Texas NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson grabs win from Brad Keselowski
Jimmie Johnson made a late surge to beat long-time leader Brad Keselowski to victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup's Texas 500
Keselowski, seeking a win to book his place in the championship decider at Homestead, had dominated the race, leading 312 of the 334 laps for Penske, only to lose out to a charging Johnson with four laps to run.
Johnson, already eliminated from the Chase, made the most of a battle between Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr to pile on the pressure during the final green-flag run.
His victory was his fifth of 2015 and his sixth at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski was forced to settle for second, with fellow Chase runner Kevin Harvick third, despite suffering two tyre failures during the 500-mile long race.
The defending Cup champion was forced to finish the race with one hand on the wheel and another on the shifter as his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet jumped out of gear.
Kyle Busch beat Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Carl Edwards to finish fourth, as Dale Earnhardt Jr fought from a lap down after a spin and a cut tyre to claim sixth.
Fellow Chase contender Kurt Busch was seventh from Truex, who faded in the closing laps after a bump from Keselowski while fighting for the lead at the final restart.
Jeff Gordon, who has already secured his berth in the championship decider, came home ninth.
Joey Logano's hopes of progressing to the final four title shootout now rest on an outright victory at Phoenix next time out as his race was destroyed by an exploding tyre after just 10 laps.
He trailed home in 40th, 66 laps down after a lengthy stint in the garage as his team battled to repair considerable internal damage to his Penske Ford.
Erik Jones, substituting for the suspended Matt Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing, was 12th.
RESULTS - 334 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3h38m38.s |
2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1.082s |
3 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 3.603s |
4 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5.234s |
5 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.201s |
6 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6.605s |
7 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 8.052s |
8 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 9.370s |
9 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9.685s |
10 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 11.156s |
11 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 11.210s |
12 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 13.759s |
13 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 22.132s |
14 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 22.590s |
15 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 24.994s |
16 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 25.086s |
17 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 26.146s |
18 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 27.576s |
19 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1 Lap |
20 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1 Lap |
22 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
23 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 1 Lap |
24 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 2 Laps |
25 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 Laps |
26 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
27 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 4 Laps |
28 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 Laps |
29 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
30 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 5 Laps |
31 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
32 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 5 Laps |
33 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 5 Laps |
34 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 6 Laps |
35 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 6 Laps |
36 | Ryan Preece | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 8 Laps |
37 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
38 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 30 Laps |
39 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 38 Laps |
40 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 66 Laps |
41 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | Engine |
42 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
43 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | Accident |
CHASE STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Jeff Gordon | 4082 |
2 | Kyle Busch | 4080 |
3 | Kevin Harvick | 4079 |
4 | Martin Truex Jr. | 4076 |
5 | Carl Edwards | 4069 |
6 | Brad Keselowski | 4057 |
7 | Kurt Busch | 4048 |
8 | Joey Logano | 4013 |
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