Following a 10 minute and 48 second red flag period, Johnson’s reign out front resumed with 69 to go over Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, and he maintained the point until he was preparing for his final pit stop with 26 to go, when Hamlin’s motor grenaded and drew another caution.
“(It was) just an engine failure. We haven’t had one in a long time, but I guess it was my time today,” Hamlin said. “It’s a tough break, because we had a good car, but we’ll just do what we can to try and advance. I’m used to (having bad luck) by now. In 11 years, no one has had more bad luck in the Chase than I have, but it’s just part of it.”
The leaders came down for the final time and Kenseth beat Johnson off pit road, assuming the lead for the final restart with 18 laps to go on the high lane of the race track.
But though Kenseth was the control car, Johnson was simply too strong, powering around the inside and reclaiming the lead for good as the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota was forced to settle for second.
Asked if he could have gotten back to Johnson before the checkered flag, Kenseth replied simply, “Nope.”
“That was all I had on the restart, and I gave it everything I had on every lap from then on to the finish. We just didn’t have that much speed. … I was happy with my restart. I know it looked like he almost cleared me, but I didn’t have to lift going through turns one and two and I had the momentum, but he just drove right by me. I don’t know what more I could have done.”
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne finished third, just ahead of fellow Chevrolet stablemates Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson.
Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray completed the top 10.
Hamlin, Dillon, Elliott, Logano (two tire failures) and Kevin Harvick (broken oil pump bearing) all finished 30th or worse, giving Kenseth a 31-point lead over the cutoff line to the third round of the Chase.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will return to action with the running of the Hollywood Casino 400, the second race of the Round of 8, on Oct. 16 at Kansas Speedway.
