Jimmie Johnson Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For Jimmie Johnson, the race weekend at Watkins Glen International was anything but typical for the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. Johnson was 16th and 22nd in the only two practice sessions. Johnson qualified his No. 48 Lowe’s/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet SS 13th after just missing the final round in qualifying. As the race started, Johnson slid back to 15th. Johnson’s descent was slowed as the caution waved for debris. On the restart, Johnson immediately began to move back up through the field. JohnsonRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Denny Hamlin, winner of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, entertained a sold-out grandstand with a celebratory burnout that trailed a plume of smoke the entire length of the frontstretch at Watkins Glen International. But Hamlin’s smoke show—with a bad back, no less—paled in comparison to the fireworks that preceded the checkered flag, Hamlin’s first at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series road course. The race was in doubt until the final corner, with Martin Truex Jr. pressuring Hamlin, who ledRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Going into the race weekend at Watkins Glen International, A.J. Allmendinger was one of the pre-race favorites to win on the road course. This was Allmendinger’s best chance to score a win and qualify for the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Allmendinger was eighth fastest in the opening weekend practice and topped the charts in the final practice. In qualifying, Allmendinger put his No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet ninth on the grid. It didn’t take long for Allmendinger to move forward after the race started.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Throughout the history of NASCAR, there have been stories of drivers continuing to race even while injured, never giving up the pursuit of victory lane. In 2011 at Pocono, Brad Keselowski added his name to that list. For that reason, the 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono is the focus of this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater.” The week prior to NASCAR’s second trip of the season to Pocono, Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 team, along with Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 team and Dale Earnhardt,Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer In recent weeks, Hendrick Motorsports has been uncharacteristic with their finishing positions. Until today’s race at Indianapolis, Hendrick Motorsports had gone three straight races without a top 10 finish. This is the first time in over a decade that has happened to the organization. Jimmie Johnson qualified the best for the organization this week, starting the Brickyard 400 in 13th. The race started out promising for Johnson, as he slowly worked his way up into the top 10 by lap 20. 30 laps later, Johnson broke intoRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Treacherous, perilous, dangerous, precarious, and tricky: these were some of the adjectives used to describe the new-look Kentucky Speedway following Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. The Speedway, located in Sparta, midway between the large population centers of Louisville and Cincinnati, recently completed a total replacement of the 16-year old asphalt. In addition to the repave, turns one and two were reconfigured adding 3° of banking, while turn four was narrowed to allow for a wider pit lane entrance. To say that the facility has raisedRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway, there were a lot of unknowns with the newly repaved and reconfigured track surface, but it didn’t take long for the track to claim its first victims. Jimmie Johnson, who had never won at Kentucky in five previous starts, had troubles with the track from the time his No. 48 team unloaded, spinning out and crashing his primary car in practice and having to break out his backup car for the race. Though Johnson would be ableRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jimmie Johnson had a decent day going in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. He started from the 16th spot, but by the mid-point of the race, Johnson had emerged as a solid top-10 car. He even led four laps during a cycle of green flag stops from lap 99 to lap 102. But at lap 162, things began to come undone for the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Trevor Bayne and Johnson were battling for position, when Bayne washed up the track and intoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Jimmie Johnson saw his chances of winning the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 at Pocono Raceway end after wrecking with less than 40 laps to go. The incident happened on one of the many frantic restarts as Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet slid in Turn 1, then clipped the rear of Brad Keselowski before making heavy contact with the inside wall. Johnson, a three-time winner at Pocono, has finished outside the top 20 in three of the last five races, with his only notable result beingRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team outpaced the field for the Coca-Cola 600 pole on Thursday night and easily led the most laps in the race itself. This was Truex’s ninth career pole, and first pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Truex opened up an early lead until the competition caution on lap 25. After the restart, Truex held off the competition, to once again open up a gap that extended to nearly six seconds. DuringRead More