As Jimmie keeps winning, greatness keeps growing

When the closing laps of Sunday's Drive for Autism AAA 400 were unfolding at Dover International Speedway, I wasn't buying anything Jimmie Johnson was selling as he looked for his 11th victory at the Monster Mile.

Johnson qualified 14th, but had to go to the rear of the field at the start for a rear gear change.

It didn't matter.

The man moving like a rocket up the career wins list made his way through the field with precision, timing, and smart pit stops. Johnson led briefly for the first time at lap 329, but gave it up during a caution for a Regan Smith wreck two laps later.

When a caution came out for David Ragan with just two laps to go, Kyle Larson was in trouble. Despite leading 241 laps and looking like it would be his day, Larson got outfoxed by Johnson on the final restart.

And by a margin of about 50 feet -- on the backstretch past the overtime line -- Johnson was declared the winner when the rest of the field couldn't negotiate through the mess created by the speedy-dry.

Yes, it was Johnson's 83rd career victory. Yes, it ties him with Cale Yarborough for sixth on the wins list.

But it was also an absolute gift made possible by the ever-changing NASCAR rule book.

In our world of social media, where everyone has an opinion and shares it at the drop of a hat, the anguish over Johnson's win came out loud and clear.

It should just stop, right now. Mainly because it's getting way too old.

I witnessed a couple of Johnson's wins from the media center that feel similar in context to what happened Sunday. You be the judge.

-In 2010, Jeff Gordon looked like Kyle Larson at Las Vegas. Johnson went on a four-tire strategy on the final pit stop and took the lead with 17 laps to go and won for the fourth time at LVMS. Gordon led 219 laps, but finished third.

-Later that same season, Johnson was trailing Marcos Ambrose, but a caution with seven laps to go changed everything in what was a battle of fuel mileage.

When Ambrose stopped his car to keep fuel in it, the move backfired and cost him six spots. He tried to reclaim his position, but NASCAR wouldn't allow it.

Johnson got by Robby Gordon on the final restart and earned his first road-course victory.

So there it is. Some of Johnson's wins have been fortunate. Others have come from his crew using brain power.

And it doesn't matter what system is in place. Johnson just does whatever is necessary to keep on winning.

With 83 wins in the can, you can't help but wonder how high Johnson can go. We aren't even to halfway in this season, and he's on pace to keep up his five-win average for the sixth year in a row.

That's right. In the last 193 races -- five years plus 13 races of this season -- Johnson has put the No. 48 in Victory Lane 28 times. We are witnessing greatness.

Change the scoring system, change the rules on what crews can and can't do to the cars, it does not matter. Jimmie Johnson is on a mission and doesn't turn 42 until September.

He only needs two more wins to pass Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. That would only leave Jeff Gordon's 93 and David Pearson's 105.

Sorry, but Richard Petty's 200 is permanently untouchable. Joining the King and Pearson in the century club is not, however. The numbers Johnson is still putting up are proving it's possible.

So instead of hating, I choose to congratulate. Well done, Jimmie.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

Truex wins again, first four eliminated

After all the rain fell at Dover International Speedway over the course of the weekend, the first elimination race of the 2016 Chase had the look and feel of ... mystery.

With a green track, it didn't give off a clear advantage to one particular team, especially with limited practice time.

When the Sprint Cup race -- the Citizen Soldier 400 -- rolled around, Martin Truex Jr. sounded off loud and clear his championship aspirations.

Truex won for the second time in his career at his "home" track -- he calls Mayetta, N.J. home -- and won for the second time in the first round of the Chase.

The results speak volumes how the one-car team with the Joe Gibbs Racing technical alliance is planning on being a major factor.

In picking up his fourth win of the year (matching Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch at the top of the charts), Truex led 187 laps, including 106 of the final 114.

Chase time is definitely winning time, and Truex is getting pretty good at giving himself a chance as a title contender. Last year, he won at Pocono and stayed consistent to reach the Championship Four. As we head to Round 2 this week, who knows how many more races the 78 will win?

We're heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Truex absolutely demoralized the rest of the field, leading 392 of the 400 laps to win the Coca-Cola 600. It's 100 miles less this time around, but there's no reason to think a repeat performance -- or something very close -- isn't in the cards again.

And with the third Chase race in the books, the first four who had title hopes saw them come to an end. We nearly had a stunning development along the way.

Kevin Harvick, who won the first elimination-style Chase in its debut two years ago, was nearly eliminated after Dover. He had early issues in the No. 4, went to the garage for repairs, and ended up 37th, 46 laps down. It was his second-worst finish of the season and third in the 30s since July (39th at Daytona 2 and 32nd at Watkins Glen, but both of those were with crashes).

When the brake dust finally settled, Harvick ended up as the 12th and last driver to advance to the second round. The final margin: One measly point in front of Tony Stewart, who was 13th at Dover. Crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 team know it does matter how much you get in by, as long as you get in.

The feeling ended up even worse for Kyle Larson and the No. 42 Target Chevrolet team. He had the final transfer spot by five points heading to Sunday, but ended up two points outside after finishing 25th.

Jamie McMurray was done early at Dover as he lost an engine and finished 40th, while Chris Buescher went as expected, finishing 23rd as the fourth driver eliminated.

Among the surprise advancers was Austin Dillon, who started the day tied with McMurray but turned in an eighth-place finish at the Monster Mile to end up 11th for the round, 10 points in front of Harvick.

Now everything resets once more and the next cutoff at Talladega awaits.

-After being delayed to Sunday due to heavy rains, Daniel Suarez cruised to the victory at the XFINITY Drive Sober 200 at Dover, joining Elliott Sadler in the second round of the Chase.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the first Chase in NASCAR's No. 2 series, and it's anyone's guess who will hang on. From fourth-place Brendan Gaughan to 10th-place Erik Jones, the separation between seven drivers is exactly 15 points.

Heck, even Ryan Sieg has a realistic shot from 11th. He's only 10 points behind Brennan Poole, who has the last transfer spot at the moment.

Some will be desperate for a win, others will be in search of ways to survive and advance. That's why the Chase has been, and will always be, worth watching.

Tom Zulewski will post a separate entry on the Camping World Truck Series race from Las Vegas later today. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports or @TommyZee81 and email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Concord, North Carolina.

-SPRINT CUP: Bank of America 500, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

2015 champion: Joey Logano

-XFINITY SERIES: Drive for the Cure 300, Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Austin Dillon.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Oct. 22 for the Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kenseth survives three-way battle at Dover

With all of the success enjoyed by the other drivers at Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth may have felt like a fifth wheel. Bad breaks and bad luck seemed to follow him everywhere in 2016.

In the season’s first 11 races, Kenseth’s three teammates – Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin – won six of them. The driver of the No. 20 car could only manage a pair of seventh-place finishes at Phoenix and Richmond.
But after a turn-the-corner moment with a fourth at Kansas last week, Kenseth finally joined the JGR victory party, capturing his first and the race team’s seventh win of 2016 by winning the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway.
And the opportunity came with the help of a good break, for a change. Kenseth was able to take the lead just before a Matt DiBenedetto spin at lap 354, and when an 18-car pileup happened off the restart five laps later, it set up a fight to the finish that made for riveting viewing.
First, there was Kyle Larson. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi had his shot over the final five laps and even got to Kenseth’s bumper a few times. There would be no bump-and-run.
"I had gotten close to his bumper a couple times," Larson said to NASCAR Wire Service. "I may have even got into him once. I didn't want to do anything dirty. I respect Matt Kenseth a lot. He's definitely, in my eyes, the cleanest racer out there. He always races me with respect. I try to do the same with him.”
But Kenseth ended up as the one in Victory Lane, earning his 37th Cup win and tying Kyle Busch and Bobby Isaac for 19th on the career list. Lesson for Larson: being a nice guy is one thing, but it doesn’t get you race wins.
Rookie Chase Elliott was also in the mix. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet finished third, best of his career so far. Elliott got by Larson for second with 20 laps to go, but had to give up the position three laps later due to difficulty with lap traffic.
They call Dover the Monster Mile, and everything that happened – from the big late-race wreck (are we sure that wasn’t Talladega?) to the riveting three-way fight to the finish – gave more credence to the nickname.
Every little thing that can help put fans back in the seats is certainly worth it, and the AAA 400 Drive for Autism played a valuable part in making progress toward that goal.
Normally, I don’t spend any time talking about Formula 1 racing here, but from what I saw on my device as I crawled out of bed Sunday morning was a beautiful attention-getter.
The Pirelli Grand Prix of Spain from Barcelona was won by Max Verstappen. Of course, you’re asking “who’s he?” Right?
Verstappen is basically an 18-year-old kid from Belgium who went out and made history, becoming the youngest Formula 1 race winner ever at 18 years, 228 days. Sebastian Vettel was the previous record holder at 21 years, 73 days.
If that doesn’t make you say “whoa,” please check for a pulse.
Verstappen led 30 laps, including the last 23 where he survived a shootout over the 2.89-mile Catalunya course with none other than Kimi Raikkonen (20 career wins, 2007 season champion) bearing down on him. Like Larson, Raikkonen got close but never could complete a pass for the lead.
Verstappen got the win in his 24th start in F1. It was the first time he’s led laps.
If you don’t have the NBC Sports Live Extra app on your device, find a way to watch the replay of the Spanish Grand Prix. It’ll make you believe anything really is possible.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports and email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Concord, N.C.

-SPRINT CUP: Sprint Showdown, Friday, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

2015 champion: Clint Bowyer

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

2015 champion: Denny Hamlin

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.

2015 champion: Kasey Kahne

-XFINITY SERIES: Off until May 28 for the HiSense 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch kicks Kansas off winless list

When it came to a list of his favorite tracks to race, Kansas Speedway likely didn’t rank very high for Kyle Busch.

The numbers didn’t lie, either. His average finish was 19th. In 16 prior starts on the 1.5-mile oval, Busch had no wins and led a grand total of 87 laps out of more than 4,200 raced at the track.
All of the bad vibes changed to the good in one fortunate swoop as Busch crossed the finish line first Saturday night at the GoBowling.com 400. Not only did Kyle cross Kansas off his winless list – leaving only Pocono and Charlotte yet to conquer – he did the bulk of his work late in the race. Of the 69 laps he led, 37 came during the final stages.
Busch was able to seize the opportunity when Martin Truex Jr., who led a race-high 172 laps but finished 14th, was forced to return to pit road at lap 215 due to a loose wheel. The bad break was the result of a bolt that broke and didn’t allow the tire to mount on a prior green-flag stop that happened three laps earlier.
From there, Busch only had to get by two more restarts. The second one came with 19 laps to go after teammate Denny Hamlin tried a risky three-wide move that took out Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano along with him.
Busch, who led from lap 231 to the finish, held off Kevin Harvick and earned his third win of 2016. It was Busch’s 37th career Cup win and came five days after he celebrated his 31st birthday.
When you’re going well, all can seem awesome with the world. In direct contrast, everything probably felt like a bad trip through a Walking Dead episode to Martin Truex Jr.
For the eighth time in his Sprint Cup career, Truex led more than 100 laps. For the seventh time, he didn’t win the race. The only time Truex pulled off the feat was his first career Sprint Cup win at his “home” track, Dover International Speedway, in 2007.
Among the seven times of plus-100 in the laps led without winning, it’s happened to Truex at Kansas twice. In the eeriest of coincidence, Truex led 173 laps in the spring race in 2012 and finished second.
Texas Motor Speedway is also on the twice-bitten track list for Truex. In this year’s spring race, he led 141 laps and finished sixth. In the 2013 spring race, he led 142 laps and finished second.
If that’s not bad luck, Truex wouldn’t have any luck at all.
But the native of Mayetta, New Jersey does have three career wins. I had the privilege of witnessing his triumph in the 2013 Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. As the laps were winding down, I was flashing back to places like Kansas and Texas, where something bad seemed to always come into play.
Yes, I doubted Truex would hang on.
On that June day three years ago, the bad breaks stayed away. When the checkered flag came out for Truex, it ended a wait of nearly six years between victories.
And one thing I’ll never forget from that weekend was how his car owner, Michael Waltrip, said directly to my face without cockiness or pretense at a press preview luncheon in San Francisco that his guy, Martin Truex Jr., would win on Sunday.
He’s got Toyota equipment to drive again after a two-year absence, so the potential for another victory is there. As long as the gremlins stay away, anything is possible at any given moment.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports and email at tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval), Dover, Delaware.

-SPRINT CUP: AAA 400 Drive for Autism, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 miles, 400 laps.

2015 champion: Jimmie Johnson

-XFINITY SERIES: Ollie's Bargain Outlet 200, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Chris Buescher

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Dover 200, Friday, 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Tyler Reddick

Townley shocks world with truck win at Vegas

John Wes Townley had heard the critics. He didn’t lead laps very often, if at all, and fans gave him the derisive nickname “John Wrecks Weekly” for his alleged propensity for crashing at strange times.
In his fourth full-time year and his 87th career start overall in the Camping World Truck Series,

Townley was finally able to silence the negative vibes for good by winning the Rhino Linings 350 on Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
When two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton was forced to pit for fuel with six laps to go in the 146-lap race, Townley made his fuel last just long enough as he beat runner-up Timothy Peters by 3.842 seconds. It was the 25-year-old Georgia native’s first career victory in the series and only his fourth top-5 finish.
“When I saw Crafton run out of fuel, I remember thinking this was my race to lose,” said Townley, who led the most laps (23) in any race of his career. “I was really, really trying to be conservative, and I don’t think I would have been able to be conservative if it hadn’t been for my spotter (Terry Cook). It was the hardest five laps of my life.”
Crafton, who had three runner-up and two third-place finishes among his previous seven trips to Las Vegas, took the lead at lap 101, but his fuel window fell short as he finished eighth. It was the beginning of a chaotic sequence in a fuel-mileage fight to the finish as points leader Erik Jones and Canadian Cameron Hayley (10th) also saw their fuel tanks run dry in the closing laps.
Jones finished behind Crafton in ninth and saw his lead shrink to four points with five races remaining in the 2015 season. Tyler Reddick, who won the season-opening race at Daytona and followed up with one at Dover in May, finished seventh and is 16 points behind the leaders.
In addition to his first win, Townley also had the best qualifying effort of his career at Las Vegas, joining Crafton on the outside of the front row with a speed of 175.758 mph around the 1.5-mile oval. Crew chief Mike Shelton said the fuel was good to the end for Townley as long as the race didn’t extend beyond the scheduled distance.
“We were a half-lap to the good on fuel,” Shelton said. “We were hearing the 88 (Crafton) and 13 (Hayley) were talking about pitting, and I didn’t know if they were serious or not. We kept the pressure on the 88, and once we heard he was pitting, we backed it down as a precautionary measure.”
Once Townley took the checkered flag, he was able to do a victory burnout near the fence at the start-finish line. It was an appropriate moment that gave him a sense of relief in addition to the elation.
“Looking back, there were a lot of hardships I had to overcome, hurdles I had to jump over,” Townley said. “It was building myself back up, and it was really tough at times. I’m so glad I stuck with it because it’s definitely been worth it.”
Townley said he’ll be running the XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 10 for Athenian Motorsports before returning to his 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet truck at Talladega on Oct. 24.
After Peters, his Red Horse Racing teammate Ben Kennedy finished third. John Hunter Nemechek and Brandon Jones completed the top five.
The race had only three cautions for 19 laps, and the final 94 laps were run under green. … Austin Theriault suffered a compression fracture in his lower back after hitting the wall head-on in Turn 4 in a lap 15 wreck involving teammate Tyler Reddick. Theriault had to be airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas for observation.

---

On the Cup side of the ledger, you just had a feeling something was going to give Sunday at Dover. With the first eliminations on the line at the AAA 400, Kevin Harvick was one of the four who knew a win would be a holy grail moment to preserve his chances of repeating as Sprint Cup champion.

For the third straight elimination round, Harvick got it done. After a dominating performance where he led 355 of the 400 laps, Harvick did exactly what he needed to do.

Just win, baby. It certainly kept hope alive and gave sponsor Outback Steakhouse another Monday of giving away free Bloomin' Onion appetizers with a meal purchase.

Last year at Phoenix, Harvick needed a win to advance. Done. 

At Homestead, he needed a win to win the title. Mission accomplished.

After going 0-for-29 in his previous trips to the Monster Mile, Harvick basically beat Miles at his own game and got to put him in his trophy case as a result.

Let's give credit where it's due, though. Harvick was runner-up to Jimmie Johnson at the May race, so the timing of this win couldn't have been more perfect.

While Harvick's win got him to the next round, it provided an added impact to those on the Chase bubble. Since Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up tied for the last transfer spot to the Contender round, the tie had to be settled.

The first tiebreaker is wins, and Earnhardt Jr. has two to none for McMurray. Because Harvick won, McMurray is eliminated.

The same thing would have happened if any of the other drivers who were outside the bubble -- Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer or Kyle Busch -- had won Sunday.

Busch managed to advance on points with his runner-up finish to Harvick, but just barely. The margin was exactly one point better than Dale Jr., who finished behind Busch in third. The one point came from Busch having led 19 laps at Dover.

But the clear shocker of the eliminations came as Jimmie Johnson finished 41st in his 500th career start. The reason wasn't so much for an accident on the track as it was for a simple parts failure.

When a rear axle seal broke early in the AAA 400, Johnson's chances for a title went away with it. By the time his crew completed the necessary repairs, Johnson was 37 laps down and couldn't recover.

Such are the highs and lows of NASCAR's playoff system. Even when you think everything's in working order, you always have to stay on guard against anything that could go wrong.

When championship dreams are at stake, one misstep could easily lead to major disappointment. One bold leap forward toward the front of the pack could lead to championship immortality.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Concord, N.C.

-SPRINT CUP: Bank of America 500, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

2014 champion: Kevin Harvick

-XFINITY SERIES: Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Oct. 24 for the Fred's 250 presented by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.