Jimmie Johnson snatches victory from Larson in chaotic Dover finish
Jimmie Johnson came from last to first to win his 83rd-career Cup race and his 11th at Dover International Speedway.
Photo by: Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images
Johnson’s victory ties him for sixth on the all-time win list with Cale Yarborough. His 11th Dover wins puts the seven-time champion in an elite fraternity of just two fellow champions — Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip with double digit wins at a race track.
“Congratulations,” Johnson told the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team.
“I can’t believe it,” replied crew chief Chad Knaus.
“You’re the restart champ,” team owner radioed the driver.
The No. 48 Chevy led seven laps, but moved to the point for the final time when the AAA 400 Drive For Autism went into overtime. Johnson took the lead from Larson on the restart and held on when the Nos. 13 and 31 made contact on the backstretch to end the race under yellow.
“It means a lot to me,” Johnson said of the win. “When I was growing up in southern California racing dirt bikes I was a big Cale Yarborough fan. We travelled across the country to race in the Amateur Nationals heading to Oklahoma, we stopped at a Hardees I walked in thinking I would meet Cale Yarborough and left with a burger. So, it opened my eyes to the world of sponsorship at that point in time, but I was such a fan and it’s been an amazing journey along the way. It was a huge honor to tie him with three consecutive championships a few years back and then to be here at 83 wins and a day where things played out in such an awkward and weird fashion just very happy that we’ve got it done. To my 83 wins, I’m just so proud that it’s come with one owner, one sponsor, one manufacturer, one crew chief, one team, this is a very special journey this whole Hendrick Lowe’s team has been on.”
Larson led a race-high 241 laps to hold onto second.
“I spun my tires pretty bad, I tried to take off without using too much throttle,” Larson said of the final restart. “But my team gave me a great Target Chevy. I thought we had the best car today.”
Martin Truex Jr., who won the first two stages, finished third followed by Ryan Newman, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick.
Larson elected to take two tires during service between segments and gained the lead for the final stage. Truex restarted second followed by Johnson, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Kahne, Elliott, Jones and Hamlin on Lap 248.
Truex was jumbled up on the restart and dropped to third. On Lap 257, Kenseth passed Truex for third. Harvick rounded out the top five.
On Lap 260, Larson’s lead was a mere 0.352-seconds ahead of Johnson. Kenseth, Truex, Harvick, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Erik Jones and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 10.
Three laps later, the 11th caution was called for debris on the frontstretch. The top 10 remained the same. Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Trevor Bayne and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 15 drivers.
The race returned to green with 132 laps remaining. Larson went side-by-side with Johnson on the first lap but pulled out to two-car lengths over the next lap. Truex, Elliott, Kenseth, Harvick, Kahne, McMurray, Kyle Busch and Suarez rounded out the top 10 with 130 laps remaining.
Subbing for Aric Almirola, Regan Smith passed Denny Hamlin for 15th on Lap 273.
Kenseth pit on Lap 286 with a flat tire, then incurred a speeding penalty. Kenseth, who was running fourth, dropped to 25th — two laps down.
With 100 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to 2.124-seconds over Johnson after the No. 48 Chevy was blocked by traffic. Truex was third followed by Elliott, Harvick, Kahne, McMurray, Kyle Busch, Suarez and Jones.
Truex passed Johnson for second on Lap 303. Johnson brushed the wall, then reported something was wrong with the car as he adjusted his track bar without results. Elliott moved by Johnson on Lap 307 for third. Harvick and Kahne completed the top five.
On Lap 312, Jones who was running in the top 10, reported a right front flat. Jones dropped to 24th, two laps down. Harvick passed Johnson on 315 for fourth. Kyle Busch followed.
Kasey Kahne was the next driver to pit. He came in for service on Lap 318. Larson held the point with 75 laps remaining at Truex and Suarez pit. Johnson, who moved up from seventh to fifth through attrition, on Lap 327. Larson came to pit road when Smith brought out the caution on Lap 329. Larson had led 198 laps before coming to pit road. He was awarded the lucky dog and lined up ninth.
Rookie Ty Dillon was the first car off of eight cars off of pit road followed by his Richard Childress Racing teammate Ryan Newman, Johnson, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chris Buescher and Danica Patrick.
Dillon held the point on the Lap 339 restart with Newman in tow. With 60 laps remaining, Ty Dillon, Newman, Johnson, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard rounded out the top five. Larson moved up seventh on Lap 343 when a wreck occurred between Menard and Buescher on the backstretch. Larson eased down low and through the melee and moved up to fifth as the 13th caution came out.
Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Newman, Johnson, Austin Dillon, Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kahne, Patrick and Elliott. Harvick, Suarez, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Truex rounded out the top 15 after the No. 78 pitted for service with AJ Allmendinger on Lap 354.
The race returned to green with 52 laps remaining and 17 cars on the lead lap. Larson moved up to fourth on the restart with Earnhardt moving up to fifth. Larson looked to the inside of the No. 48 on lap 351 but Johnson held him off. However, Larson did move past Newman for third.
Kyle Busch reported something was wrong with the back of the car and was forced to pit for tires with 45 laps remaining. he dropped to 19th, two laps off the pace.
On Lap 357, Larson passed Johnson on the outside between Turns 1 and 2. With 40 laps remaining, Larson passed Ty Dillon for the lead. Johnson moved passed the No. 13 on the next lap. Newman, Earnhardt, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.
With 20 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to 1.335-seconds over Johnson. Ty Dillon was third followed by Newman, Earnhardt, Truex, McMurray, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Harvick.
David Ragan his the wall between Turn 1 and 2 to bring out the fourth caution with three laps remaining and send the race into overtime.
Larson led followed by Johnson, Truex, Ty Dillon and Newman. Earnhardt, Elliott, McMurray, Kahne, Suarez, Harvick, Allmendinger, Patrick and Austin Dillon pitted.
Jones moved up to sixth for the restart followed by Elliott, McMurray, Suarez, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Hamlin, Kahne, Allmendinger and Patrick. Earnhardt had a speeding penalty and dropped to 17th, the last car on the lead lap.
When the race returned to green, Johnson passed Larson on the restart before the final wreck occurred on the back stretch.
“There was a little confusion at the end, coming to the checker under yellow but we won the race,” Johnson said.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Laps Led |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 406 | 7 | |
2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 406 | 0.638 | 241 |
3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 406 | 1.283 | 102 |
4 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 406 | 1.811 | 1 |
5 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 406 | 2.274 | |
6 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 406 | 2.507 | |
7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 406 | 2.624 | 2 |
8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 406 | 3.313 | |
9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 406 | 3.944 | |
10 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 406 | 4.461 | |
11 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 406 | 5.378 | |
12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 406 | 6.024 | |
13 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 406 | 6.832 | |
14 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 406 | 42.437 | 27 |
15 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 406 | 35.208 | |
16 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 405 | 1 lap | 19 |
17 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 404 | 2 laps | |
18 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 404 | 2 laps | |
19 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 404 | 2 laps | 4 |
20 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 403 | 3 laps | |
21 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 402 | 3 laps | |
22 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 402 | 3 laps | |
23 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 402 | 4 laps | |
24 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 402 | 4 laps | |
25 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 402 | 4 laps | |
26 | 83 | Ryan Sieg | Toyota | 400 | 6 laps | |
27 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 400 | 6 laps | |
28 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 398 | 8 laps | |
29 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 397 | 9 laps | |
30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 393 | 13 laps | |
31 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 391 | 15 laps | |
32 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 373 | 33 laps | |
33 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 343 | 63 laps | |
34 | 43 | Regan Smith | Ford | 329 | 77 laps | |
35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 283 | 123 laps | |
36 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 257 | 149 laps | |
37 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 93 | 313 laps | |
38 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 66 | 340 laps | |
39 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 62 | 344 laps | 3 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments