5 Stages of Analysis: Johnson’s Historic Overtime Victory at Dover Comes Amidst Chaos and Cautions

 

   
          Despite starting at the back of the pack on the initial start due to a gear change and contending with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. all race, Jimmie Johnson grabbed the overtime NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series victory in a caution plagued race at Dover. With five laps to go, it looked like Larson was on his way to his third NMECS win with a huge advantage over Johnson and Truex Jr. However, David Ragan’s blown tire and contact with the wall brought out the fourteenth caution and gave the field a shot at Larson for the win in Overtime. On what would be the final restart, Johnson took advantage of Larson spinning his tires to take the lead heading into turn 1. Heading down the backstretch, contact between Ty Dillon and Ryan Newman created a now famous Dover melee. The caution waved after the field passed the Overtime line on the backstretch, which meant the race would finish under caution. Jimmie Johnson happened to the leader at the time and he took his eighty third NMECS win, his third of the 2017 season, and his unbelievable eleventh win at Dover. Meanwhile, the rest of the Cup Series pack was left wondering how they had managed to let the seven-time champion win another race at his favorite track. From start to finish, it seemed like anyone could win the thirteenth race of the Cup Series season. Drivers like Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, and others were in the mix early in the event, but a variety of incidents knocked them out of the race for the win. Ultimately, Miles the Monster claimed many victims in crashes due to tire failures, loose race cars, and close battling on the concrete oval. While Jimmie Johnson took the win and added to his already Hall of Fame legacy, the 2017 spring race at Dover didn’t disappoint as these five stages of analysis prove.

Stage 1:
Historic Occurrence: Johnson Captures Number 83 of His Career and 11th at Dover

As Jimmie Johnson wins more races, he continues to rewrite NASCAR history. With his win today, he is now tied for the sixth most wins in NASCAR’s highest series with Hall of Famer, Cale Yarborough, at eighty-three. Now, Johnson is only one win away from tying Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth most all time. Since he still seems to have a lot of drive to continue winning races and running full time in the Cup Series, it will only be a matter of time before the seven time champion will be chasing after his mentor, Jeff Gordon, for third most all time. As if winning his eighty third career NMECS race was not enough, Johnson also grabbed his eleventh win at the concrete one mile oval known as Dover. Eleven is a historic number for wins at a track because only two other drivers have won more than ten races at a single track in their careers and they are both Hall of Famers: Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip. Petty has more than ten wins at North Wilkesboro, Martinsville, Richmond, and Rockingham while Waltrip achieved the same feat at Martinsville and Bristol. Johnson could potentially add other tracks to his list of ones with over ten wins as he has nine wins at Martinsville in his career. Finally, today’s win marks his third victory of the 2017 season, which is the most of all drivers. Jimmie Johnson continues to prove race after race that he is one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers and he continues to impress as he looks to add race wins along with a possible eighth championship to his career statistics.

Stage 2:
Driver of the Day: Larson Comes Up Short After a Dominating Performance

Consistently, Kyle Larson continues to prove that his 2017 season is no fluke and he will be a championship caliber driver for years to come. At Dover today, he led 241 of the 406 laps and brought home a second-place finish, which could have been a win if the caution did not wave with four laps to go. In addition to that, Larson led most of those laps while being off strategy from the drivers around him. He was forced to stay out after the end of stage one because he had used a large amount of his sticker tires during the stage. Nonetheless, he held off Martin Truex Jr. for most of the stage before surrendering the lead late at the end of stage two and coming down pit road. He took only two tires at the end of stage two and managed to hold off Truex and even Johnson for a good portion of the final stage before getting back on strategy with the field. While a second-place finish is disappointing after a dominant day, Larson handled his failure on the final restart with class and proved once again that he has a bright future in the Cup Series. When the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series rides into Homestead-Miami for the championship deciding race to end the season, do not be surprised if Kyle Larson is one of the four drivers trying to win a title at a track he performs excellently at.

Stage 3:
Wild Wreck: Newman’s Bump and Dillon’s Spin Create Dover Chaos

Lost in the race finishing under caution and complaints over NASCAR’s Overtime format was how large the final crash of the day truly was. As the field raced down the backstretch on the first lap of Overtime, fourth place Ty Dillon broke loose in the speedy dry left from the previous crash with Ryan Newman just to his inside. The two made contact and Dillon spun up the track right in front of the snarling pack. Erik Jones had nowhere to go and slammed hard into Dillon’s door while Jamie McMurray piled into Jones. Behind them, even more cars spun and crashed. Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon, A.J. Allmendinger, Cole Whitt, and Trevor Bayne all ended up with heavy damage in the Overtime crash. Somehow, more cars were not involved as they managed to avoid or slam on brakes in plenty of time. In just one quick lap, drivers with perfect cars and chances for good finishes had destroyed vehicles as the race ended. This is not the first massive crash that Dover has seen in recent years. Last year, a large restart pile-up took out contenders like Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and others. In 2012, an accident on lap 9 left Tony Stewart and a host of other drivers with huge damage that would prevent them from grabbing great finishes. Since Dover is a playoff track, drivers will have to be wary of a massive pile-up that could end the chances for a championship run for some playoff contenders.

Stage 4:
Terrible Luck: Several Ford Drivers Fall Out of Race with Uncontrollable Incidents

The entire contingent of Fords in NASCAR would like to forget about today’s race at Dover. While Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick grabbed Top 10s for Stewart-Haas Racing, the rest of the Fords were not so lucky with eleven of the thirteen in the race finishing outside the Top 20. The bad luck began with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. early in the race when he had two tire failures that left him with a destroyed race car and a last place finish. On the restart after Stenhouse’s second tire failure, Kurt Busch broke loose underneath Kyle Larson while battling for the lead, which sent Busch up the track and into Brad Keselowski. Keselowski slammed the outside wall hard and he was the second Ford driver to retire from the race. Thirty laps later, Busch, who drove away from the wreck with Keselowski, had a tire explode entering turn 1 and he backed into the outside wall hard. On the pit stops during that caution, Clint Bowyer reported to the garage with oil leaking from his Stewart-Haas Ford. In only one hundred laps, four Ford drivers had significant issues that left them unable to contend for the win. Ryan Blaney followed that up with his second broke axle in two weeks on pit road while Joey Logano, David Ragan, Landon Cassill, and Regan Smith all had tire failures and ended up off the lead lap or out of the race. Finally, Trevor Bayne was involved in the final accident of the day and received considerable damage. After a day filled with struggles, all the Ford teams will get ready for Pocono where former Ford driver, Chris Buescher, took the win last August. If a Ford driver can take his Fusion to victory lane at the Tricky Triangle, it would ease the frustration from Dover’s problems.

Stage 5:
Memorable Moment: Kyle Busch’s Tire Pops Off Leaving Pit Road

In the first run of the race before Ryan Sieg’s spin, Kyle Busch looked dominant. After starting on the pole, the 2015 NMECS champion took the lead heading into turn 1 on the first lap and did not look back until the caution waved on lap 17. As he came to pit road for service, everything went smoothly until the left rear of the car. The rear tire changer on Busch’s team had his gun set to loosen lug nuts rather than tighten them properly. As the changer and carrier struggled to tighten the tire, the jackman dropped the jack and Busch took off with a loose left rear tire. While he won the race off pit road, his left rear tire rolled off the hub onto the track and he received severe damage to his car. The tire came to a stop as Busch attempted to make it back to pit road with only three tires. He did and his team added a fourth tire and sent him back on track, but he lost all his track position and the damage would affect his performance. Ultimately, Busch fought his way back to the front and looked to be in contention for a great finish despite the damage, but he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop after the thirteenth caution to attach a loose wheel. It was an eventful day for Busch and it could get worse in terms of penalties. Having a wheel fall off on track is a minimum four race penalty for his crew chief, Adam Stevens, and the changer and carrier involved. Of course, this situation could lead to an appeal and the suspensions reduced, but the odds are good that the suspension will remain at four races. If that is the case, Busch will be without his crew chief for a crucial portion of the regular season when he desperately needs a win to secure a playoff berth. As the next few weeks progress, it will be interesting to see whether the appeals process takes a lengthy amount of time and whether Busch will have to grab a win without his regular crew chief.

As the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series heads to its annual June race at Pocono Raceway, the amount of storylines surrounding the race are endless. Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson battled hard at Dover and the intensity seemed to increase at several points during the event. With both drivers having good records at Pocono and having good races all year, the two could find themselves battling on track to the point of retaliation after the two seemed upset at each other during today’s race. Jimmie Johnson’s win total sitting at eighty-three could only last a week as he could tie Allison and Waltrip next week at the Tricky Triangle. Plus, as the Cup Series passed the halfway point of the regular season today, drivers like Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, and others remain winless and in search of an automatic playoff berth. Finally, the two Pocono races last year were plagued by rain and strategy gambles, which could shake up the field next Sunday. Today’s race at Dover was filled with close racing, gutsy strategy calls, large wrecks, tire problems, and a historic race win for NASCAR’s winningest active driver. Yet, Pocono could hold more action and problems for the stars of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series and provide the fans with another Sunday of hard racing.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:

1st Caution: Lap 17- Ryan Sieg broke loose in turn 2 and spun on track without receiving damage.

2nd Caution: Lap 47- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who stayed out during the first caution, had a tire blow out in turn 3, which caused him to slam the wall.

3rd Caution: Lap 62- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had another tire blow out in turn 4 and he made more significant contact with the outside wall, which ended his race.

4th Caution: Lap 66- Kurt Busch broke loose in turn 2 while battling Kyle Larson for the lead. Busch slid up the track and slammed into Brad Keselowski, which sent Keselowski hard into the wall and ended his race. Busch continued with some damage to his race car.

5th Caution: Lap 96- Kurt Busch had a left rear tire explode heading into turn 1, which sent him hard into the outside wall and ended his race.

6th Caution: Lap 121- NASCAR waved the caution to end stage one.

7th Caution: Lap 146- Danica Patrick broke loose in turn 4 and spun without hitting anything.

8th Caution: Lap 194- Joey Logano had a tire go down in turn 3 and he slammed the outside 
wall.

9th Caution: Lap 218- Landon Cassill had a tire blow out in turn 1 and he pounded the outside wall.

10th Caution: Lap 241- NASCAR waved the caution to end stage two.

11th Caution: Lap 264- Debris was spotted on the frontstretch of the track.

12th Caution: Lap 330- Regan Smith had a tire go down in turn 2 and he slammed the outside wall hard in the middle of green flag pit stops.

13th Caution: Lap 344- Chris Buescher broke loose underneath Paul Menard in turn 2. The two drivers made contact, which sent Menard straight into the outside wall and gave Buescher significant right-side damage. Buescher drove away while Menard’s race ended.

14th Caution: Lap 397- David Ragan had a tire blow out in turn 1 and he made hard contact with the outside wall.

15th Caution: Lap 405- Ty Dillon broke loose exiting turn 2 and Ryan Newman bumped him. The bump caused Dillon to spin right in front of the field. Erik Jones piled hard into his right-side door while Jamie McMurray bumped Jones. Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon, A.J. Allmendinger, Cole Whitt, Trevor Bayne, and others spun and crashed on the backstretch when Dillon spun.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
2nd Caution: Cole Whitt
3rd Caution: Ross Chastain
4th Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
5th Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
6th Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
7th Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
8th Caution: A.J. Allmendinger
9th Caution: Danica Patrick
10th Caution: Ross Chastain
11th Caution: Paul Menard
12th Caution: Kyle Larson
13th Caution: Erik Jones
14th Caution: Matt Kenseth
15th Caution: None

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Jimmie Johnson
2nd: Kyle Larson
3rd: Martin Truex Jr.
4th: Ryan Newman
5th: Chase Elliott

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Daniel Suarez
9th: Kevin Harvick
10th: Danica Patrick
11th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13th: Matt Kenseth
15th: Erik Jones
16th: Kyle Busch
17th: Kasey Kahne
25th: Joey Logano
31st: Clint Bowyer
32nd: Ryan Blaney
37th: Kurt Busch
38th: Brad Keselowski



Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/race-center/2017/monster-energy-nascar-cup-series/aaa-400-drive-for-autism.race.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2017-13/W
http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/Season-Stats/All-Time-Winners.aspx
-Image:

http://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/article/Johnson-extends-track-record-with-11th-win-at-11195065.php

Jimmie Johnson Holds Off Dale Earnhardt Jr. Late to Break a Record at Dover

         Jimmie Johnson was able to hold off teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the final restart to take his unprecedented eighth victory at the “Monster Mile”. Johnson held the all time wins mark with Bobby Allison and Richard Petty since his win last year at the track, but he easily broke the tie with a dominating win at Dover on Sunday. Johnson also moved within eight points of Matt Kenseth's championship lead after Kenseth finished seventh in Sunday's third Chase race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a huge charge at Johnson late in the race. Earnhardt took four tires on the final pit stop while Johnson and others took two tires. Earnhardt was able to use the fresh rubber to move up to second after a few laps, but he could not get past Johnson for his first win in over a year. Even though he could not capture the victory, Junior still proved he is a definite threat in the title battle with seven races to go. A few Chase drivers struggled at the track. Kurt Busch went two laps down after a loose wheel and never recovered while Carl Edwards broke a tire hub and lost a lot of laps at the end of the race. Both of these drivers could be out of the title fight, but there is still a lot of racing to be done. Sunday's race at Dover had very little cautions, but it was still a very good race. The winner was never obvious and the strategy was about to make the race a fuel conservation race. All in all, it was a race that was filled with a lot of good racing and Chase implications that will be felt all the way until the last lap at Homestead.

        Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole. It was Junior's second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole of 2013. The race went green and he was able to come around and lead the first lap of the race. He held the lead well until he moved into lap traffic. On lap 26, Matt Kenseth was able to take the lead from Earnhardt, but Kenseth's lead would be short lived as Earnhardt passed him for the lead on lap 31. The lead did not change again before the first caution waved on lap 37. Debris was spotted on the frontstretch of the track. David Reutimann received the lucky dog. Strategy became an important part of the race during the caution. Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, and Clint Bowyer took two tires while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the other lead lap drivers took four tires. It would be interesting to see which strategy worked in the end.

        The race went back green and Kyle Busch was able to hold the lead he had grabbed under the caution. Busch would hold the lead for a while before Ryan Newman took it away on lap 71. Newman would not hold it long before Dale Earnhardt Jr. used his four tires to take it away on lap 76. Earnhardt held onto the lead until the first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 111. Earnhardt stayed on track until he decided to make his stop on lap 117. He slowed down in turn 3, but he made a huge mistake. He had not slowed down enough and could not get all four tires under the commitment line. This meant that he could not come down pit road or he would receive a penalty. He stayed on track, but he had lost a lot of time because he had slowed down. He was able to come back around and make his stop, but Jimmie Johnson took the lead after Earnhardt's mistake. It would be interesting to see if his mistake kept him from winning the race in the end.

         Jimmie Johnson continued to hold the lead after the pit stops and the long green flag stretch continued. On lap 159, Kurt Busch interrupted the action by coming to pit road. It was an unscheduled stop for Busch because he had noticed a vibration. His team replaced all four tires and discovered that one of the wheels on the car was loose. Busch had avoided a lot of damage to his car by pitting, but he has lost a bunch of time to the leaders on track. Shortly after this, the second caution of the race waved on lap 165. Debris was spotted in turn 1 of the track. Jeff Burton received the lucky dog. Since the lead lap drivers had not pitted in a long time, all of them came down pit road for four tires with Matt Kenseth coming out as the leader. The race went back green and Kenseth was able to hold onto the lead. It looked like he was in position for a third straight victory, but Jimmie Johnson was able to pass him for the lead on lap 198. Johnson held the lead as the third caution waved on lap 227. Brad Keselowski went to the apron of the track because he was experiencing possible engine problems. He had not come down pit road in time as oil from his car went on the track. Keselowski did make it to the garage and his team diagnosed the problem as a broken rear seal. Keselowski returned to the race, but he was a good many laps down. Jeff Burton received the lucky dog. All the lead lap drivers came to pit road for four tires with Jimmie Johnson coming out as the leader. At this point, a few drivers began to think about the possibility of only making one more stop, but it would be interesting to see if they could save enough fuel to make it.

        The race went back green and Jimmie Johnson held onto the lead. Not much happened for a while as Johnson continued to lead. Finally, the second and final round of green flag pit stops interrupted the race on lap 308. All the drivers came to pit road in the span of a few laps and it was crucial for the gas man to get the car full of as much fuel as possible. After all the stops concluded, Jimmie Johnson cycled around to the lead once again as Dale Earnhardt Jr. had entrance problems again. Still, Junior was in the race and one mistake could give him the lead or even the win. The race began to transition into fuel conservation mode. Many of the lead drivers had already been told they could not make it to the finish and started to pick up speed in hopes of getting far enough away that they could get a splash of fuel late and still win. Drivers like Clint Bowyer began to save as much as possible in hopes of grabbing an easy victory. All these talks would be destroyed as the fourth and final caution waved on lap 370. Debris was spotted in turn 3 of the track. Brian Vickers received the lucky dog. Now, all of the leaders would have a chance to stop and the winner would be the driver who had the best car.

        The leaders made the move to pit road. The ESPN announcers were calling two tires and Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth decided to make this move. Unluckily for the them, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and all the other lead lap drivers decided to take four tires. Now, the top 3 did not have the fresh rubber that the drivers behind them had. The race went green for the final time and Jimmie Johnson was able to hold onto the lead. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a hard charge to the front and was in second in only a few laps. He was able to get right to Johnson's bumper, but he couldn't make the move. With twenty three laps to go, Carl Edwards, a Chase driver, reported to pit road. One of the hubs that holds the tires broke on his car. His team fixed it quick and he returned to the race, but his chances for a good finish were over. This did not affect Earnhardt and Johnson as they continued to race around the track. With fifteen laps to go, Johnson still held a nice advantage, but Junior was still there. The race moved on and before long, only two laps remained. Junior was there, but he wasn't able to get close enough as Johnson ran into some lap traffic taking the white flag. Junior made it extremely close because of the traffic, but Johnson held the lead and took his unprecedented eighth win at Dover. Johnson solidified that he was a threat once again for the title, but Kenseth still holds the advantage.

        What a turn around it has been for Johnson since the start of the Chase. After having four terrible races before the start of the Chase, Johnson once again grabbed his Chase magic and is in the thick of the title hunt. It is not a surprise to the fans since Johnson is a five time champion in the sport. With Kenseth running as good as he has been, it good be an amazing battle for the title heading into the final races of the season. Kyle Busch also continued his contending ways as he held station in third place in the points. Busch has been just as consistent as the two championship leaders of late and could be the third piece in the title battle as the final race at Homestead comes ever closer. All this is not to say that the title battle is only between three drivers as Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon sit waiting for the championship leaders to make a mistake. With Talladega and Martinsville coming back to back, even Kasey Kahne could make his way back into the title hunt with a couple of wins. It will be interesting to see where the series sits in a few weeks. Before the madness begins at Talladega, Kansas Speedway will see if it can mess with the championship leaders next week. Will Matt Kenseth double down at Kansas on the year, will Kasey Kahne avenge his second place at Kansas earlier this year with a win, or will another Chase driver take advantage of the mile and a half track? We will have to wait until next Sunday to find this out and more.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 37- Debris was spotted on the frontstretch of the track. 

2nd Caution: Lap 165- Debris was spotted in turn 1 of the track.

3rd Caution: Lap 227- Brad Keselowski had a rear seal problem and left oil on the track.

4th Caution: Lap 370- Debris was spotted in turn 3 of the track.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: David Reutimann
2nd Caution: Jeff Burton
3rd Caution: Jeff Burton
4th Caution: Brian Vickers

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Jimmie Johnson
2nd: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3rd: Joey Logano
4th: Jeff Gordon
5th: Kyle Busch

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Kevin Harvick
7th: Matt Kenseth
8th: Ryan Newman
9th: Greg Biffle
10th: Clint Bowyer
13th: Kasey Kahne
21st: Kurt Busch
35th: Carl Edwards




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_AAA_400/W
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html?intid=lapbylap_lapbylapleaderboard_08292013
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/live-standings.html?intid=livestandings_livestandingsleaderboard_08292013
-Image:
http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2013/09/29/18/46/508-15KyvT.AuSt.138.jpeg