Jimmie Johnson roars to victory at Atlanta

March 1, 2015 Greg Engle Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

HAMPTON, GA - MARCH 01: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 1, 2015 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

 

HAMPTON, GA - MARCH 01: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 1, 2015 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA – MARCH 01: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 1, 2015 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson staged a dominating performance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday taking the lead for the final time with 63 laps to go and winning over Kevin Harvick with a lead of just over one and a half seconds. Johnson took the lead for the first time just past the 300-mile mark and led a total of 92 laps. The win was made sweeter after Johnson was denied the chance to qualify on Friday and forced to start 37th Sunday.

“We had a great race car” Johnson said. “Unfortunately the way qualifying went (Friday), we didn’t have a didn’t have a good pit stall pick and it took us a long time to get in front of the No. 19 (Carl Edwards). Once we did that we were able to utilize our awesome pit crew; get the stops done and race for the win and get the job done today. Just very, very thankful. They surprised me today. We weren’t that good yesterday and they really dug deep and figured out what I needed in this race car.”

Kevin Harvick, who was also forced to start from the back due to an engine change, led a race high 116 laps but settled for second. The runner up spot marking the fourth time in five of Johnson’s wins that Harvick has finished second behind him. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third with polesitter Joey Logano fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
Latest posts by Greg Engle (see all)

Subscribe to our daily NASCAR headlines, CLICK HERE!

About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.