Jimmie Johnson Makes late Race Pass to Win the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at TMS
FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – Jimmie Johnson passed Joey Logano with 16 laps remaining to claim his seventh career victory at Texas Motor Speedway. The 1.5-mile track has been a favorite of Johnson’s in his career, but late-race heroics proved to be the winner for the seven-time champion. Kyle Larson passed Logano to finish second. Logano finished third with Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rounding out the top five.
The first two stages of the race were dominated by Ryan Blaney in the Wood Brothers Ford. He got checkered flags in both stages, but a late race pit miscue lost him a chance to go for the victory.
In fact, Fords dominated the whole weekend. Kevin Harvick won the pole and the Fords of Blaney, Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Clint Bowyer were the first five qualifiers. The third and final stage was a different story as Johnson and Larson In Chevrolets finished one-two.
“My car started falling off like it did all day.” Logano said. “I needed a 15-lap run instead of a 30-lap run, or a couple cautions in three and we would be standing in victory lane with a 12th place car and that would have been something. We just have to get faster.”
Johnson was so dehydrated that he had to report to the infield care center to get fluids so he could enjoy victory lane celebrations.
“I got cooked in the car today” Johnson said. “I didn’t have any fluids so I’m not feeling the best, but we got into Victory Lane. I’m so proud of the fight in this race team. I can’t wait to celebrate during this off-weekend with my family and friends and really enjoy this.”
Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex, Jr., Chase Elliott, and Kurt Busch made up positions 6 through 10. There were five Fords, four Chevrolets and one lone Toyota in the top-10.
Joe Gibbs Racing continued to struggle in the 2017 season. The highest of the Gibbs Toyotas was Kyle Busch in 15th place, with Matt Kenseth finishing 16th, Daniel Suarez finishing 19th and Denny Hamlin 25th.
Next week is an off week for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but will return on April 23rd at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Unofficial Race Results for the 21St Annual O'reilly Auto Parts 500 - Texas Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, St1, St2, Pts, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Laps, Status
1) 24, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, , 2, 49, 2, 18, 5, 334, Running
2) 32, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 6, 4, 47, , , , 334, Running
3) 4, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 9, , 36, 3, 38, , 334, Running
4) 1, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 4, 7, 44, 4, 77, , 334, Running
5) 37, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, , 9, 34, , , , 334, Running
6) 5, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 5, 8, 40, 1, 4, , 334, Running
7) 6, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Sherwin-Williams Emerald Chevrolet, 3, 3, 46, , , , 334, Running
8) 7, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER BOATS Toyota, 2, 10, 39, 3, 49, , 334, Running
9) 33, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, , 5, 34, , , , 334, Running
10) 10, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, , 6, 32, , , , 334, Running
11) 3, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 7, , 30, , , , 334, Running
12) 2, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 1, 1, 45, 4, 148, 2, 334, Running
13) 12, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford, , , 24, , , , 334, Running
14) 11, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 8, , 26, , , , 334, Running
15) 34, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 10, , 23, , , , 334, Running
16) 8, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Let's Go Places Toyota, , , 21, , , , 334, Running
17) 14, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, , , 20, , , , 334, Running
18) 18, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, , , 19, , , , 334, Running
19) 20, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, , , 18, , , , 334, Running
20) 16, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, , , 17, , , , 334, Running
21) 38, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Scott Products Chevrolet, , , 16, , , , 333, Running
22) 36, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, , , 15, , , , 333, Running
23) 13, Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, , , 14, , , , 333, Running
24) 19, Danica Patrick, No. 10 TaxAct Ford, , , 13, , , , 333, Running
25) 17, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, , , 12, , , , 333, Running
26) 9, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, , , 11, , , , 332, Running
27) 27, * JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 Accell Construction, Inc. Chevrolet, , , 0, , , , 330, Running
28) 21, David Ragan, No. 38 Camping World/Good Sam Ford, , , 9, , , , 329, Running
29) 15, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, , , 8, , , , 329, Running
30) 28, Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, , , 7, , , , 327, Running
31) 26, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa Ford, , , 6, , , , 327, Running
32) 23, * Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota, , , 5, , , , 326, Running
33) 25, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Energy & Water Chevrolet, , , 4, , , , 322, Running
34) 29, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, , , 3, , , , 322, Running
35) 30, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Xchange of America Chevrolet, , , 2, , , , 319, Running
36) 22, Paul Menard, No. 27 Dutch Boy/Menards Chevrolet, , , 1, , , , 314, Running
37) 40, * Derrike Cope, No. 55 Low T Centers Toyota, , , 1, , , , 313, Running
38) 35, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, , , 1, , , , 303, Running
39) 39, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 Fenton Motors Chevrolet, , , 0, , , , 104, Engine
40) 31, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Little Joes Autos/Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, , , 1, , , , 9, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) non-charter team
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 24 Mins, 18 Secs.
Average Speed: 147.137 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.340 Seconds
Race Comments: Jimmie Johnson won the 21st Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, his 81st victory in 550 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 5 (backup car), No. 6 (backup car) and No. 48 (unapproved tire change).
Caution Flags: 8 for 35 laps: Laps: 4-5 (debris frontstretch [None]); 11-15 (15, 23, 33 incident in turn 2 [None]); 32-36 (competition caution [51]); 87-92 (Stage 1 conclusion [27]); 123-126 (debris frontstretch [7]); 165-167 (debris turn 1 [95]); 172-177 (Stage 2 conclusion [7]); 301-304 (debris turn 3 [19]).
Lead Changes: 16 among 6 drivers: K. Harvick 1-15; R. Blaney 16-32; K. Harvick 33-36; R. Blaney 37-88; M. Truex Jr. 89-92; R. Blaney 93-125; M. Truex Jr. 126; R. Blaney 127-172; K. Harvick 173-219; B. Keselowski 220-223; J. Logano 224-228; M. Truex Jr. 229-272; J. Johnson 273; J. Logano 274-290; K. Harvick 291-301; J. Logano 302-317; J. Johnson 318-334.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Chase Elliott, No. 24 5 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Engines, No. 4
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Larson, No. 42
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kurt Busch, No. 41 crew chief Tony Gibson, 0.042 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 17
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Ty Dillon, No. 13
Ron Fleshman with John Davison
RIS NASCAR Editor. Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.