“I was fine with lifting, but I had to get back on the race track, so I worked my way back up on the track”.
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“We had a fast vehicle and that was the most important thing”, he said. The #18 got tight and fenced us. The driver who vowed to pound the JGR drivers into the ground three days before the Chase began instead pounded the turn three wall with the rear of his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet after contact with Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevy during a lap 135 restart flattened Harvick’s left rear tire. After battling Gordon for second on the restart, Hamlin took the lead from Busch. The win for Joe Gibbs Racing – a heavy favorite to win the championship – earned Hamlin an automatic berth into the second round of the playoffs.
Kevin Harvick, who won two races in 2015 and finished second a whopping 10 times, was awarded the pole position for Sunday’s race after a rainy qualifying round. The finish for the four cars of Joe Gibbs Racing was surprising given that at one time three of the four were outside the top 10 and two were one lap down.
Not a disgusting day of practice that resulted in an terrible starting position for the opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Johnson blamed the daring move and eventual contact on a push from fifth-place Joey Logano and lack of space from Harvick following the incident. “I just simply needed a lane to get back on the racetrack”, said Johnson.
Matt Kenseth: He’s been hot (three wins in six races), but there’s risk-reward with him, as well, struggling at Bristol (42nd) and Darlington (21st).
Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five. With 12 of 16 drivers slated to advance to the Contender Round, Jamie McMurray (16th on Sunday), Paul Menard (17th), Clint Bowyer (19th) and Harvick are now below the cut line. The race will re-air on NBCSN Monday at 2 p.m.
After the first caution, the race ran green for 117 laps before the second yellow flag on lap 122. Truex led 39 laps before Busch took over command of the race.
Kurt Busch, who was headed for the win until the final caution was called with 10 laps remaining, was third and disappointed at the timing of the caution. Kenseth leads the Chase grid, Hamlin is second, followed by Edwards, Kyle and Kurt Busch in the top five.
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Kevin Harvick (4) makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway, Sunday, September 20, 2015, in Joliet, Ill. Busch, Jeff Gordon and Hamlin stayed out while everyone else on the lead lap pitted for new tires.
