NASCAR decided to make a trip to wine country this weekend, in the shadows of San Francisco as they made the trip to Sonoma, California. Surrounded by many vineyards, the Sprint Cup Series descended on the Infineon Raceway. It wasn’t just about making left turns this week.
It was time for the first road course race of the season as 43 drivers took the green flag under beautiful, sunny skies for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Kasey Kahne had the pole position, but the car that got the big jump immediately was the second-place starter, Jimmie Johnson. He got the lead as the field went uphill through turns 3 and 4, and didn’t hold back as he pulled out to over a second in the ensuing laps.
The race’s first caution came out on lap 12 as both Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray went spinning through turn 8. It all started a corner before as A.J. Allmendinger hit the curb and got into Bowyer, sending him spinning and then Kyle Busch got into McMurray as he tried to avoid the chaos in front of him.
After the restart on lap 14, the field went back to battling for positions as if it was the last lap. At the Infineon Raceway, there are few passing zones and a lot of times the pass happens before the corner, under braking. The problem was, Johnson didn’t have to worry much about the risky passes others were making as he pulled out to over a four-second advantage. With pit stops soon approaching, Johnson wanted to get out to as big of a lead as possible.
Some of the lead cars came in before Johnson, most complaining of having no front grip and extremely loose on entry. Johnson pitted on lap 34, handing the lead to Tony Stewart.
When Stewart pitted, the lead went to Mattias Ekstrom, who was driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota in place of Brian Vickers. He would hold the lead until lap 43 as Johnson made the pass with his fresher tires.
The race’s second caution would not come out until lap 59 when Dave Blaney spun out in turn 7, possibly because of getting in his own oil from a blown motor.
Some of the field came onto pit road as Johnson led the field down for service. However, others decided to stay out for the track position. The lead car with the field coming to pit road would be Boris Said.
The field went back to green on lap 61 with Said in the top spot, but Marcos Ambrose had been smelling the lead for a long time and found the will to get the lead one lap later.
Brad Keselowski spun out on lap 65 and brought out another caution when he went for a spin in turn 10 and caught the tire barrier. A majority of the field stayed out, but it wouldn’t take long for the caution to come out again. It came out immediately after the restart.
Boris Said spun his tires on the restart, which killed the momentum of the field behind him, In the ensuing chaos, a total of five cars became victims of the accordion wreck. Among those involved were Martin Truex Jr, Sam Hornish Jr and Denny Hamlin. The clean-up was so extensive, NASCAR decided to put the red flag out to give crews all the time they need to make the track race-ready yet again.
After going back under yellow, it was Ambrose still out front and he wasn’t about to give it up for anyone.
The lap 70 restart had Ambrose get an incredible jump on the field, but behind him it was Johnson who made the charge into the second spot. However, instead of going for the lead, Johnson decided to keep him in his cross-hairs and see what his line was around the track. Crew chief Chad Knaus told him to stay close but to not use up the rear tires in his pursuit.
Johnson came to pit road on lap 79 from the second spot, hoping to get an advantage on his competition. One lap later, Ambrose came in for service. After his stop, he got back out on track, and did so ahead of Johnson, meaning once the field cycled through it would be Ambrose at the lead.
The field got slowed yet again on lap 88 when Joey Logano went for a spin in turn 10, but Ambrose was not intending to give up that top spot. On the restart, Ambrose elected the outside lane and got the best jump heading into the uphill portion of the track. Ambrose would hold his advantage through the race’s final two caution flags, but then came the moment that would be talked about long after the race would end.
Under the last caution, Ambrose shut his engine off, saving fuel in case a green-white-checkered finish would occur. The problem was, his car failed to restart as they were going uphill to turn five. His No. 47 car came to a complete stop and then got back going, and he was heading back to his position.
The problem was, NASCAR rules mandate that all cars maintain pace-car speed under caution. So, in essence, Ambrose lost the lead on a technicality and now the driver at the top would be Johnson.
Call it a gaffe, call it a miscue, whatever the case may be, it was a rule violation and instead of being in the lead, Ambrose would have to restart in eighth.
That was all it took as Johnson would get a great restart and would not look back. After leading early, Johnson got back to the front quickly, and wouldn’t look back as he would pull away to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350. It would be his first win on a road course, but even in victory lane Johnson felt bad for Ambrose, saying he was his biggest competition all afternoon.
Whatever the case, it was Johnson’s fourth win of the season, and it moved him into second in the standings.
Next Sunday, NASCAR heads out east as the New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be the next stop on the schedule. At the “Magic Mile” it will be someone’s lucky day. The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 is on TNT with coverage beginning at Noon ET.
RESULTS: 1-Johnson; 2-R. Gordon; 3-Harvick; 4-Kahne; 5-J. Gordon; 6-Ambrose; 7-Biffle; 8-Said; 9-Stewart; 10-Montoya
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Earnhardt Jr; 14-Martin; 27-Burton; 29-Edwards; 30-Kenseth; 34-Hamlin; 39-Kyle Busch
CAUTIONS: 7 for 14 laps. Lap 12-13 (No. 1, 18, 33, 43 accident-T8), 59-60 (Fluid on track), 65-66 (No. 12 accident-T10), 68-69 (No. 11, 13, 56, 77, 78 accident-FS {RED FLAG 21 min. 18 sec. after lap 66}), 88-89 (No. 20 spin-T10), 93-94 (No. 83 spin-T8), 104-105 (No. 12 spin-T7).
LEAD CHANGES: 12 among 8 drivers. Johnson 1-33, Stewart 34-35, Ekstrom 36-42, Johnson 43-57, Truex Jr. 58, Said 59-60, Ambrose 61-79, Bowyer 80, Sadler 81, Said 82-87, Ambrose 88-103, Johnson 104-110.
TIME OF RACE: 2 Hrs. 56 Mins. 33 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 74.357 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 3.105 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS: 1-Harvick, 2334 points; 2-Johnson, -140; 3-Kyle Busch, -141; 4-Hamlin, -151; 5-J. Gordon, -192; 6-Kurt Busch, -216; 7-Kenseth, -242; 8-Burton, -307; 9-Biffle, -323; 10-Stewart, -351; 11-Martin, -387; 12-Edwards, -402