Seventh victory for Jimmie Johnson at Texas Motor Speedway

Jimmie Johnson wins the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the seventh round of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. It’s the first win of the season for the reigning champion and his 81st Cup Series win in a career. he also established a new track record because this is his seventh victory at Texas.

Johnson led for just 18 laps in the 334-lap race, but he led when it was the most important, at the end of the race. Johnson’s #48 Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.340 seconds ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr completed the Top 5.

Two stage wins for Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney, who started second, next to pole-sitter Kevin Harvick, was a dominant driver in the first part of the race, winning both stages in the #21 Ford Fusion of Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney was leading for 148 laps before going to pits at the start of the final stage, so he dropped out of the lead to 20th place. Later he progressed to 13th-place finish.

Erik Jones celebrated a victory on Saturday

Seventh Xfinity Series win for Erik Jones

On Saturday, Erik Jones scored his seventh Xfinity Series victory in a career by winning the My Bariatric Solutions 300 race in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyota. Jones led for 112 of the 200 laps on Texas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval, beating Ryan Blaney for half a second at the end.

Kevin Harvick finished third, 21.383 seconds behind Jones, as only nine drivers finished on the lead lap. Despite finishing 10th as the first driver one lap down, Elliott Sadler retained the series lead by six points over William Byron in second place.

Check the full results of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

Photos: nascar.com,

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