MENU

Jimmie Johnson takes the win at Kansas Speedway

  • 2015 Spongebob Squarepants NASCAR, logo

Under heavy clouds, the Spongebob Squarepants 400 on Kansas Speedway started at 7:30PM ET with Joey Logano on pole position. However Team Penske driver didn’t manage to stay on top and finished the race on fifth, while the winner was Jimmie Johnson who led the race in the final laps.

;

A 267 lap long race began with Joey Logano leading in front of Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne on second and third and Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick behind them. Jimmie Johnson almost spun on lap six and dropped from seventeenth to twenty sixth. First caution flew on lap 8 when JJ Yaley spun and crashed. Jeb Burton also had issues with his car but he managed to retain control of his car. The race restarted on lap 13 and Harvick overtook Truex Jr. and got to second. Alex Bowman reported issues with his ignition and went to pits, but returned to the race. Competition caution flew on lap 25 and all the leaders went to pits and Joey Logano came out of the pit lane on first and the race resumed with him battling with Kurt Busch who soon managed to get to the first.

;

Kevin Harvick overtook Kurt Busch on lap 50, and led until lap 57 when Truex Jr. took the lead. Scheduled green flag pit stops started around lap 77, and Joey Logano was among the first ones to go to the pits, and as Truex Jr. went to the pits, Brad Keselowski went to first. With Brad in the pits too, the lead went to Matt Kenseth, but Truex Jr. soon returned to the leading position, expanding his gap over Harvick to over six seconds in the laps that followed. Jeb Burton caused the third caution flag when he almost spun, and the race was red flagged on lap 98 because of rain.

The cars went back to the track at around 10PM local time and green flag flew on lap 108. Having started from the bottom due to a pit stop penalty, Joey Logano was making great progress which was slowed down when David Ragan ran into Josh Wise, causing a yellow flag on lap 119. Ironically, his Spongebob car got stuck in the Spongebob infield.

The yellow flag pit stop session brought out Keselowski as the leader again, and the race restarted on lap 128. Carl Edwards made a bad start and was pushed from second to fourth by Truex Jr. and Hamlin. Tony Stewart suffered a puncture, causing a fifth caution on lap 130. Matt Kenseth also hit the wall, and so did Brett Moffitt. The race restarted on lap 135. By lap 151, Joey Logano managed to climb up to fifth, but had to hold off Kurt Busch and Dale Jr. who were closing down on him. Keselowski was increasing his gap over Truex Jr. to more than 2 seconds, but was yet to make a pit stop. In the meantime, young Erik Jones made some brave moves throughout the race.

;

As Brad Keselowski went to the pits, Martin Truex Jr. was back in the lead and Keselowski dropped to twenty seventh. Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch also completed their pit stops. Many cars made their scheduled stops on lap 175, and race leader Truex was among the last ones to enter the pits, which put Carl Edwards in the leading position. The race was yellow flagged on lap 183, when Clint Bowyer spun his car in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Joey Logano made a mistake and went to the pits before the lane was opened, and Martin Truex Jr. reclaimed the lead during the caution and the race was restarted on lap 190.

Kyle Larson started attacking Truex Jr. and briefly claimed the leading position, but lost it in seconds. Seventh caution flew on lap 196 when Erik Jones hit the wall. The race restarted on lap 200 and the battle between Truex Jr. and Larson could be resumed. Jeff Gordon went to third and Denny Hamlin suffered damage and had to pit. After changing tires, Hamlin spun against a wall, causing the eighth caution. Most of the cars went to the pits and Kyle Larson was the first to leave the pitlane, which pushed him to first. The race restarted on lap 211 and Harvick soon got in front of Larson.

;

With 25 laps to go, Harvick was still leading the race and the game of fuel economy was on. Danica Patrick stopped with 20 laps to go, and caution flag went with 12 laps to go when Stenhouse went into the wall. Harvick and Truex Jr. both went to the pits and Jimmie Johnson emerged to the leading position, followed by Dale Jr, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon. The race restarted with six laps to go, and Kevin Harvick got near Johnson with four to go, but couldn’t close him down and Johnson won his 73rd Sprint Cup race.

Related Posts