Jimmie Johnson Locks In Round Of 8 Spot With Charlotte Win
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Jimmie Johnson has secured a spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase Round of 8 after winning Sunday’s rain delayed Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Johnson moved into the lead on Lap 317 of 334 after passing Toyota’s Matt Kenseth on the restart. The win was the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s third of 2016 and his eighth ever win at Charlotte.
The race was tumultuous for the majority of the 12 Chase drivers. Ford’s Joey Logano blew a tire on Lap 117 and later on lap 155 made contact with the outside wall, forcing him to finish 36th. Kevin Harvick finished 38th after blowing an engine, while Denny Hamlin was ranked 36th after his engine expired with 26 laps to go.
Later in the race, a 12-car pileup ended Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott, both of whom are fighting for a spot in the Round of 8. Dillon was spun by Truex Jr. and hit the infield wall, forcing Elliott to check up, which in turn caused Kyle Busch to hit Elliott. Busch pitted for repairs and finished in sixth while Elliott and Dillon both retired.
Kenseth held onto the back of Johnson’s Chevy to cross the finish line 1.474 seconds behind the six-time champ. Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson, neither of which are in the Chase, rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.
NASCAR heads to Kansas next for the second race in the Chase Round of 12. Click here for full results from Charlotte and here for a full schedule of next weekend’s NASCAR festivities.
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I saw that race and I am glad that Chevrolet won it. There were too mamy Toyotas in it, because if it is NASCAR (where “NA” means “North American”), Toyota shouldn’t be in it at all.
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It was just a matter of time for J.Johnson to take the podium. He’s been very fast in the last 3 or 4 races but mistakes killed his chances to win any of them. Sunday was a mistake free race and once Jimmie got to the front there was no chance anybody would beat him. He’s got hot at the right time. I think he’ll win it all this year.