Jimmie Johnson Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Can Hendrick Motorsports really be better without Jeff Gordon? From a global perspective, to suggest such a thing would be pure heresy. But from a year-over-year performance perspective, it’s well within the realm of possibility that the 2016 version of Hendrick Motorsports could outshine the 2015 edition, even with rookie Chase Elliott taking Gordon’s place behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet. In fact, team owner Rick Hendrick said as much. Even though Gordon advanced to the Championship Round of the Chase andRead More

By Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Wire Service I feel very fortunate to have been a fan of Jeff Gordon from the very beginning. He was somebody that I aspired to be. I watched him from his Midget and Sprint Car days all the way through, and when he hopped in that DuPont 24, it was much easier to follow him. When you look at the doors that he has opened after his success, and owners thinking that drivers don’t have to come from the South or come from stock cars, youRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jimmie Johnson played spoiler last Sunday at Texas, stealing a win from Brad Keselowski in the closing laps. On Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway – though “spoiler” is not a role he relishes – the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion was at it again, winning the pole for Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC) with a track-record lap at 143.158 mph (25.147 seconds). Johnson, who was bounced from the Chase for the NASCARRead More

Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Texas—For Jimmie Johnson, it was business as usual in Cowtown. On Sunday, the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion completed a sweep of this year’s Texas Motor Speedway races, powering past hapless Brad Keselowski with three laps left to win the AAA Texas 500 for the fourth straight year. Johnson kept his record perfect, winning a race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the 12th consecutive season. His fifth victory of the year was also his record sixth at Texas—includingRead More

At what point does a restart take place? This is the question running through my mind as I attempted to digest what has taken place at Talladega Superspeedway at the end of NASCAR’s Camping World 500. A caution came out for Jamie McMurray blowing an engine and the field was lined up for a green/white/checkered finish. The difference was that NASCAR had stated heading into the week leading up to Talladega that there would only be one attempt while other races had three, due to the nature of restrictor-plate racing.Read More

TALLADEGA, Ala. – In a knockout qualifying session dominated by Hendrick Motorsports on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, the outgoing king of restrictor-plate time trials—Jeff Gordon—won the pole position for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500, the final race in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN). Gordon toured the 2.66-mile oval in 49.234 seconds (194.500 mph) to earn his fourth Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his fifth at Talladega and the 81st of his career. Gordon has claimed the top starting spotRead More

JOLIET, Ill. – In the theater, using the expression “Break a leg” is a way to wish an actor good luck on opening night. Twelve days before Sunday’s opening Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, Denny Hamlin tore the ACL in his right leg playing basketball. Late in the myAFibRisk.com 400 at the 1.5-mile track, Hamlin found his good fortune in the form of a serendipitous pit call on the part of crew chief Dave Rogers. Staying out on old tires, Hamlin grabbed the lead momentsRead More

LOUDON, N.H. – The odds in Kyle Busch’s favor made another dramatic surge on Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In winning for the third time in eight starts since returning from an 11-race injury absence, Busch solidified his chances of qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a serendipitous victory in the 5-Hour ENERGY 301 at the Magic Mile. Two critical moves were essential to Busch’s winning for the second time at New Hampshire and the 32nd time in his career. First, with the No.Read More

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. endured a weekend of rain, a three-hour-plus pre-race delay, and nine caution flags to win the Coke-Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway early Monday morning. The race ended at 2:41 a.m. and concluded with a large crash featuring Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet going airborne and smashing into the catch-fence near Turn 1 after he crossed the start-finish line. Dillon walked away from the wreck, the fourth major crash of the night. After being released from the infield care center, Dillon said heRead More

DOVER, Del.—Jimmie Johnson, welcome to the club. With his overtime victory in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway, Johnson became the fifth driver to win 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at a single track, joining Richard Petty, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Sr. in sharing that distinction. Johnson’s triumph was his series-best fourth of the season and the 74th of his career, eighth most all-time and two behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Earnhardt in seventh place. Unlike many of the six-time champion’s pastRead More