Jimmie Johnson Wins It All At Charlotte Motor Speedway

May 25, 2014; Concord, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) celebrates in victory lane after winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Six-time Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson was winless in 2014 until he took the checkered flag on Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson won his fourth Coca Cola 600, and surpassed Bobby Allison’s six wins at CMS with number seven. Kurt Busch lost his engine on lap 273 after finishing sixth in the Indianapolis 500.

Jimmie Johnson picked up the 67th win of his career and ended an eleven race winless streak when he got out in fresh air after the final restart on Sunday night. He was able to hold off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick by 1.2 seconds at the stripe.

Johnson, along with Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon were fighting for the clean air on the re-start with Gordon quickly falling out of contention due to only taking two tires on the last stop. Everyone else got four tires and all Johnson needed to do was pass Kenseth to get out front.

Matt Kenseth put up a good fight before giving up the number one position, but The Lowes Chevy was just too strong for the the Gibbs Toyota.

Harvick took too much time getting past Kenseth as well to run down the pole-setter before the laps ran out on the season’s longest race.

It seems everyone on the planet was concerned about the state of Johnson’s season so far except the Lowes Chevrolet team, and especially its driver. Johnson led a race high 164 laps and he led the most important one. The one with the Checkered Flag in the air.

"“It’s great to win, but believe me — and I promise you — all the hype and all the concern and worry, that was elsewhere,” Johnson said. “That wasn’t in my head… We’ve had great races, and we’ve had opportunities there in front of us and had stuff taken away. “Yeah, they know we’re awake,” he said. “In winning, it doesn’t matter who you are. The 4 car (Harvick) has had that momentum this year. They’ve been able to go out and execute and show a lot of speed and win.“Hopefully, the 48 is heading that way, and we can get those other people thinking about us.”"

Kevin Harvick had a good car all night and had to fight back from an early lead to deal with a loose wheel. He felt the Stewart-Haas #4 was the car to beat on Sunday night, and I don’t disagree with him.

"“Yeah, we had a fast car all night,” Harvick said. “Just kind of fumbled again on pit road. Got behind, got a lap down. We needed a 700-mile race to get back to where we needed to be.“We left two wheels loose and played catch-up the rest of the night. We’ve got to clean pit road up.”"

Kurt Busch was the hero of the day even though his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet blew up on lap 273. He was able to finish sixth at Indy, one spot behind Juan Pablo Montoya before being helicoptered into CMS for the Memorial Day Double.

He was unable to complete the entire 1100 lap day, leaving his boss, Tony Stewart as the only one to finish both races in one day.

"“To feel the stock car right after driving the IndyCar is a day I’ll never forget,” said Busch, who finished 40th. “I can’t let the mood here, with the car, dampen what happened up in Indy today. That was very special.”"

After being one of NASCAR’s bad boys and returning from a couple of years in third tier rides, Kurt Busch looks to have his life, and career back on track. He appears to have a new attitude, and is focusing on the thing he does the best, drive a race car.

Source: nascarmedia.com