After struggling to survive at the World’s Center of Racing last weekend, Jimmie Johnson used his muscle and a little bit of luck to win in his home state of California in the Auto Club 500. With the threat of weather looming over much of the race, the race became frantic towards the end, which only heightened the competition further.
The first race on the west coast began quietly, with only two cautions flying in the first 100 laps. The second of these cautions encompassed the first incident on track that day, when Kasey Kahne spun across the infield grass and destroyed the front splitter of his car. His #9 team would try and make repairs, but would fail to finish the race, placing 34th.
Juan Pablo Montoya was the early leader, before giving way to the hard-charging Jimmie Johnson. Johnson would lead through the first round of pit stops, though the start-and-park car of Dave Blaney did take a turn at the front of the field before parking his car, due to the teams lack of funding. After the first round of stops, Jimmie Johnson would do battle with Kevin Harvick over the race lead, swapping it back and forth.
With the race setting a record pace at the track, engine woes ensued. The third and fourth cautions were brought out by engines expiring, being of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman. After more pit stops, Jeff Gordon shuffled to the lead briefly, before falling to a 20th place finish due to engine woes. Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch swap the lead up to the 5th caution, brought out by rain.
However, the rain would subside, allowing the race to continue. As green flag pit stops began on lap 223, Brad Keselowski hit the wall in turn 4 and spun out on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution. Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson were on pit road at the time, but Johnson was able to beat Jeff Burton to the line at the end of pit road to remain on the lead lap, while Busch fell one lap down.
When the green flag returned to the track, Jimmie Johnson was back in the race lead, but with a little more of a sense of urgency. Though the rain had stopped earlier, it was knocking back on the door again. However, the rain held off and in the end, Jimmie Johnson held off hard-charging Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton to win the Auto Club 500. Here is the rest of the running order:
1. 48 Jimmie Johnson
2. 29 Kevin Harvick
3. 31 Jeff Burton
4. 5 Mark Martin
5. 20 Joey Logano
6. 2 Kurt Busch
7. 17 Matt Kenseth
8. 33 Clint Bowyer
9. 14 Tony Stewart
10. 16 Greg Biffle
11. 82 Scott Speed
12. 83 Brian Vickers
13. 99 Carl Edwards
14. 18 Kyle Busch
15. 00 David Reutimann
16. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.
17. 1 Jamie McMurray
18. 98 Paul Menard
19. 78 Regan Smith
20. 24 Jeff Gordon
21. 12 Brad Keselowski
22. 36 Mike Bliss
23. 6 David Ragan
24. 19 Elliot Sadler
25. 43 A.J. Allmendinger
26. 38 David Gilliland
27. 71 Bobby Labonte
28. 13 Max Papis
29. 11 Denny Hamlin
30. 34 Travis Kvapil
31. 37 Kevin Conway (Rookie)
32. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
33. 7 Robby Gordon
34. 9 Kasey Kahne
35. 47 Marcos Ambrose
36. 39 Ryan Newman
37. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya
38. 26 Boris Said
39. 56 Martin Truex Jr.
40. 87 Joe Nemechek
41. 66 Dave Blaney
42. 55 Michael McDowell
43. 09 Aric Almirola
DNQ: 35 Johnny Sauter, 46 Terry Cook (Rookie), 90 Casey Mears
With Johnson winning the race, he vaults to 12th in points, while Kevin Harvick moves into the points lead. Here is the top 12 in points:
1. 29 Kevin Harvick Leader
2. 33 Clint Bowyer -19
3. 16 Greg Biffle -27
4. 1 Jamie McMurray -29
5. 31 Jeff Burton -31
6. 5 Mark Martin -34
7. 17 Matt Kenseth -43
8. David Reutimann -58
9. 20 Joey Logano -68
10. 99 Carl Edwards -69
11. 2 Kurt Busch -77
12. 48 Jimmie Johnson -78
The next race will be the Shelby American Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race can be seen beginning at 2 pm ET on FOX.
