Jimmie Johnson had a sizable late lead cut down by a caution and a green-white-checkered finish, but was still able to outlast the other frontrunners on Saturday night to win the Southern 500 at Darlington. The victory is Johnson’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the year.
NASCAR Results 2012, Southern 500 at Darlington: Jimmie Johnson Wins First Race In 2012
Johnson took the lead on Lap 324 and never relinquished it, holding on through the final lap of the race on Lap 368. Fuel was a concern for everyone at the end of the race, but Johnson managed his fuel situation well and had no problem out-pacing Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin for the victory. A crash involving Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman brought out a yellow flag on Lap 361, eliminating the advantage that Johnson had built up, but he opened it up again on the restart.
The victory was the 200th in NASCAR’s top series for car owner Rick Hendrick, and it takes Johnson to fifth place in the Sprint Cup standings.
Here are the complete results from Saturday night’s race.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Tony Stewart
4. Kyle Busch
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kasey Kahne
9. Marcos Ambrose
10. Joey Logano
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Greg Biffle
13. Paul Menard
14. Regan Smith
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Kevin Harvick
17. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
18. Jeff Burton
19. Aric Almirola
20. Mark Martin
21. Kurt Busch
22. Casey Mears
23. Ryan Newman
24. Juan Montoya
25. David Gilliland
26. Landon Cassill
27. Dave Blaney
28. David Ragan
29. Bobby Labonte
30. Reed Sorenson
31. Danica Patrick
32. Travis Kvapil
33. A.J. Allmendinger
34. Jamie McMurray
35. Jeff Gordon
26. David Reutimann
37. J.J. Yeley
38. Cole Whitt
39. David Stremme
40. Joe Nemecheck
41. Mike Skinner
42. Scott Speed
43. Jose Wise
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