A lot of the talk heading into Talladega was the two car tandems and making the winning pass when it counted.
Jeff Gordon earned the slowest pole ever at Talladega and his three teammates at Hendrick Motorsports lined up second, third and fourth. Just the third time in series history one organization swept the top four spots.
Jimmie Johnson in a slump?
Johnson was asked this weekend if he was worried about his 15 race winless streak, Johnson shrugged it off.
On Sunday Johnson and teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stayed together the entire race. They maneuvered through traffic and keeping themselves in the mix when it came to winning the race. Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick were teamed up along with Gordon and Mark Martin. While those four tried to hold each other off, Johnson and Earnhardt made their move on the bottom.
In a finish that was so close it took NASCAR a minute to figure out who won and it was Johnson by .002 seconds. The finish tied Kurt Busch’s and Ricky Craven’s closest finish at Darlington in 2003. Johnson’s win tied him ninth all time with Lee Petty and moved up to second in the standings.
Rest of HMS…
Gordon was looking like he could score his second win of the season but unable to block both the inside the outside line Gordon would settle for third. He moved to 13th in the standings. Gordon worked with Martin all day long. The two were patient and hung back behind the lead pack. Their patience paid off with Martin finishing eighth on the day and moving to 14th in standings.
Earnhardt worked with Johnson all day long as the two were just as patient as their teammates. Earnhardt’s win streak moved to 101 races but he has shown that he will be a contender this season and his fourth place finish moved him to third in the standings.
Consistent….
For the second time this season David Gilliland found his way to a solid finish on the restrictor plate tracks. After posting a third place finish at Daytona, Gilliland worked his way to ninth at the end of the day. Gilliland drives for an underfunded organization in Front Row Motorsports.
Another solid run at a restrictor plate track after starting 39th he was patient and found his way to the top 10 when it mattered. Gilliland solid run kept him 29th in the standings and garnered his second top 10 of the year.
Clint Bowyer soclose…
For the second race in a row at Talladega Bowyer was right in the middle of a close finish. Last fall, the race ended under yellow after a wreck occurred right after the field took the white flag. He was ruled the winner but on Sunday he was on the other end of a ruling. Johnson was ruled the winner after it was a three way finish between Johnson, Bowyer and a closing Gordon.
Bowyer’s finish continued his recent strong runs on restrictor plate races at Talladega. He worked with Harvick and Jeff Burton for most of the day. Bowyer’s solid second place finish moved him up to 10th in the standings.
Lug nuts…
- In eight races this season we have had seven different drivers. Harvick is the only repeat winner.
- Trevor Bayne survived Daytona but got caught up on a lap 90 wreck involving David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski.
- There were 88 lead changes that tied a track record.
For the rest of results click here.
Next up is the Crown Royal presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400 Saturday, April 30th at 7:30 ET on FOX.
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