Jimmie Johnson went from “worst to first” as he scored his 1st win in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Jimmie qualified to start in the 24th position. However, after laying down his qualifying lap he spun and flat-spotted his tires. His team decided to change the tires for the start of the race. By NASCAR rule that meant the #48 Chevrolet had to move to the rear of the field for the start of the race.
Texas Motor Speedway underwent a track resurfacing and reconfiguration after the last race there in 2016. That led many to think that the cars would line up nose-to-tail for most of the race due to a slick racing surface. Those people were wrong.
From start to finish of the race there was plenty of action for fans to watch. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney provided a lot of the excitement at the front of the field as they both raced for the lead at the start of the race. It was Ryan that dominated most of the day leading the most laps and winning the bonus points for being the leader at the end of the first two stages.
The action was not limited to the front of the field though. Drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson and more raced from the back of the field to the top ten and top five throughout the afternoon in Texas. There was excitement on pit road as well as on the track itself for fans to watch.
There was a total of eight caution periods in the race. The last came late in the race where Joey Logano decided to stay out when most of the field came to pit road for new tires. That strategy gave him the lead on the re-start and helped him finish the race with a better position than he possibly would have if he had made a pit stop. However, it was not a race winning move.
With just 16 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson who had fresher tires than Joey was able to take the lead of the race. Jimmie remained out front for the final laps to claim his first win of the 2017 season and his seventh NASCAR Cup Series win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson also got past Joey to claim the runner-up finish while Joey held on for a third place finish. Kevin Harvick took home a fourth place finish with Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top five. See the complete race results for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 here.
Kyle Larson expanded his lead in the point standings at Texas Motor Speedway. For a second week in a row the top five in the point standings remain unchanged with Chase Elliott in second, Martin Truex Jr. in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth and Joey Logano in fifth place. See the complete 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
NASCAR has the Easter Weekend off. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will return to racing Sunday, April 23rd at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500.
By: Buck Stevens
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