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NASCAR Texas: Johnson overcomes Logano for victory

Jimmie Johnson took his and Hendrick Motorsport's first victory of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series at Texas having held off championship leader Kyle Larson and Team Penske's Joey Logano

Emulating his win at Miami on the final race of 2016, Johnson started from the rear and took new tyres due to a spin in qualifying on Saturday.

It was during the final stage that Johnson made up ground, after Wood Brothers Racing's Ryan Blaney swept the first two stages.

Blaney took the race lead after the lap 30 yellow flag on the way to his opening stage win.

He briefly lost his advantage in the second stage as Martin Truex Jr won the race out of pitlane, but Blaney recovered to take the lead ahead of the caution flag six laps before the stage end.

Johnson had ominously made his way up to second place by that caution and it was a three-lap sprint to the end of the stage, which Blaney won ahead of Johnson and McMurray in third again.

Blaney then fell back to 20th at the beginning of the following stage after misjudging traffic, going on to finish in 12th.

It was Logano who then moved to the fore after the Penske driver elected to pit later than the other drivers, betting on late cautions.

His strategy allowed him to take the lead after debris triggered a yellow flag with 45 laps to go.

Johnson and Harvick pitted for new tyres during that yellow flag 10 laps later and the fresher rubber meant he could pass Logano shortly after.

Logano's pit strategy gave him a third place finish, as Chip Ganassi's Larson finished second for the fourth time this season.

Hendrick Motorsports showed a resurgence in form as Dale Earnhardt Jr managed a fifth place finish - his first top 10 of the season.

It was another poor showing for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch was the highest place finisher for the team in 15th, a far cry from his victory at Texas in 2016.

RESULTS - 334 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3h24m18.s
2 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0.340s
3 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1.252s
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1.893s
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2.336s
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 2.826s
7 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 3.804s
8 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 3.922s
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4.565s
10 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 4.891s
11 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6.331s
12 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 6.672s
13 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7.841s
14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8.546s
15 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9.028s
16 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9.231s
17 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 13.529s
18 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 14.487s
19 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.953s
20 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 17.814s
21 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
22 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 1 Lap
23 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
24 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1 Lap
25 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1 Lap
26 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
27 J.J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps
28 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Laps
29 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Laps
30 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Laps
31 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 7 Laps
32 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 8 Laps
33 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 12 Laps
34 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 12 Laps
35 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 15 Laps
36 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20 Laps
37 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 21 Laps
38 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Laps
39 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Engine
40 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet Accident


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