“I had a blast. You’re staring in the mirror and wondering where he’s at, and then also wondering if Chad was telling me the truth about lap times and the gap back to him”. Man, it was so much fun. He knocked the deficit down to 6-seconds, but it seemed as if it was going to be too little too late for Harvick.
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Johnson said the fact that he missed competing against Earnhardt has always bugged him. “It was just a great team effort”.
Because they came from different eras and raced different generations of race cars, there’s no way to know how Jimmie Johnson and the late Dale Earnhardt would stack up in a head-to-head battle. And I got rolling around the top and got to where I got this Lowe’s Chevy in victory lane. But Harvick lost the lead in the pits, allowing Johnson to claim his fifth Cup victory in Atlanta.
On the pit stops during the caution, Johnson’s crew did what they needed to do, and got the No. 48 auto back out on track in first. Johnson prevailed on the first attempt at overtime, while Harvick wound up sixth. I was shocked that he had a little bit of backlash when he flew the 3 flag in Phoenix.
Kenseth didn’t hold the lead for long, as Busch regained the lead after pit stops had cycled through. I had some good races there on the track with the 2, the 18, a bunch of guys.
“We were sliding around, driving the hell out of them cars”, said Jr. after the race on FOX.
Harvick took advantage, and just 10 laps later, he passed Truex Jr. for the lead. Because fresh tires presented such an edge Sunday (upwards of two-and-a-half seconds faster) due to Atlanta’s aged surface (the track was last repaved in 1997), Johnson would quickly chop multiple seconds off Harvick’s lead thereby erasing any deficit. If a caution came out before Harvick and the other leaders pitted, then Johnson would be trapped a lap down effectively ending his race.
After pole sitter Kurt Busch showed the way early in the race, Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 64. Kenseth finally got the lead on Lap 42 when Busch made his first pit stop of the day. NASCAR caught a crew member placing a wedge wrench on the deck lid of the No. 20 vehicle while fueling the auto, a violation of the rule that prohibits him from performing “any adjustments or other pit stop procedures while the fuel can coupler is engaged”. He wound up being black-flagged, which kept him from being scored on one lap, then lost another lap when he came in for his drive-through penalty. “But knowing Dad and knowing Jimmie’s character, they would have gotten along tremendously and Dad would have thought the world of him”, Earnhardt said.
“I saw a lot of threes coming back”, said Johnson, as smooth as ever while riding the ragged edge.
Feb 28, 2016; Hampton, GA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) celebrates with his daughter Genevieve Johnson after winning the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
@DaleJr was able to make his way through the overtime fiasco, and brought home a solid second-place finish. He finished 19th. FILLING IN FOR SMOKE:Ty Dillon had a nondescript day while subbing for injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 vehicle.
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The cars set a blistering pace in the first test of a new aerodynamic package created to promote more competitive racing. I guess it’s just what all of our fans do day in and day out and they pick their driver and have their rivalries internally in their own house.
