NASCAR at Texas 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Jimmie Johnson earned his second win of the 2015 Sprint Cup season Saturday night in the Duck Commander 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. According to NASCAR Stats, it's only the first time he's won a spring race in Texas, despite owning more wins at the track than any other driver:

Although Johnson led the most laps (128), he had to work hard for his victory. A number of cautions served to reset the field often and halt those who were attempting to move up the leaderboard. Every time Johnson began making progress, another caution came along to slow him down.

On Lap 321, the 39-year-old executed a fantastic double pass underneath Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick to finally position himself at the head of the pack. Rob Tiongson of The Podium Finish praised Johnson's ability to outwit both of his competitors:

He maintained the lead until the checkered flag. Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushed him in the final laps, but it wasn't enough.

Johnson felt he helped put on a good show for the fans in a winning effort, per Team Lowe's Racing:

On the whole, Johnson was arguably the best driver on the night, so few can take umbrage with his victory. He had one of the best cars, and were it not for all of the cautions, he could've had the victory all sewn up much earlier than he did.

Here's a look at the top 10 finishers from the race. You can view the full race leaderboard on NASCAR.com:

The victory means Johnson shoots up to second in the Sprint Cup standings. Harvick owns a slim advantage at the top spot. You can see the current Chase standings below, courtesy of ESPN.com:

Johnson has historically had a lot of success at Texas. According to DriverAverages.com, only Matt Kenseth has a higher average finish (8.92) and more top-five finishes (13) than the No. 48 car among active drivers. Even with his lack of success during spring races at Texas, Johnson entered Saturday as one of the top favorites to win, and he certainly delivered.

A little over halfway through, it looked as though Johnson was going to dominate. He was cruising in the lead, and no other drivers were seriously challenging him.

Kasey Kahne was in the lead on Lap 222, but things quickly took a turn for the worse as he told his pit crew he heard a vibration coming from his car. His right rear wheel was loose, which forced him into the pits, per Fox Sports:

Kahne's luck turned around, though, as a caution allowed him to work his way up the pack with relative ease. Just like that, he was vying for the lead with Johnson and Keselowski.

Still, Kahne found himself unable to overtake Johnson, who was rolling with the perfect combination of driver skill and a strong car. Johnson told crew chief Chad Knaus that his car was running great throughout the race, per Team Lowe's Racing:

Johnson finally relinquished the lead following a caution on Lap 260. The No. 48 car opted for fresh tires, while Kahne, Keselowski, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. stayed on the track. Logano led after the restart, with Kahne and Truex behind him.

Keselowski, meanwhile, was forced to start from the 23rd position after he ran over the commitment cone right before pit road. He told his pit crew that he got caught up trying to track which cars were going in and which ones were staying out, per Jeff Gluck of USA Today:

Logano's lead was short-lived. Harvick worked his way up the pack and overtook the No. 22 car on the 285th lap, as NASCAR Stats noted:

But just as Harvick began opening up some space between himself and Johnson, yet another caution arrived that brought his momentum to a halt. McMurray and Jeff Gordon took advantage of the situation and made quick pit stops to occupy the top two spots.

In the grand scheme of things, the gamble paid off, especially for Gordon. He, McMurray and Truex all helped themselves with the quick pit stops, but they were unable to keep a quick pace and fell back somewhat.

That opened the door for Johnson to grab the lead back. Once he got into first, the only thing that could've stopped him was another caution. With a clean race over the last 10-plus laps, nobody had a chance of catching the No. 48 car.

The Sprint Cup Series will head to the Bristol Motor Speedway for next week's Food City 500. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson are statistically the best drivers at Bristol, according to DriverAverages.com, but they only have six combined races at the track.

Kenseth and Kyle Busch will be two of the drivers to watch. They've won three and five Bristol races, respectively. A victory would be especially big for Busch since he has to make up for lost time following his leg injury.

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from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1JBs8iA

via IFTTT April 11, 2015 at 09:01PM