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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