The folks at NASCAR may want to check their record player. The disc may be broken.
Jimmie Johnson dominated Sunday at Kansas Speedway, leading 197 of 272 laps en route to winning the Hollywood Casino 400. A spate of late cautions and a green-white-checkered finish could do little in stopping the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in winning its second race of the season. Johnson’s victory is the 20th Chase win of his career – far and away more than any other driver.
As for the championship hunt, the Chase is now even tighter than it was heading into Sunday’s race. After four races, Carl Edwards is now a point ahead of Kevin Harvick, with Johnson now just four markers behind the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.
Pole-sitter Greg Biffle paced the first 20 laps of the race, halted only by a Bobby Labonte spin to bring out the first caution of the afternoon. On the ensuing pit stop, Johnson took two tires on a track where grip is usually required to maintain a car’s balance.
Johnson threw that theory out the window, leading until Matt Kenseth’s brief spell out front on Lap 42. Biffle, the defending champion of Sunday’s race, fought back to regain the lead from his Roush Fenway Racing teammate on Lap 64.
Biffle’s spell out front was a short one, as a cycle of green-flag stops ended with Johnson eventually passing him by Lap 72.
Johnson appeared to set sail on the field, building up a near five-second lead before a debris caution and ensuing pit stops shuffled him to fourth before a Lap 88 restart. However, he passed Kyle Busch almost immediately after the restart and never really looked back for the rest of the afternoon.
Meanwhile, fellow Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon’s solid run – he stayed in the top-15 for most of the afternoon – was sabotaged by an engine failure on Lap 265. Gordon’s search for a fifth Sprint Cup title will likely continue for another season, as a 34th-place finish placed him 47 points behind Edwards in the Chase standings.
A green-white-checkered finish forced Tony Stewart down pit road, after crew chief Darian Grubb attempted to make the fuel-mileage gamble and failed. “Smoke” then botched pulling into his stall, passing it before having to back up. When it was all said and done, Stewart finished in 14th.
After Johnson, the top 10 was rounded out by Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski (4th in the Chase, -11 points behind Edwards), Matt Kenseth (5th, -12), Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Biffle, Marcos Ambrose and Mark Martin.
Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the final night race on the 2011 slate, Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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