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 "We just kept plugging at it and I think the off-week was good for
us to sit down and relax, reboot and come back to the track and they
brought me a fast race car that was good all weekend," Johnson said.
It was Johnson's second win of the season and the fifth of his
career at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick, who finished second to Johnson earlier this season at
Atlanta Motor Speedway and second to Johnson in the fall 2014 race
at Texas, repeated those performances with another runner-up showing
Saturday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third.
"We weren't as good as the 48 (Johnson) or the 4 (Harvick) early in
the race, but we definitely improved it and Greg (Ives, crew chief)
and the Nationwide team did a great job in getting it better,"
Earnhardt said. "We have had that speed all year and it's good to
get a good finish in the bank because these last few weeks have been
pretty rough, but we know what we are capable of."
During the eighth and final caution of the race -- with 25 laps to
go -- Harvick, Johnson and Earnhardt were among the drivers who took
four tires. Meanwhile, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex
Jr. took two apiece and restarted the race in the top three spots.
Harvick was the first driver to get off pit road with four and
restarted fourth. Johnson restarted seventh.
"I thought we were in big trouble once we restarted," Johnson said.
"The No. 4 (Harvick) went up through there and got to the lead. I
just couldn't go anywhere. I got so tight. We weren't sure if it was
a bad set of tires. We felt like we had a set that didn't match up
with us earlier in the race. So we made no adjustments.
"We went out the next restart and the car was a little better, but
made an adjustment. Then that last pit stop we made the right
adjustment. I caught the No. 4 racing with the No. 1 (McMurray). I
was able to get by both of those guys and check out. It was an
exciting race. I hope the fans really enjoyed that one."
Harvick got up to second position with 18 laps remaining, and
Johnson followed him through traffic to take third. Johnson then got
by both Harvick and McMurray to take the lead and drive away to the
win. Harvick and Earnhardt swapped the second and third positions
several times in the closing laps.
"I just got behind there and Jimmie was fast for those last couple
laps and got around us," Harvick said. "I got loose coming off four
and I got in the wall and just was trying to hang on to where I
needed to be. I just have to thank everybody on my Budweiser/Jimmy
John's team for all that they have done and we just raced as hard as
we could and it was a lot of fun."
Joey Logano finished fourth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top
five. McMurray and Gordon dropped back to sixth and seventh by the
finish. Kasey Kahne, Truex and Carl Edwards finished eighth through
10th.
"We did two (tires) two other times in the race and it worked out
really well for us," McMurray said. "When I cleared the No. 24
(Gordon), I thought we had a legitimate shot at winning. I got
checked out it seemed like a straightaway. But once the guys with
four tires got clear their cars were a little better than ours and
they had better tires. You just can't hold them up here. The track
is wide enough and they were enough faster than me that I really
couldn't even hold them up."
Johnson, the leader at the halfway point of the race, lost the top
spot when Kahne stayed out during a green-flag cycle of pit stops
around Lap 219 after getting off sequence when he made an
unscheduled stop for a vibration on Lap 199.
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"We the Great Clips Chevrolet was pretty close," Kahne said. "There
were times when I felt really competitive with the leaders and other
times more like a fifth-place car. Keith (Rodden, crew chief) did a
great job we prepared a nice car. We just left too many wheels loose
throughout the race. I think three; you can't run well when you do
that."
Johnson returned to the lead when he got off pit road first during a
Lap 228 caution. Harvick restarted fourth after that caution but got
up to second on Lap 247. Both Johnson and Harvick were among drivers
mired just outside the top 10 when the yellow flag waved again on
Lap 260 and they headed for pit road while several other drivers
stayed out.
Harvick was back up front by a restart after a Lap 295 caution and
Johnson worked his way back up to third.
Johnson was the leader at the halfway point and Harvick was second
after the race field cycled through green-flag stops around Lap 156.
Harvick had lost the lead to Johnson just before the pit stops.
Johnson took the lead for the first time when he passed Brad
Keselowski on Lap 109, just before the yellow flag waved for the
second time in the race. Johnson maintained his lead on pit road and
on the restart before getting passed by Harvick on Lap 125.
Kurt Busch and Harvick started on the front row and combined to lead
until a cycle of green flag pit stops on Laps 80 and 81. Keselowski
had pitted for a vibration on Lap 67 and stayed out as the other
drivers came in.
During the first caution on Lap 32, Earnhardt and Bowyer also were
forced down pit road an extra time. Bowyer later had a second
vibration issue.
Busch started on the pole but lost the lead to Harvick on Lap 1.
Harvick led the first 34 laps before Busch beat him off pit road
during the first caution.
NOTES: Joey Logano won the 2014 Duck Commander 500. ... Brad
Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and third behind
winner Erik Jones in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Friday night
at Texas Motor Speedway. ... Kurt Busch's pole for the Duck
Commander 500 was his second in four races. Stewart-Haas Racing
teammate Kevin Harvick started next to him on the front row both
times. ... The Texas race marked Kyle Larson's return after being
sidelined for the race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway because of a
fainting spell the day before. ... The Texas race was the first
after NASCAR severely penalized the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing
team and driver Ryan Newman for modifying tires two races ago at
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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