News and Media Releases

Johnson Survives Wild Finish To Come Home 2nd

04/07/2009

Martin, Gordon and Earnhardt Finish Further Back in the Field After Trouble

Jimmie Johnson finished second to lead his Hendrick Motorsports/Quaker State teammates at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. Johnson survived a wild finish that involved numerous cars crashing coming to the finish line on the final lap of the 400 lap race at Daytona.

Johnson, started third, for the 160-lap event. He remains third in the driver standings, trailing teammate Jeff Gordon by 14 points."It was a great race car," Johnson said. "We haven't been this strong in Daytona in a long time, and I am really proud of the hard work my team has put in this chassis. The guys did a great job of setting this car up, and I am very impressed with this."

Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard "Serving America"/AMP Energy Chevrolet, were involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 76. Gordon, who started from the outside pole position, finished 28th.

Earnhardt, who started 19th, finished 39th. Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Impala SS, now ranks 13th in the standings after finishing 38th. Martin was involved in a multi-car crash early in the day, but his team worked to fix his No. 5 Chevrolet and he returned to the track.The next race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule is the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway. 

The race will take the green flag Saturday, July 11 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Race coverage will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast worldwide on the MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 19th race on the 2009 NSCS schedule will be televised live on SPEED Thursday, July 9 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.