Johnson builds on track record with 9th Dover win

DOVER, DE - Jimmie Johnson raced his way to another routine romp at Dover International Speedway.<br /> <br /> He followed last week's victory in the Coca-Cola 600 with another sensational run at Dover, extending his track victory record to nine. Johnson was the class of the field in a race red-flagged for 22 minutes because of a pothole in the concrete track.<br /> <br /> Johnson led 272 of 400 laps, and won consecutive races for the 13th time. The six-time Cup champion swept Dover in 2002 and 2009 and won races in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2013.<br /> <br /> Brad Keselowski was second, followed by Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin.<br /> <br /> "For sure, when you come to Dover, it's always the 48," Kenseth said. "We've got to figure out how to get ahead of him."<br /> <br /> Good luck. Johnson's checkered flag celebrations at Dover have seemingly become a rite of the NASCAR season. He became Dover's career leader in laps led when he hit the 2,802 mark, and again stamped himself as contender for a series-tying seventh championship.<br /> <br /> "It's amazing that we can stay on top of things here with the different generation car, different rules, different tires," Johnson said. "This place just fits my style and (crew chief) Chad Knaus' style."<br /> <br /> His lone regret, that owner Rick Hendrick was not at the track.<br /> <br /> Johnson never left any doubt his No. 48 Chevrolet was the car to beat, the only drama coming when the race was stopped 160 laps into the race after Ryan Newman's car pulled up chunks of the track that kicked back and damaged Jamie McMurray's car. The race was soon stopped and crews weren't allowed to work on the cars.<br /> <br /> McMurray's plea for an exception was denied.<br /> <br /> More pieces of the track flew up and cracked a window on the pedestrian crossover bridge.<br /> <br /> NASCAR officials and safety crews went to work on the potholes and applied a quick-drying concrete mix. Cup races were infamously delayed by potholes at Martinsville in 2004 and the 2010 Daytona 500. McMurray won at Daytona in 2010.<br /> <br /> "It started to come back up at the end, but I didn't think it was a major issue," Keselowski said. "It was definitely a major issue at first when it happened. I could feel it when I was driving over it, and you knew it was only going to get worse."<br /> <br /> Kevin Harvick might have wished for a longer delay. Harvick's lead at the red flag evaporated because of a flat tire not long after racing resumed and he fell two laps behind Johnson. Harvick worked his way back into a 17th-place finish.<br /> <br /> Kyle Busch led the first 81 laps before Johnson passed him. Busch's bid for a tripleheader sweep at Dover would soon end when the No. 18 Toyota slammed into the outside wall. Bowyer moved into Busch's line, which caused him to wreck 124 laps into the race.<br /> <br /> "It was one of those deals where I thought I was clear, obviously, and wasn't and ruined his day and certainly didn't help mine," Bowyer said.<br /> <br /> Busch, who became the 15th driver to pass 10,000 career laps led, won the Truck Series race Friday and the Nationwide race Saturday. He has the only three-race sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995, accomplishing the feat in 2010 at Bristol.<br /> <br /> Busch, who did not talk to the media, is 1 for 9 in Cup races after winning the first two in the same weekend.<br /> <br /> Busch had some company in the garage. AJ Allmendinger turned into Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. on lap 135, which knocked out the Roush Fenway Racing teammates. Biffle, though, later returned to finish.<br /> <br /> "They were racing hard back there and he stuck it into a hole that maybe there wasn't room for," Biffle said.<br /> <br /> <b>NASCAR-Sprint Cup Series<br /> Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE<br /> FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks - June 1, 2014</b><br /> <br /> <b>(Start position in parentheses)</b><br /> <br /> 1. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400 laps, 148.3 rating, 48 points.<br /> 2. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400, 111.8, 43.<br /> 3. (21) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 400, 114.5, 42.<br /> 4. (10) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 400, 100.7, 41.<br /> 5. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400, 103, 39.<br /> 6. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 400, 87.6, 38.<br /> 7. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 400, 93.5, 37.<br /> 8. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 400, 100, 36.<br /> 9. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 400, 104.3, 35.<br /> 10. (15) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400, 92.7, 34.<br /> 11. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400, 85.5, 33.<br /> 12. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400, 87.8, 32.<br /> 13. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400, 76.7, 31.<br /> 14. (29) Carl Edwards, Ford, 400, 75.7, 30.<br /> 15. (6) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, 109.5, 29.<br /> 16. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 400, 68.6, 28.<br /> 17. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 399, 105.5, 28.<br /> 18. (24) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 399, 75.4, 26.<br /> 19. (17) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 399, 83.9, 25.<br /> 20. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 398, 74, 24.<br /> 21. (11) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 397, 65.5, 23.<br /> 22. (18) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 396, 53.2, 22.<br /> 23. (28) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 396, 56.7, 21.<br /> 24. (38) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 396, 49.9, 20.<br /> 25. (22) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 395, 60.1, 19.<br /> 26. (30) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 395, 46, 18.<br /> 27. (31) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 394, 49.1, 17.<br /> 28. (33) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 390, 45.7, 16.<br /> 29. (32) David Gilliland, Ford, 388, 45.7, 15.<br /> 30. (43) Blake Koch, Ford, 388, 30.8, 0.<br /> 31. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 387, 64.4, 13.<br /> 32. (41) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 387, 34.4, 12.<br /> 33. (42) Dave Blaney, Ford, 383, 30.4, 11.<br /> 34. (36) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 382, 32, 0.<br /> 35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 378, 52.1, 9.<br /> 36. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 350, 37.1, 8.<br /> 37. (40) David Stremme, Chevrolet, overheating, 297, 37.7, 7.<br /> 38. (12) Greg Biffle, Ford, 292, 62.5, 6.<br /> 39. (37) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, engine, 232, 30, 0.<br /> 40. (35) Alex Bowman, Toyota, accident, 208, 30.6, 4.<br /> 41. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, accident, 131, 47.1, 3.<br /> 42. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 125, 93, 3.<br /> 43. (9) Brian Vickers, Toyota, engine, 73, 50.1, 1.<br /> <br /> <b>Race Statistics</b><br /> <br /> <b>Average Speed of Race Winner:</b> 117.724 mph.<br /> <br /> <b>Time of Race:</b> 3 hours, 23 minutes, 52 seconds.<br /> <br /> <b>Margin of Victory:</b> 0.885 seconds.<br /> <br /> <b>Caution Flags:</b> 8 for 41 laps.<br /> <br /> <b>Lead Changes:</b> 18 among 6 drivers.<br /> <br /> <b>Lap Leaders:</b> Ky.Busch 1-81; J.Johnson 82-126; C.Bowyer 127; J.Johnson 128-139; K.Harvick 140-158; M.Kenseth 159; K.Harvick 160-164; M.Kenseth 165-177; J.Johnson 178-222; M.Kenseth 223; J.Johnson 224-240; M.Kenseth 241; J.Johnson 242-322; M.Kenseth 323; J.Johnson 324-361; B.Keselowski 362; C.Bowyer 363-366; J.Johnson 367-400.<br /> <br /> <b>Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led):</b> J.Johnson, 7 times for 272 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 81 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 24 laps; M.Kenseth, 5 times for 17 laps; C.Bowyer, 2 times for 5 laps; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 1 lap.<br /> <br /> <b>Wins:</b> K.Harvick, 2; J.Johnson, 2; J.Logano, 2; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1; C.Edwards, 1; J.Gordon, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; Bra.Keselowski, 1.<br /> <br /> <b>Top 12 in Points:</b> 1. M.Kenseth, 463; 2. J.Gordon, 461; 3. C.Edwards, 438; 4. J.Johnson, 436; 5. D.Earnhardt Jr., 429; 6. J.Logano, 414; 7. Ky.Busch, 411; 8. Bra.Keselowski, 404; 9. D.Hamlin, 379; 10. K.Larson, 377; 11. R.Newman, 374; 12. K.Harvick, 373.