FORT WORTH, Tex. – Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and William Byron didn’t end the weekend in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway, but both drivers leave the Lone Star state with strong finishes and momentum after Sunday afternoon’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Johnson and Byron started the weekend on a high note with both drivers claiming the front-row during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Friday afternoon.
At the start of the race, Johnson was able to capitalize on his speed in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and lead the opening 60 laps before reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano worked his way by on Lap 61.
Johnson finished Stage 1 with a loose race car in traffic. Track position and a faulty jack during Stage 2 hindered Johnson’s effort, finishing 10th and only collecting one stage point.
Over the final stage, however, Johnson was able to battle back from outside the top-10 with a loose race car to find himself eighth by Lap 255.
With 50 laps to go, Johnson had worked to sixth but had to make one more pit stop. Crew chief Kevin Meendering brought his driver to pit road at Lap 319 with Johnson sixth and stalking Byron for fifth.
Johnson made the move inside the final 10 laps of the race and finished fifth, his first top-five in Cup competition since last May at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The 61 laps led by
Johnson on Sunday was also the most he’s led in almost two years when he controlled the field for 81 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2017.
Johnson was elated with his performance on Sunday.
“We are definitely moving in the right direction,” said Johnson. “Car was good in clean air and had a lot of speed in it, so I think we have found kind of center for our cars and what has to happen. It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race.
“Ended up having great pace and decent drivability, so are working in the right direction. I am just so proud of everybody on this Ally team. We’ve had a lot of pressure on us, and everyone has stepped up and getting it done.”
Byron held his own inside the top-10 during Stage 1 but ran into trouble on pit road during a scheduled green flag pit stop when a crew member battled a faulty pit gun. Instead of a four tire stop, crew chief Chad Knaus called an audible and switched to two tires.
Byron returned to the race track still on the lead lap but finished 13th in Stage 1. Throughout Stage 2, Byron worked his way back towards the front – finishing eighth at the Lap 172 caution.
Restarting sixth during the final stage, Byron was able to hover inside the top-five. With 40 laps remaining, Byron had moved to fourth and with 30 laps to go third.
Knowing he still had to make a dash to pit road for a splash of fuel to the finish, Byron made his final stop 13 laps from the checkered flag. After other drivers used varying pit strategies for position, Byron found himself fifth but with Johnson closing from behind.
Johnson made the move inside the final 10 laps of the race leaving Byron to settle for sixth and his first top-10 effort of 2019.
“It was good,” said Byron of his efforts. “We had a gun break on the first pit stop. I felt like we were running in the top 5 at that point. And then we got back to the top-five later in the race and I ran about fifth or sixth. It just felt like we were right there all day. It was a little bit free after that last green flag pit stop and that hurt us a slight bit. But, overall it’s good and it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
Byron said that he was happy to have the consistent speed in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet this weekend at Texas and hopes it’s something he and Knaus can build on going into the heart of the season.
“Yeah, we finished sixth and that’s good,” added Byron. “We would have loved to have a top 5 for sure, but I felt like we were in the mix with the fast guys. We could see them pretty much the whole race, which was nice, and it was good.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott was also a factor during Sunday’s race, leading 35 laps but battled handling woes throughout Stage 3 that left him with a 13th place finish.
Alex Bowman took a backup car with little practice to an 18th place finish in the seventh Cup race of 2019.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
