Jimmie Johnson sent a message to his other 42 competitors on Sunday; don’t let Daytona fool you. He’s back and he’s ready to go win his fifth straight title. With his 48th career win, the driver of the No. 48 car knows he’s now the one everyone will be aiming for, not that the target hasn’t been on his back for years now.
But in all the years he’s been the best driver in the sport, Johnson has been the beneficiary of some unbelievable luck. Last year he finished sixth at Talladega in the fall after most of the cars in front of him had to pit late for gas. Yesterday, with rain looming in the background, Johnson used his Hendrick Motorsports power to drive away from Kevin Harvick, but not before lady luck played to his advantage again.
When Brad Keselowski lost control of his car on the front stretch, Johnson was getting four fresh tires and a full tank of gas. A regularly scheduled green flag stop could have put Johnson a lap down, but he barely beat then leader Jeff Burton to the exit of pit road.
But in all the years he’s been the best driver in the sport, Johnson has been the beneficiary of some unbelievable luck. Last year he finished sixth at Talladega in the fall after most of the cars in front of him had to pit late for gas. Yesterday, with rain looming in the background, Johnson used his Hendrick Motorsports power to drive away from Kevin Harvick, but not before lady luck played to his advantage again.
When Brad Keselowski lost control of his car on the front stretch, Johnson was getting four fresh tires and a full tank of gas. A regularly scheduled green flag stop could have put Johnson a lap down, but he barely beat then leader Jeff Burton to the exit of pit road.
Johnson battles teammate Mark Martin for the lead on a restart (Getty Images)
Johnson took the lead when, guess what, everyone in front of him had to pit for gas. Even though Kevin Harvick made a late charge, Johnson proved too much, and the four-time defending champ brought home only his second win in the month of February.
“There’s no way around it, we got lucky,” Johnson said. “We were running fourth or fifth at the time, so it’s not like we totally backed into this thing. We got a really nice gift with the way things worked out and it was up to me to kind of hang on to it.”
Harvick was up front for most of the race but fell just short at the end (Getty Images)
Kevin Harvick disagreed with Johnson after the race, stating, “They’re really good, but they’re really, really lucky too.”
“Yes, we were lucky today,” Johnson retorted. “But you don’t get lucky and win four championships and 48 races.”
California took a toll on engines too. Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon had issues. Montoya’s engine expired bringing out a caution on lap 140 and Newman’s followed suit eight circuits later. Gordon was able to get his issues straightened out, but was only able to muster a 20th place finish.
Now the series heads off to Vegas—Sin City—where the Busch brothers dominated last year. It’ll be interesting to see what Kurt and Kyle will pull off for an encore in the town they grew up in.
No comments:
Post a Comment