kevin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in the pack for the final re-start. Dale Jr. had driven up through the field a couple of times to be at the front by the end of the race. When the race was re-started it did not take long for those three cars with new tires to get past the cars that stayed out on old tires.
With 14 laps left in the race Jimmie reclaimed the lead with Kevin and Dale Jr. in pursuit. You could have thrown a blanket over those three Chevrolets in the final laps of the race. Kevin got to Jimmie’s back bumper a few times, but could not get around him. Jimmie held on to claim his sixth win at Texas Motor Speedway and first on the track in the spring race.
On the last lap of the race while trying to run down Jimmie, Kevin scraped the wall allowing Dale Jr. to get past him. However, coming out of turn four Kevin drove his #4 Chevrolet under the #88 Chevrolet to grab the second place finish by less than a car length over Dale Jr. who finished in third place. Teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski finished in fourth and fifth place respectively in their Team Penske Fords. See the complete race results for the Duck Commander 500 here.
Check out the race highlights in the video at the bottom of the page.
His second place finish in the race helped Kevin Harvick hold on to the top spot in the Sprint Cup point standings. In fact, the top five spots remain the same following the race at Texas Motor Speedway with (in order 2nd to 5th) Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne rounding out the top drivers in the point standings. However, Jimmie’s win moved him up four spots to sixth and Dale Jr.’s third place finish moved him up a spot to seventh. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point Standings here.
Jimmie’s second win of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season moves him up to the second spot on the Chase Grid just behind Kevin Harvick who also has two wins this year. Both of these drivers are locked on the Chase Grid provided they at least attempt to qualify for the rest of the races in the regular season. Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin each has a single win for the 2015 season meaning they are all but guaranteed a spot on the Chase Grid. See the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Grid as it stands following the Duck Commander 500 here.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup season goes short trackin’ for the second time this year as the teams head to Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday, April 19th for the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer.
By: Buck Stevens
