Jimmie Johnson scored his second NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in as many weeks at Dover, holding off Brad Keselowski in a late-race restart.
Hendrick Chevy star Johnson dominated the second half of the race, having wrested the lead from Matt Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs-run Toyota on lap 180. Clint Bowyer attempted a bold two-tire strategy at the final round of pit stops to briefly grab the lead, but Johnson dispatched him within seconds of the restart and was never again headed.
A final yellow flag, due to Casey Mears’ tire falling to pieces inside the last 10 laps, meant a four-lap shoot-out to the finish, but Johnson kept his cool once more.
“Cautions at the end – it’s an opportunity for the guy that’s dominated all day to make a mistake,” Johnson said. “So, I wanted to make sure I chose the right lane and got a good restart.”
Poleman Brad Keselowski finished second in his Penske Ford, having closed the gap to Johnson in the penultimate stint, but he was unable to do anything about the six-time champion in the final reckoning.
Kenseth finished third, escaping a hairy moment when Bowyer got into the back of him at the final restart.
“I was just trying to help him (Kenseth),” said Bowyer. “We were all spinning like crazy and I had a pretty good run at him. I knocked him into the wall and I was like: “Not another (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) car.”
Kenseth blamed himself. “I did an awful job on the last restart,” he conceded. “I just got spinning the tires too much and the best car won.”
Denny Hamlin finished fifth, despite an early pitlane speeding penalty.
The race was red flagged twice, once to clean debris from a crash involving Roush-Fenway duo Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which was started by AJ Allmendinger, and a second time when the track came apart at Turn 2.
Ryan Newman tore up part of the concrete race surface into the path of Jamie McMurray, whose car hit the wall after he’d slammed into the debris. The track required repairing, which meant a lengthy delay, but no further issues were encountered after the restart.
Results - 400 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet
2. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +0.885s
3. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +2.008s
4. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +2.326s
5. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +2.745s
6. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Ford +3.445s
7. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +3.738s
8. Joey Logano Penske Ford +4.176s
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +4.284s
10. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +4.644s
11. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +4.987s
12. Aric Almirola Petty Ford +5.114s
13. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet +5.359s
14. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +6.036s
15. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +6.747s
16. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +6.839s
17. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -1 lap
18. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -1 lap
19. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet -1 lap
20. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet -2 laps
21. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet -3 laps
22. Brett Moffitt Robinson Toyota -4 laps
23. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -4 laps
24. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet -4 laps
25. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet -5 laps
26. Justin Allgaier Hscott Chevrolet -5 laps
27. Cole Whitt BK Toyota -6 laps
28. Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet -10 laps
29. David Gilliland Front Row Ford -12 laps
30. Blane Koch FAS Lane Ford -12 laps
31. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet -13 laps
32. Ryan Truex BK Toyota -13 laps
33. Dave Blaney Humphrey Ford -17 laps
34. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet -18 laps
35. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet -22 laps
36. David Ragan Front Row Ford -50 laps
37. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet -103 laps*
38. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford -108 laps
* Not running at finishRetirements:
JJ Yeley Xxxtreme Chevrolet 232 laps
Alex Bowman BK Toyota 208 laps
Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 131 laps
Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 125 laps
Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota 73 laps
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