Dover NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson denies Kevin Harvick victory
Jimmie Johnson scored his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of 2015 in the 400-mile race at Dover
Johnson took the lead away from Kevin Harvick at a restart with 17 laps to go, when the pair had been the only leading drivers not to head to pitlane after Kyle Busch had crashed out of third place while trying to lap Brian Scott.
Johnson kept hold of the lead through two further caution periods - the first when Denny Hamlin was tapped into a spin and into the outside wall by Clint Bowyer, and the second with two laps to go when Greg Biffle ran into a slow Casey Mears and left AJ Allmendinger with nowhere to go.
Points leader Harvick had been relegated from second to fourth at the penultimate restart behind Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr, but retook second before the end - his seventh such result from 13 races this season.
Kyle Larson came through to third to claim his best finish of the season, with Kahne pushed down to fourth and Truex falling to sixth behind Aric Almirola.
Front row starters Hamlin and Truex were the drivers to beat in the early stages of the race, and while Hamlin dropped back before his incident, Truex was still leading at the mid-point of the race before losing out to Harvick in green-flag pitstops.
RESULTS - 405 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3h23m16.s |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 0.435s |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 0.746s |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1.827s |
| 5 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 2.004s |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 2.109s |
| 7 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 2.407s |
| 8 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 2.471s |
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 2.673s |
| 10 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2.824s |
| 11 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4.426s |
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1 Lap |
| 13 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 1 Lap |
| 14 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
| 15 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
| 16 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
| 17 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 2 Laps |
| 18 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 Laps |
| 19 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 Laps |
| 20 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 3 Laps |
| 21 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 Laps |
| 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
| 23 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
| 24 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
| 25 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 6 Laps |
| 26 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 6 Laps |
| 27 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 6 Laps |
| 28 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 Laps |
| 29 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 8 Laps |
| 30 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 9 Laps |
| 31 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 9 Laps |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 10 Laps |
| 33 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 10 Laps |
| 34 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 13 Laps |
| 35 | Mike Bliss | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 14 Laps |
| 36 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Accident |
| 37 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 32 Laps |
| 38 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
| 39 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Suspension |
| 40 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | Electrical |
| 41 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 88 Laps |
| 42 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 95 Laps |
| 43 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 184 Laps |
PROVISIONALLY IN THE CHASE: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Carl Edwards
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 516 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 472 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 440 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 440 |
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 432 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 414 |
| 7 | Jamie McMurray | 390 |
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 385 |
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 380 |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | 378 |
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | 377 |
| 12 | Paul Menard | 372 |
| 13 | Ryan Newman | 369 |
| 14 | Denny Hamlin | 345 |
| 15 | Kurt Busch | 340 |
| 16 | Carl Edwards | 338 |
| 17 | Clint Bowyer | 332 |
| 18 | Danica Patrick | 321 |
| 19 | Greg Biffle | 311 |
| 20 | Kyle Larson | 297 |
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