Michigan NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson claims third win in four races
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson scored his first career victory on the two-mile Michigan superspeedway, taking a dominant win after picking a perfect strategy in the late stages
Johnson took the lead with nine laps to go, having got his final pitstop out of the way with 36 laps left while taking four fresh tyres.
He used the new rubber to great effect, and eased his way to the front as those ahead made their final stops under green.
It was Johnson's third win in four weeks, and the fifth Hendrick Motorsports victory on the trot, while six of the top 10 cars had Hendrick engines.
Penske Ford driver Brad Keselowski, who finished third, admitted: "I needed a little more to run with these big-motor cars."
Poleman Kevin Harvick was Johnson's main opposition, but a tardy final stop hampered his bid for the Stewart-Haas Chevy squad, and he had to pass Paul Menard and Keselowski in the closing laps.
Kasey Kahne, who finished fifth, bounced back from an early spin to finish ahead of Hendrick team-mate Jeff Gordon. The four-time champion had a great car in clear air but struggled in traffic.
Behind last week's winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, rookie star Kyle Larson finished eighth despite an early spin that damaged the rear of his Ganassi Chevy. Larson also got penalised for speeding on pit road, but refused to be denied another top-10 finish.
Joey Logano, who led in the middle stages, finished ninth and blamed a poor final restart for miring him in traffic.
Results - 200 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 2h47m19.000s 2. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +1.214s 3. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +3.064s 4. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +3.755s 5. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +4.112s 6. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +4.762s 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +5.789s 8. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +6.012s 9. Joey Logano Penske Ford +7.692s 10. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +9.845s 11. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +12.950s 12. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet +15.867s 13. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +18.621s 14. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +21.147s 15. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +21.645s 16. Justin Allgaier HScott Chevrolet +22.842s 17. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +24.285s 18. Juan Pablo Montoya Penske Ford +24.914s 19. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford +28.582s 20. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +29.128s 21. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet -1 lap 22. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet -1 lap 23. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford -1 lap 24. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet -1 lap 25. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford -1 lap 26. David Gilliland Front Row -2 laps 27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford -2 laps 28. Cole Whitt BK Toyota -2 laps 29. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota -2 laps 30. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet -2 laps 31. Aric Almirola Petty Ford -3 laps 32. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet -3 laps 33. Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet -3 laps 34. Brett Moffitt Robinson Toyota -3 laps 35. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet -3 laps 36. JJ Yeley Xxtreme Chevrolet -3 laps 37. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet -4 laps 38. David Ragan Front Row -4 laps 39. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet -5 laps 40. Alex Bowman BK Toyota -31 laps* 41. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota -31 laps 42. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota -90 laps * Not running at finish Retirements: Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Ford 23 laps
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