Photo courtesy; http://www2.tbo.com |
Finally, the long awaited 200th. After traveling around the country for 11 weeks with 2 trailers filled with "200th win" souvenirs, they were able to wear them proud last night. Jimmie Johnson was the driver crowned with trophy last night in the Southern 500 at Darlington. He had the car to beat all night and led the most laps. This also ended Johnson's 16 race winless streak, giving him his first win of 2012. For months, fans were wondering who was going to get it. Who would be the lucky Hendrick driver to win the 200th? In the end it was Jimmie. 5-time felt a sense of relief as he crossed the checkered line. And boy was Rick Hendrick proud! Rick had come to the race late, with less than 30 laps to go after being at a wedding for one of his friends. But, the last G-W-C was more than stressful. Johnson was low on fuel after his last pit stop on Lap 229. He needed to conserve fuel to make it to the checkers. None the less, he made it and was able to score the win. Johnson is now 5th in points.
Jimmie jumped out of his winning car in victory lane and got a big hug from Rick Hendrick.
Jimmie explained what Rick said to him, "He said, 'Two hundred is great, but let's go get 250.' So that tells you where his head is. I love it. Oh, man, what a day!"
Denny Hamlin, another strong car of the night, finished 2nd and is now 4th in points. Tony Stewart finished 3rd
Matt Kenseth came home 6th and trimmed 2 points off of teammate Greg Biffle's lead in points. Biffle was strong all night, but had trouble late in the race, fighting a loose racecar.
A late race incident involving Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman left tempers flying on pit road, a classic Darlington trait. Busch had hit the wall and spun. Newman checked up and was tagged by Aric Almirola and sent Newman flying into the inside wall.
Newman and Busch talked after the race, and everything seemed fine, until the crews got involved.
Newman's crew marched over to Busch, and started to attack. Newman's gas man swung his fists at Busch and officials had to hold him back as best they could.
"It's crazy, pit road," said Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief. "Things happen, and everybody's emotions run high. It's a hot night. Everybody settles down and talks about it. We're all good. We can't control drivers. Nothing against the team -- none of those guys. They didn't do anything wrong."
This race did not meet to the stereotypical Darlington race that most people expect, though. The race ran caution-free for 172 laps and never saw "The Big One". The worst that happened was a few spins or cars in the wall.
The expectations run high for next week's All-Star Race. This one is always a good one. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick and the whole HMS team! The 200th finally came last night, at one of NASCAR's most historic races.
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