One of the most historic moments in recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history came down to an overtime restart Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson had not had the fastest car of the four Championship contenders all day. His Hendrick Motorsports team had fought handing issues all day long, and it looked like his chance at a historic seventh series title was going to slip away.
But a pair of cautions – including a huge multi-car crash that eliminated title contender Carl Edwards – set up an overtime restart with Johnson in second. From there, Johnson got a huge jump, pulling ahead of the dominant car of Kyle Larson, and drove away to score the win and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the season ending Ford EcoBoost 400.
It was far from easy. After being sent to the back of the field on the start of the race for unapproved modifications caught in pre-race tech, Johnson worked to move himself into contention. But his No. 48 Chevrolet seemed a little off on handling all day, with his team making changes to try to get the car where it needed to be.
Despite not having the fastest car, the final restart was the deciding moment in the race and the championship.
Johnson said afterwards he had never dreamed winning seven Sprint Cup championships would be possible.
“Oh my gosh, there is no, no way on earth. Just beyond words,” he said. “Just didn’t think the race was unfolding for us like we needed to do to be the champs, but we just kept our heads in the game. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called a great strategy, made some great adjustments for the short runs. Luck came our way and we were able to win the race and win the championship.”
The win moves Johnson into very rare air, as he joins NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. as the only three drivers to win seven series championships. He also amassed his titles faster than the other two drivers. It took Johnson 15 years to reach seven, while it took Earnhardt 19 and Petty 21.
“Records are a mark and they set something for everyone to shoot at,” Petty said after Johnson’s win. “Jimmie and his team have done that tonight. They set a goal to get where they are and circumstances and fate made it a reality. They did what they needed to do and now they are at seven championships. Congratulations to him and his team.
“Jimmie is a great champion and this is really good for our sport.”
“It’s big. It has a different meaning,” Johnson said. “The No. 7 has a very special place in my heart with Ricky Hendrick, as a lot of people know. For some reason I just felt good and calm today and things just kind of unfolded at the end for us. I know it was help from above. In my heart I wanted to believe it would happen. It has and I just can’t believe it. Thank you so much.”
One of the cautions that set up the final sprint for the win set up a restart with just 10 laps to go. Title contender Carl Edwards, who had dominated among the four Chase drivers, restarted in second. Fellow Chase driver Joey Logano restarted directly behind him in third.
When the green flag flew, Logano had a strong restart, and looked to duck to the inside of Edwards as the field came up to speed. Seeing Logano’s Ford coming, Edwards moved his Toyota to the left to block him. The two made contact, with Logano hooking Edwards in the left rear.
That sent both cars down the track, with Edwards first slamming into the inside wall, then sliding up to the outside, where he was hit hard by Kasey Kahne while other cars were gathered up behind him. The crash ended Edwards’ night and his championship hopes.
“Yeah, Joey just timed it perfectly, he moved down, I thought I could feel him a little and I just thought that – I was probably a little optimistic, but I thought I could clear him or force him to lift,” said Edwards. “I just thought I had just a little more time, but he drove down as far as a guy could be expected to drive down and that’s how it ended.”
“I understand why he had to throw the block and he understands why I had to make the move because that was for the win,” Logano said after the race. “That was the only shot that I had. That was for the race. With 10 to go, what do you expect? It’s for a championship.”
In all, eight cars were swept up into the crash, including Martin Truex, Jr., who had to bail out of his No. 78 Toyota as flames shot out from under the front.
NASCAR officials red flagged the race, leaving the cars parked on the exit of turn 2 for just over 31 minutes while safety crews worked to clean up the accident scene. Fortunately, there were no injures.
When the red flag was lifted, Logano drove to the pits for repairs and four fresh tires. While some questioned that move, Logano powered forward on the restart, moving all the way to fourth before the final caution of the night flew when Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. spun on the backstretch.
Meanwhile, Johnson had moved to second, setting up the overtime restart.
Logano had hoped to put together one more big restart, but in the end, he finished fourth, leaving him in seventh in the final championship tally.
“It was eventful to say the least. I hate being that close to a championship and not getting it,” Logano said. “The team did a great job all day. We had a good race car and we put ourselves in position to win. No one made any mistakes or anything like that on our pit crew. That last restart, I was hoping to get Jimmie there and trying to get either to the inside or outside of him. I just timed it a little bit wrong to get underneath him. I just didn’t have enough time to get under him. We lost some time there and unfortunately we finish second.
“The championship means so much and everyone forgets about second place. That is what stinks. But overall I am proud of this team. This will be motivation for next year. This hurts.”
After seeing Logano’s strong run on fresh tires, Chase contender Kyle Busch stopped for fresh rubber after the final caution flew. Much like Logano, Busch’s gamble almost paid off, as he powered to the outside around several cars on the final restart.
When the checkered flag flew, the defending series champion finished in sixth.
“It was a really rough night for us at the beginning and it didn’t seem like it was going our way and then all of a sudden it looked like we had it in the bag and it was ours to win or ours to lose and we just didn’t quite get a great restart there on two restarts to go,” Busch said. “Logano shot through the middle and got me really tight and loose down into turn 1. We just kept trying to fight through there and fight through that and what happened and with coming back down there at the end and taking four tires it just got us way too far behind in traffic and we just couldn’t make up from that deficit.
“This M&M’s team did a great, great job all year long. Here this weekend, we fought hard a little bit with an ill handling car, but we made the most of it and just not enough.”
While the championship was being decided, Kyle Larson came into the night with one thing in mind – scoring his second career series victory. Larson was on a mission all night, leading 132 of 268 laps. But after a night of domination, he could not contain Johnson on the final restart, and he had to settle for second.
“Congrats to Jimmie, congrats to Chevy for winning the championship, that’s pretty cool and that Jimmie could win seven there. We had the car to win there and I know that I did everything in my power to win the race. But rules are rules and I have to work in the box.”
When asked to explain his comment, Larson said, “Well, you are supposed to be side-by-side entering the box and he was all the way behind me. So not really anything I could do to maintain his distance behind me. But its whatever, I am happy for him.”
Kevin Harvick finished in third, with Logano in fourth and Jamie McMurray in fifth.
Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, A.J. Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin and Michael McDowell rounded out the top ten.
Three-time series champion Tony Stewart made his final career start on Sunday night, as he will retire from driving in the Sprint Cup Series. After being saluted by all of the crews on pit road before the start, Stewart was not a factor in the race, eventually finishing in the 22nd position.
“I’m proud,” Stewart said. “It’s been an awesome 21 years racing in NASCAR with the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series. That is really cool to see that No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) up there making history. Now we’ve got three guys in the seven win club. Pretty proud day, I was glad I got to race with him on the day he got his seventh.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, FL
Ford EcoBoost 400 – November 20, 2016
1. (14) Jimmie Johnson (C), Chevrolet, 268.
2. (24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 268.
3. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 268.
4. (13) Joey Logano (C), Ford, 268.
5. (15) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 268.
6. (9) Kyle Busch (C), Toyota, 268.
7. (7) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 268.
8. (12) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 268.
9. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 268.
10. (26) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 268.
11. (5) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 268.
12. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 268.
13. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 268.
14. (28) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 268.
15. (22) Brian Scott #, Ford, 268.
16. (19) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 268.
17. (21) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267.
18. (23) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 267.
19. (30) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 266.
20. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 266.
21. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 266.
22. (11) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 266.
23. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 266.
24. (27) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 266.
25. (3) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 264.
26. (8) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 264.
27. (31) * Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, 264.
28. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 264.
29. (36) David Ragan, Toyota, 264.
30. (18) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, Accident, 262.
31. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Toyota, 261.
32. (37) * Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 259.
33. (34) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 258.
34. (10) Carl Edwards (C), Toyota, Accident, 257.
35. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 257.
36. (6) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, Accident, 257.
37. (29) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, Accident, 257.
38. (35) * Regan Smith, Chevrolet, Accident, 255.
39. (39) Dylan Lupton(i), Ford, 250.
40. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 213.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.869 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 07 Mins, 10 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.466 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 33 laps.
Lead Changes: 20 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-31; C. Edwards (C) 32-34; K. Harvick 35-67; C. Edwards (C) 68-70; K. Harvick 71-85; J. Logano (C) 86-91; C. Edwards (C) 92-117; K. Larson 118-121; C. Edwards (C) 122-125; K. Larson 126-135; C. Edwards (C) 136-143; K. Larson 144-154; C. Edwards (C) 155; K. Larson 156-172; C. Edwards (C) 173; K. Larson 174-208; C. Edwards (C) 209; K. Larson 210-253; K. Busch (C) 254; K. Larson 255-265; J. Johnson (C) 266-268.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Larson 7 times for 132 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 79 laps; C. Edwards (C) 8 times for 47 laps; J. Logano (C) 1 time for 6 laps; J. Johnson (C) 1 time for 3 laps; K. Busch (C) 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: J. Johnson (C) – 5,040; J. Logano (C) – 5,037; K. Busch (C) – 5,035; C. Edwards (C) – 5,007; M. Kenseth – 2,330; D. Hamlin – 2,320; K. Busch – 2,296; K. Harvick – 2,289; K. Larson – 2,288; C. Elliott # – 2,285; M. Truex Jr. – 2,271; B. Keselowski – 2,267; J. McMurray – 2,231; A. Dillon – 2,223; T. Stewart – 2,211; C. Buescher # – 2,169.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/11/472276/jimmie-johnson-writes-history-with-seventh-sprint-cup-title