FORT WORTH, Texas — Jimmie Johnson took the lead with 14 laps to go and drove to the win Saturday night in the Duck Commander 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We just kept plugging at it and I think the off-week was good for us to sit down and relax, reboot and come back to the track and they brought me a fast race car that was good all weekend,” Johnson said.
It was Johnson’s second win of the season and the fifth of his career at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick, who finished second to Johnson earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and second to Johnson in the fall 2014 race at Texas, repeated those performances with another runner-up showing Saturday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third.
“We weren’t as good as the 48 (Johnson) or the 4 (Harvick) early in the race, but we definitely improved it and Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the Nationwide team did a great job in getting it better,” Earnhardt said. “We have had that speed all year and it’s good to get a good finish in the bank because these last few weeks have been pretty rough, but we know what we are capable of.”
During the eighth and final caution of the race — with 25 laps to go — Harvick, Johnson and Earnhardt were among the drivers who took four tires. Meanwhile, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. took two apiece and restarted the race in the top three spots. Harvick was the first driver to get off pit road with four and restarted fourth. Johnson restarted seventh.
“I thought we were in big trouble once we restarted,” Johnson said. “The No. 4 (Harvick) went up through there and got to the lead. I just couldn’t go anywhere. I got so tight. We weren’t sure if it was a bad set of tires. We felt like we had a set that didn’t match up with us earlier in the race. So we made no adjustments.
“We went out the next restart and the car was a little better, but made an adjustment. Then that last pit stop we made the right adjustment. I caught the No. 4 racing with the No. 1 (McMurray). I was able to get by both of those guys and check out. It was an exciting race. I hope the fans really enjoyed that one.”
Harvick got up to second position with 18 laps remaining, and Johnson followed him through traffic to take third. Johnson then got by both Harvick and McMurray to take the lead and drive away to the win. Harvick and Earnhardt swapped the second and third positions several times in the closing laps.
“I just got behind there and Jimmie was fast for those last couple laps and got around us,” Harvick said. “I got loose coming off four and I got in the wall and just was trying to hang on to where I needed to be. I just have to thank everybody on my Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team for all that they have done and we just raced as hard as we could and it was a lot of fun.”
Joey Logano finished fourth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. McMurray and Gordon dropped back to sixth and seventh by the finish. Kasey Kahne, Truex and Carl Edwards finished eighth through 10th.
NOTES: Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and third behind winner Erik Jones in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. … Kurt Busch’s pole for the Duck Commander 500 was his second in four races. Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick started next to him on the front row both times. … The Texas race marked Kyle Larson’s return after being sidelined for the race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway because of a fainting spell the day before. … The Texas race was the first after NASCAR severely penalized the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing team and driver Ryan Newman for modifying tires two races ago at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.