Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. may have been faster throughout the SpongeBob Squarepants 400, but when opportunity presented itself Jimmie Johnson took advantage to win Saturday night at Kansas Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson wins 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway
Jimmie Johnson emerged with the win at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night after making a calculated decision not to make a late pit stop.
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Harvick and Truex were running first and second, respectively, when a caution came out for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s single-car incident with 12 laps remaining. Close on fuel mileage, Harvick and Truex pitted, while Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others stayed on the track. Truex, who took no tires, restarted fifth, followed by Harvick, who got two tires.
On the subsequent restart with six laps to go, Harvick quickly moved to second but could not pull alongside Johnson, who led the final 10 circuits -- the only laps he led all night. The victory was Johnson’s third of the season. In each of those wins, Harvick finished second.
Johnson could afford to make a strategic gamble because he has won twice this season and is virtually guaranteed to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Had the call backfired, the consequences would have been minimal.
“We have two wins, we are locked in the Chase, and we are here to win a race, let’s gamble. Let’s go for it,” Johnson said, explaining his mindset. “Sure enough, it paid off. A few more laps, I think (Harvick) would have had me. He was awfully strong. Obviously being on right side tires would have been an advantage for him.”
Because he was leading at the time of the Stenhouse caution, Harvick found himself in a no-win position he said. Had he not pitted those behind him would have done so and held the advantage because of fresher tires.
Harvick did elect to pit, though. It appeared initially he would blow by Johnson, but a slight bobble cost him momentum and Harvick didn’t have enough time to recover. Kansas marked his sixth second-place finish of the season.
“In the end, (Johnson) didn’t have the speed so they gambled and they were able to get enough cars in between us that we were not able to have enough laps to get around them,” Harvick said. “Just kind of a tough spot, as you’re leading a race, as to what’s right and what’s wrong, because you know half of them are going to come in and half of them are going to stay out.
“But that was the strategy that they took, and it worked out for them.”
Earnhardt finished third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano to complete the top five. Rounding out the top-10 were Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Truex and Ryan Newman.
How the night ended was particularly frustrating for Truex, who led a race-high 95 laps and hasn’t won since June 2013. Not taking tires when he pitted proved costly. Unable to mount the same charge as Harvick, Truex slid from fifth to ninth.
“If we got two tires we would have come out sixth,” Truex said. “That would have been a pretty good spot to be in. But you never know how these things are going to play out. I hate fuel mileage racing because of that.”
Heavy rain and lightning necessitated a red flag on Lap 98 of 267. NASCAR stopped the race for two hours, 16 minutes.
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