This race could’ve been called the “Jimmie-Jo Show” but it did have some spicy moments. We had over-heating cars, wall slapping cars, pit-road spinning cars, delays from 10 cautions and Mother Nature, teammates taking out each other, a Hendrick crop-duster, a double-stacked car pile-up and two other drivers besides Edwards, that would prove to be contenders with Johnson, one of them challenging him for the most led laps. This lap-by-lap rewind will recap these and other events of this race.
Jimmie Johnson needed to finish 7th or better Sunday and did with his 7th win of the season leading 217 of 313 laps. All he has to do now is place 36th or better at Homestead to be crowned the Sprint Cup Champion.Johnson has now become the first driver to have ever won three in a row at Phoenix.
“I can’t tell you how tough the last week has been,” Johnson said. “This is what I’ve worked my whole life for. It’s a weight on your shoulders. A lot of hard work goes into this. I was going for maximum points and I got it.” Those guys [the crew] were working for every little thing they could find to make this car better, and they made it the dominant car,” said Johnson, whose win also clinched Chevrolet’s 32nd manufacturer’s championship.
Edwards had a great race, but with Johnson ahead, it didn’t help him as much as he needed. Edwards is now 141 behind Johnson with only one event remaining.
“Jimmie is just doing it, he’s doing a great job,” Edwards said. “It’s possible, but it’s not probable. You never know what can happen.”
Pre-race notes:
Due to transmission change, Greg Biffle would have to start at the back.
Lap 1 – Johnson leads them at the green flag but not for long. Jamie McMurray would lead the first lap and collect the 5 bonus points.
Lap 5 – Dale Jr. paints the wall a little as he passes Newman for 4th position. One lap later, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann joins Dale Jr. in passing Newman.
Lap 9 – Reutimann’s success was short lived as he gets out of the groove and slips back to 8th. At this point, McMurray is still leading the race.
Lap 14 – McMurray has increased his lead over Johnson to one second. One lap later, Kevin Harvick slaps the wall, but his car seems to be ok.
Lap 17 – Greg Biffle is on the move, now in 38th after starting at the back of the pack.
Lap 19 – CAUTION #1 – Sam Hornish Jr. tangles up with Elliot Sadler to bring out the first yellow of the day.
Lap 21 – The Pits -
Jeff Gordon 4 tires and some adjustments
Kurt Busch takes 2 tires and track bar adjustment
Jamie McMurray takes 4 tires and a chasis adjustment
Jimmie Johnson gets 4 fresh tires and a track bar adjustment
Lap 23 – Kurt Busch wins the race off pit road, while Truex Jr. comes in with over-heating problems.
Lap 25 – Johnson grabs 3rd from Sorenson, then Dale Jr. also passes him for 4th.
Lap 29 – Jimmie Johnson passes Newman for 2nd.
Lap 30 – CAUTION #2 – Brian Vickers brings out the 2nd yellow flag as his right rear tire comes apart , sending him into the wall. Sadler gets the free pass. Truex Jr. has to take his car to the garage. Later truex said a clear bag on the nose of his car caused the engine to overheat and end his day.
Lap 36 – Kurt Busch leads the field from the green flag. Johnson, Newman, McMurray and Dale. Jr follow.
Lap 37 – CAUTION #3 – Here we go again! 3rd yellow was due to rain.
Lap 43 – RED FLAG – Rain got heavier, so the cars were parked and covered.
***Before the restart, Matt Kenseth has a flat tire and will have to pit as soon as they roll out.
The race was red flagged for 26 minutes.
Lap 44 – Matt Kenseth and Scott Speed run down pit road while pit road is closed. Lap 46 again for fule.
Lap 47 – GREEN FLAG – 1-Kurt Busch, 2-Joohnson, 3-Newman, 4-McMurray and 5-Dale Jr.
Lap 63 – Jeff Gordon, Newman and Hamlin run three-wide for 5th position.
Lap 69 – Kurt Busch has built a lead of 0.8 seconds on Johnson.
Lap 72 – Newman had to come in when a tire goes down. He had to come back and serve a pass-thru penalty for leaving before the old tires were out of the way.
Lap 78 – Johnson catches Busch and is challenging him for the lead. On lap 81, he gets the lead for the first time of the day, collecting 5 bonus points.
Lap 89 – Edwards is moving through the field as is up to 12th as he passes Stewart.
Lap 92 – Biffle has made the best of a bad situation, making his way up to 15th from a rear starting position.
Lap 95 – Dale Jr. passes Kurt Busch taking 3rd. 3 laps later, Johnson puts Kenseth and Bill Elliot a lap down.
Lap 99 to 101 – Green Flag Pit Stops ;
Hamlin – track bar adjustment, 4 tires
Martin – 4 tires and air pressure adjustment
Johnson 4 tires and adjustments
Jeff Gordon 4 tires and major adjustments
McMurray gets chasis and air pressure adjustments
Lap 102 – Martin is black-flagged for missing lugnut.
Lap 110 – Johnson gets the lead back after pit stops cycle through. On the next lap, Newman has to take his car to the garage.
Lap 118 – Johnson puts Bowyer a lap down and Newman gets back on the track.
Lap 123 – Jeff Gordon said he heard the engine change in pitch and loss of power.
Lap 125 – Johnson has increased his lead over McMurray by 2.3 seconds.
Lap 138 – At this point in the race, there are only 19 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 140 – CAUTION #4 – We got debris in turn one, bringing out the 4th yellow of the day. Montoya gets the free pass.
Lap 141 – All 19 lead lap cars pit.(What the leaders were doing)
Johnson – takes a wedge and air pressure adjustment.
Gordon – track bar adjustment
Kurt Busch – Air pressure and track bar adjustment
McMurray – chasis adjustment
Lap 149 – Restart – Johnson gets a great jump on Dale Jr. to pull away.
Lap 154 – Hendrick is smiling ear to ear as all 4 of his cars are in the top 6.
Lap 158 – Allmendinger gets loose racing three-wide with Biffle. Three laps later, Kahne gets into the wall and bumps teammate Allmendinger.
Lap 165 – Johnson has a 3.1 second lead on Dale Jr.
Lap 179 – Biffle battles Kyle Busch for 9th. What a day, after such a bad start.
Lap 185 – “In-A-Hurry-McMurray”, passes Dale Jr. to claim 2nd.
Lap 192 – Power failure plagues the #24 team as Gordon fades back to 18th. Three laps later, teammate Johnson puts him a lap down.
Lap 210 – CAUTION #5 – More debris, this time in turn 4. Kahne would get the free pass. During the pit stop, Johnson’s team has a slow stop with trouble getting tape on the nose. McMurray would beat him off pit road.
Lap 218 – Green Flag – McMurray brings them to green, but Johnson gets a good start and passes him to get the lead back after one lap.
Lap 236 – Johnson is leading McMurray by one second.
Lap 247 – Kurt Busch has passed McMurray for 2nd.
Lap 259 – McMurray slips another spot as Dale Jr. takes 3rd.
Lap 261 – CAUTION #6 – Debris in turn 3 would bring out the 6th caution of the evening.
Lap 266 – Green Flag – Johnson leads Kurt Busch, McMurray, Edwards and Harvick to restart.
Lap 269 – “That’s all she wrote”, Jeff Gordon’s car turns into a crop-duster, his day is done as he takes it to the hanger.
Lap 273 – CAUTION #7 – Juan “Problem” Montoya bumps Casey Mears and causes him to bottle-neck the track involving a bunch of cars behind them. David Gilliland’s car was resting on top of Scott Speed’s car. Also involved is Ambrose, Petty, Waltrip, and Riggs. The race is then RED FLAGGED to allow time for clean-up.
Lap 278 – Green Flag – Johnson and Kurt Busch pull away from the field.
Lap 284 – CAUTION #8 – Sorenson has a tire go down and he smacks the wall after introducing his car to Kyle Busch. Kenseth would get the free pass.
Lap 288 – Green Flag – No surprise, Johnson brings them to green.
Lap 292 – CAUTION #9 – Debris on the track again. Martin would get the free pass.
Lap 296 – Green Flag – Johnson brings them to green once again. Following him was Kurt Busch, McMurray, Edwards and Dale Jr.
Lap 304 – Johnson is out to a 1 second lead.
Lap 305 – CAUTION #10 – Stewart and Kenseth get together bringing out the 10th and final caution of the evening. Also getting a taste of this action was Robby Gordon and Allmendinger.
Lap 311 – Green Flag – One more time, Johnson brings the field to green. Getting one more chance following behind him is Kurt Busch, McMurray, Edwards and Hamlin.
Lap 312 – WHITE FLAG – Johnson takes the white flag as the following order stays the same.
Checkered Flag – Johnson wins his 7th race of the year as 10 cars wreck to end the race!
All Johnson has to do now is avoid trouble and place 36th or better to make history to grab his 3rd consecutive title.
I picked Johnson to win in my Phoenix Fantasy Report. Next week is Homestead. Check back as I run down the driver, track stats and my top driver picks.
Oh my, what a race! It was only the Jimmy Johnson show, from start to finish and what did the commentators talk about non stop…. Jimmy Johnson. Was there anyone else racing?
For the most part, even the couple of races that were exciting became boring due to Rusty and gang.
Can not wait for the speed/fox/tnt broadcasters to be back on, at least we see more of the complete picture of who is racing and the broadcasters make it fun, even when it is far from it, which is most every week now.
I am sad to said…Nascar is about done with if the powers that be don’t wake up.
Even worse than that, is them switching over to ESPN2 there at the end of the race for AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS!” What gives? I am still blown away by that!