Tag Archives: Jimmie Johnson

The Bottom Line in the Championship 4? There’s No Clear Favorite

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Photos - Getty Images

Photos – Getty Images

A week before they were to race for the NASCAR Sprint Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch sat side-by-side at the daïs in the Phoenix International Raceway media center and began the bickering that invariably accompanies the battle for the series title.

“I think my stats at Homestead show that I’m the favorite, right?” Johnson said facetiously.

“I think my results from last year show that I’m the favorite, right?” Busch retorted.

Busch goes to Homestead as the defending champion, having overcome a broken leg and foot that caused him to miss the first 11 races of the 2015 season. With the elimination of Kevin Harvick in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix, Busch is the only Championship 4 contender who has won a title under the 16-driver Chase format introduced by NASCAR in 2014. Continue reading →

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship 4 Clinch Scenarios for Phoenix

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Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 12, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo - Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 12, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards are clinched in the Championship 4 for Homestead Miami Speedway next weekend. The next two drivers to secure their chance at racing for the Sprint Cup title is decided this weekend in the Can Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and the six drivers and their clinch scenarios are listed below. 

Joey Logano (0 Wins, 4074 Points) – Would clinch on points with a second-place finish and at least one lap led.  With a win, would clinch a next round spot on wins.

Kyle Busch (0 Wins, 4074 Points) – Would clinch on points with a second-place finish and the most laps led.  With a win, would clinch a next round spot on wins.

The following drivers can only guarantee a clinch with a win. The could also clinch on points with help:

Matt Kenseth (0 Wins, 4073 Points)

Denny Hamlin (0 Wins, 4072 Points)

Kevin Harvick (0 Wins, 4056 Points)

Kurt Busch (0 Wins, 4040 Points)

Carl Edwards Resurrects Title Chances with Win in Rain-Shortened Texas Race

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Back from the dead.

With a Lazarus act that was delayed and then shortened by rain, Carl Edwards revived his moribund championship hopes the only way he could—with a victory in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after a hard crash and a 36th-place finish last week at Martinsville, Edwards took the lead under caution on lap 257 when his crew dashed off an 11-second pit stop.

Edwards beat Martin Truex Jr. out of the pits, and that proved the difference, as the No. 19 Joe Gibbs racing Toyota held the top spot the rest of the way until a rain shower halted the proceedings after 293 of a planned 334 laps. Continue reading →

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, AAA Texas 500 at Texas Preview

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AAATexas500_2013

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are racing 334 laps over 501 miles in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, November 6th at 2 pm ET. Television coverage is on NBC with radio coverage available on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

 

What to Watch For: Jimmie Johnson goes for his fifth straight fall win at Texas as he attempts to tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with a record seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Drivers try to move into the top-four of a Chase Grid led by Johnson (clinched berth in Championship 4 with win at Martinsville), followed by Denny Hamlin (six points above Joey Logano on the cutoff line), Matt Kenseth (+6), Kyle Busch (+4), Joey Logano (-4), Kevin Harvick (-16), Kurt Busch (-18) and Carl Edwards (-32). Continue reading →

Austin Dillon Edges Hard-Luck Joey Logano for Texas Pole

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Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole position during Salute to Veterans Qualifying Fueled by Texas Lottery for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo - Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole position during Salute to Veterans Qualifying Fueled by Texas Lottery for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Just because Austin Dillon is no longer in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, that doesn’t mean the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has forgotten how to go fast.

Dillon sped around 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in 28.081 seconds (192.301 mph) in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session to earn the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at 2 pm ET on NBC, the second race in the Chase’s Round of 8. Continue reading →