> News > NASCAR

Charlotte win boosts Johnson’s title push

Speedcafe.com

By Speedcafe.com

Monday 10th October, 2016 - 8:07am

< Back
Johnson broke a 24-race winless streak

Johnson broke a 24-race winless streak

Jimmie Johnson has vaulted into NASCAR championship contention with what could become a critical victory at Charlotte.

Johnson who snapped a 24-race winless streak was able to convert while five of the 12 drivers still in contention in the Chase for the Sprint Cup all finished outside the top 30.

The result is a 78th career win for Johnson and eighth win at Charlotte. The win automatically guarantees him a place in the final eight in the championship.

Johnson had to overcome Matt Kenseth on a late restart to take the lead and pull away for victory.

Although this season has been at times a struggle for Johnson, he and his Hendrick Motorsports team looked like champions as he led 155 laps.

Since the Chase moved to an elimination format in 2014, Johnson had never advanced out of the Round of 12.

Kenseth finished second, Kasey Kahne third, while Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. Of the top five, only Johnson and Kenseth are in the Chase.

Several Chase contenders had issues. Martin Truex Jr. came to pit road in the top three for his final stop, but stalled leaving pit road and finished 13th.

Denny Hamlin was running in second and had led 52 laps before his engine expired on Lap 307. He finished in 30th.

Polesitter Kevin Harvick had an electrical issue midway through the race and finished 38th.

Tyre issues for Joey Logano saw him hit the wall twice on different occasions. He went to the garage before returning 77 laps down and ultimately finishing in 36th. Last year, Logano swept all three races in the Round of 12.

A big wreck on a Lap 258 restart involving Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and several others shook up the running order late and brought out a red flag. Both Dillon and Elliott were in the top five at the time and Elliott had led 103 laps on the day.

Dillon finished 32nd with Elliott classified 33rd.

VIDEO: Race wrap

RESULTS: Bank of America 500 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

POS. CAR # DRIVER MAKE STARTING POS. LAPS LAPS LED FINAL STATUS POINTS BONUS POINTS
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 11 334 155 Running 45 5
2 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 17 334 5 Running 40 1
3 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 12 334 0 Running 38 0
4 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 21 334 1 Running 38 1
5 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 25 334 0 Running 36 0
6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 4 334 1 Running 36 1
7 2 Brad Keselowski Toyota 20 334 0 Running 34 0
8 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 23 334 0 Running 33 0
9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 5 334 0 Running 32 0
10 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 16 334 0 Running 31 0
11 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 13 334 0 Running 30 0
12 19 Carl Edwards Toyota 8 334 0 Running 29 0
13 78 Martin Truex Jr Toyota 7 334 0 Running 28 0
14 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 22 334 0 Running 27 0
15 43 Aric Almirola Toyota 33 334 0 Running 26 0
16 34 Chris Buescher Toyota 26 334 0 Running 25 0
17 15 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 31 334 2 Running 25 1
18 6 Trevor Bayne Toyota 27 334 0 Running 23 0
19 38 Landon Cassill Toyota 32 334 0 Running 22 0
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Toyota 15 333 0 Running 21 0
21 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet 35 333 0 Running 20 0
22 44 Brian Scott Toyota 30 333 0 Running 19 0
23 23 David Ragan Toyota 34 331 0 Running 18 0
24 46 Michael Annett Chevrolet 37 330 0 Running 17 0
25 83 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 24 329 0 Running 16 0
26 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt Ford 38 328 0 Running 15 0
27 98 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 36 327 0 Running 14 0
28 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 39 321 0 Running 13 0
29 30 Josh Wise Chevrolet 40 320 0 Running 12 0
30 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 9 308 52 Engine 12 1
31 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 18 307 0 Running 10 0
32 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 19 258 0 Accident 9 0
33 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 3 258 103 Accident 9 1
34 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 28 258 0 Accident 7 0
35 16 Greg Biffle Ford 14 257 0 Accident 6 0
36 22 Joey Logano Ford 10 254 3 Running 6 1
37 47 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 6 252 0 Accident 4 0
38 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 1 155 12 Engine 4 1
39 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 2 61 0 Accident 0 0
40 13 Casey Mears Chevrolet 29 61 0 Accident 1 0

 

STANDINGS

POS DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 DNF
1 Jimmie Johnson 3045 Leader 30 3 8 13 4
2 Matt Kenseth 3040 –5 30 2 7 15 4
3 Kyle Busch 3036 –9 30 4 13 20 5
4 Brad Keselowski 3034 –11 30 4 15 21 0
5 Kurt Busch 3033 –12 30 1 7 19 2
6 Carl Edwards 3029 –16 30 2 7 16 5
7 Martin Truex Jr 3028 –17 30 4 7 15 1
8 Denny Hamlin 3012 –33 30 3 10 17 4
9 Austin Dillon 3009 –36 30 0 4 11 2
10 Chase Elliott 3009 –36 30 0 9 15 2
11 Joey Logano 3006 –39 30 1 11 20 3
12 Kevin Harvick 3004 –41 30 3 14 22 3
13 Kyle Larson 2109 –936 30 1 8 12 2
14 Tony Stewart 2106 –939 22 1 5 8 4
15 Jamie McMurray 2084 –961 30 0 1 10 2
16 Chris Buescher 2070 –975 30 1 2 2 4
17 Kasey Kahne 766 –2279 30 0 3 11 1
18 Ryan Newman 738 –2307 30 0 2 9 2
19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr 658 –2387 30 0 3 5 3
20 Ryan Blaney 655 –2390 30 0 3 8 2
21 AJ Allmendinger 653 –2392 30 0 2 5 4
22 Trevor Bayne 651 –2394 30 0 2 5 2
23 Danica Patrick 577 –2468 30 0 0 0 3
24 Greg Biffle 548 –2497 30 0 1 3 7
25 Paul Menard 542 –2503 30 0 0 2 6
26 Aric Almirola 539 –2506 30 0 0 0 5
27 Clint Bowyer 526 –2519 30 0 0 3 2
28 Casey Mears 467 –2578 30 0 0 0 1
29 Dale Earnhardt Jr 461 –2584 18 0 5 6 4
30 Landon Cassill 431 –2614 30 0 0 0 1
31 David Ragan 398 –2647 30 0 0 0 5
32 Regan Smith 380 –2665 29 0 1 2 5
33 Michael McDowell 377 –2668 25 0 0 1 2
34 Brian Scott 371 –2674 30 0 0 0 5
35 Matt DiBenedetto 316 –2729 30 0 0 1 9
36 Cole Whitt 268 –2777 25 0 0 0 5
37 Michael Annett 267 –2778 29 0 0 0 4
38 Jeff Gordon 183 –2862 7 0 0 1 0
39 Josh Wise 165 –2880 26 0 0 0 6
40 Reed Sorenson 164 –2881 22 0 0 0 4
41 Jeffrey Earnhardt 119 –2926 17 0 0 0 2
42 Brian Vickers 86 –2959 5 0 0 1 1
43 Bobby Labonte 51 –2994 3 0 0 0 0
44 David Gilliland 46 –2999 2 0 0 0 0
45 Michael Waltrip 42 –3003 2 0 0 0 0
46 Boris Said 17 –3028 1 0 0 0 0
47 Patrick Carpentier 11 –3034 2 0 0 0 0
48 Eddie MacDonald 5 –3040 1 0 0 0 0
49 Alex Kennedy 5 –3040 1 0 0 0 1
50 Robert Richardson 3 –3042 1 0 0 0 1
51 Alex Bowman 0 –3045 5 0 0 1 1
52 Ty Dillon 0 –3045 10 0 0 0 0
53 Dylan Lupton 0 –3045 2 0 0 0 0
54 Jeb Burton 0 –3045 2 0 0 0 0
55 Joey Gase 0 –3045 4 0 0 0 0
56 Ryan Ellis 0 –3045 3 0 0 0 0
57 Timmy Hill 0 –3045 1 0 0 0 0
58 Justin Allgaier 0 –3045 1 0 0 0 1
59 Cody Ware 0 –3045 0 0 0 0 0

Join the discussion below in the Speedcafe.com comments section

Please note: Speedcafe.com reserves the right to remove any comment that does not follow the comment policy. For support, contact [email protected]