Jimmie Johnnson wins at Charlotte, clinches spot in Chase third round

CONCORD, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson is back.

Johnson snapped a career-long 24-race winless streak at the ideal time, winning Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to give himself a bye into the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Johnson took advantage of misfortune which affected several Chase contenders and went to victory lane at Charlotte for his eighth career victory at Hendrick Motorsports’ home track — and his first since 2014.

James: Race of attrition at Charlotte leaves several in Chase bind

"We knew we would get back," Johnson said, "it just took a lot longer than we wanted."

This is the first time Johnson has advanced to the third round since the new Chase format was implemented in 2014. It’s also Johnson’s first win since the March race at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California and the 78th of his career in NASCAR's premier series.

Johnson gave team owner Rick Hendrick a bear hug, then greeted daughters Lydia and Genevieve, who had given her father a $1,000,000 bill to put in his pocket for good luck.

It worked. Johnson’s last win – in March – was also the last Cup win for Hendrick.

Johnson and Hendrick took dinner to the team, which was working around the clock at the wind tunnel to try to find more speed for the No. 48 Chevrolet.

“We just fell back on what we’re made of at Hendrick Motorsports. There’s a culture there and a belief and that culture wasn’t fun for us all to experience what we’ve been through.

“Everybody has seen the cars get stronger and better and faster. We’re going to enjoy this one.”

In addition to the winner, the rest of the race was also eventful for several Chase drivers.

Kevin Harvick finished 38th after an engine problem and Joey Logano 36th after he hit the wall — twice — with tire problems.

Then there was a major crash on a restart with 76 laps to go, which was triggered when Chase favorite Martin Truex Jr. bumped Austin Dillon and inadvertently sent him spinning (Dillon had just taken two tires to gain track position). Behind that wreck, Chase Elliott hit his brakes and Kyle Busch hit him, turning him in front of the pack.

Austin Dillon takes hard hit in restart crash at Charlotte

Dillon and Elliott’s cars suffered significant damage and they finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively – this after Elliott had dominated the early portion of Sunday’s race.

Denny Hamlin also had a bad finish after blowing an engine with 26 laps to go, marking the first time since 2007 at Kansas Speedway that five Chase drivers finished 30th or worse.

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BANK OF AMERICA 500

Sunday's results from the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway (starting position in parentheses):

1. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 133.6 rating, 45 points.

2. (17) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, 91.3, 40.

3. (12) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, 93.4, 38.

4. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, 99.9, 38.

5. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 334, 106.1, 36.

6. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 108.7, 36.

7. (20) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334, 89.7, 34.

8. (23) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 334, 78.3, 33.

9. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 334, 79.2, 32.

10. (16) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 334, 90.3, 31.

11. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 334, 72.0, 30.

12. (8) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 334, 101.4, 29.

13. (7) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 334, 92.1, 28.

14. (22) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 334, 64.8, 27.

15. (33) Aric Almirola, Ford, 334, 59.7, 26.

16. (26) Chris Buescher, Ford, 334, 60.8, 25.

17. (31) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 334, 61.5, 25.

18. (27) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 334, 61.8, 23.

19. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 334, 50.7, 22.

20. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 333, 61.5, 21.

21. (35) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 333, 46.8, 20.

22. (30) Brian Scott, Ford, 333, 52.0, 19.

23. (34) David Ragan, Toyota, 331, 42.9, 18.

24. (37) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 330, 42.0, 17.

25. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 329, 40.8, 16.

26. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 328, 33.7, 15.

27. (36) Cole Whitt, Ford, 327, 35.6, 14.

28. (39) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 321, 32.9, 13.

29. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 320, 32.7, 12.

30. (9) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, engine, 308, 95.8, 12.

31. (18) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 307, 63.6, 10.

32. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 68.7, 9.

33. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 116.4, 9.

34. (28) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 52.2, 7.

35. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, accident, 257, 56.8, 6.

36. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 254, 70.2, 6.

37. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 252, 77.0, 4.

38. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, engine, 155, 77.1, 4.

39. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, accident, 61, 51.9, 0.

40. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, accident, 61, 31.2, 1.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 134.929 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 42 minutes, 47 seconds

Margin of Victory: 1.474 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 8 for 51 laps.

Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-12; C. Elliott 13-113; J. Logano 114-116; J. Johnson 117-118; D. Hamlin 119; J. Johnson 120-124; D. Hamlin 125-175; J. Johnson 176-213; R. Newman 214; Kyle Busch 215; C. Bowyer 216-217; J. Johnson 218-229; C. Elliott 230; J. Johnson 231-253; C. Elliott 254; J. Johnson 255-311; M. Kenseth 312-316; J. Johnson 317-334.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Johnson 7 times for 155 laps; C. Elliott 3 times for 103 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 52 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 12 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 5 laps; J. Logano 1 time for 3 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 2 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 1 lap; R. Newman 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 16 in Points: J. Johnson, 3,045; M. Kenseth, 3,040; Kyle Busch, 3,036; B. Keselowski, 3,034; Kurt Busch, 3,033; C. Edwards, 3,029; M. Truex Jr, 3,028; D. Hamlin, 3,012; A. Dillon, 3,009; C. Elliott, 3,009; J. Logano, 3,006; K. Harvick, 3,004; K. Larson, 2,109; T. Stewart, 2,106; J. McMurray, 2,084; C. Buescher, 2,070.