Jimmie Johnson Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a fourth Darlington Raceway victory ended in a last lap Stage 1 crash during Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400. Throughout the stage, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had a superb No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. This came into fruition once long green flag runs began to unravel and had a shot of being one of the guys to beat in the 293-lap race. That became apparent after cutting his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman’s lead from 3.5 seconds downRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS — Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Sage Karam (No. 24 DRR Wix Filters Chevrolet) got the virtual INDYCAR iRacing Challenge rolling Saturday with a win from the pole in the American Red Cross Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International. Karam led 43 of the 45 laps and beat Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist (No. 10 NTT DATA Honda) by 3.6174 seconds in the debut event of the six-race INDYCAR iRacing Challenge. Team Penske’s Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet) finished third. While this may have been his firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The virtual world of NASCAR took center stage and it definitely didn’t disappoint as three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin held off Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win the first-ever eNASCAR/iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday. Coming to the white flag, Dale Jr. had the advantage over Hamlin as he controlled the more gripped bottom lane, but Hamlin wouldn’t be denied as he had fresher tires after pitting late in the race despite being on the top groove. Hamlin’s No. 11 FedExRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Returning to the track a week after unspeakable tragedy struck into the heart of the team, Hendrick Motorsports rolled into Atlanta Motor Speedway in late October 2004 looking to kickstart the healing process. By the time the checkered flag flew on the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, the healing was well on its way thanks to an emotional win from Jimmie Johnson. En route to Martinsville Speedway the previous weekend, a Hendrick Motorsports team plane, carrying 10, had crashed into Bull Mountain in southeast Virginia. ThereRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The NASCAR Cup Series has been setting up shop on the West Coast for the past two weeks and this Sunday, the series will finish up its tour of the Southwestern United States with a trip to Phoenix Raceway and the FanShield 500. In a preview of November’s championship race, Sunday’s race on the one-mile oval in the Arizona desert, which made its debut on the Cup Series schedule in 1988, will be the first big test of the new short track/road course aero package thatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson enjoys strong run in swan song at Auto Club Speedway FONTANA, Calif. – Before the green flag waved Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Jimmie Johnson took prime position behind the pace car as the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field fanned out five-wide behind him in a respectful salute to the seven-time champion. When the green flag waved to signal the beginning of the Auto Club 400, Johnson saw his wife Chandra and daughters Genevieve and Lydia doing the honors fromRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Alex Bowman had a new nose for the finish line Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet—a sleeker version of the Camaro with a new front fascia—Bowman ran away with the final stage of the Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track in the Inland Empire. In picking up his second career victory and his first at Fontana, Bowman led five times for 110 of the 200 laps in the third NASCAR Cup event of theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – It’s far too early to be thinking about Christmas, but Clint Bowyer was the Grinch whole stole the thunder from local favorite Jimmie Johnson during Saturday’s time trials at Auto Club Speedway. With a stronger run off Turn 4 on his qualifying lap, Bowyer edged Johnson by .007 seconds to earn the pole position for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The last driver to turn a lap, Johnson had the edge atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson brings vivid memories in return to home track FONTANA, Calif. – Eighteen years ago, Jimmie Johnson came to Auto Club Speedway with no job security. This weekend, Johnson returns to the two-mile track for his last ride as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver with 83 victories, seven championships and nothing left to prove. That wasn’t the case in 2002 in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Despite assurances to the contrary, Johnson thought he was on a short leash with theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The annual NASCAR Goes West campaign enters its second week as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Southern California for Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two-mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. During its 20+ years on the circuit, the track has gone through ownership changes, as well as expanding to two race dates in 2004 and thenRead More