(WOMR file photo)
It took 16 races, spanning seven months, before Jimmie Johnson and Rick Hendrick were able to win another Sprint Cup race, and climb the summit for the organization’s 200th win. Who would ever thought that Hendrick Motorsports would not notch a victory in the 2012 season until the eleventh race of the year? Who would ever have thought that either Jimmie Johnson, or Jeff Gordon would be winless in the first ten races of the season? The answer to both of those questions are that nobody would have bet the farm that HMS, Jimmie Johnson, or Jeff Gordon would be winless in their first ten tries this season!
Nevertheless, Saturday night Jimmie Johnson won the Bojangles Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway, stopping the 16 race winless streak that both Johnson and HMS had to endure, spanning over the tail end of the 20112 season and through the first 10 races of 2012.
“I want to thank all of the drivers,” team owner Rick Hendrick said, “all of the crew chiefs, and you (Jeff Hammond) and Darrell (Waltrip) and Geoff Bodine and everybody else. I can’t believe we won 200 of these things. I can’t believe it took this long after 199. I want to remember all those folks we lost. And everybody that helped this thing happen. Brad Paisley is in his bus on the way here and we’ll have a big party.”
It was Johnson’s 56th career victory.
“What a day,” Johnson, who led a race-best 133 laps, said after embracing Hendrick in Victory Lane. “There was a lot of drama. This race is so special, so great.
“Oh without a doubt. You have got to love that man (Rick Hendrick), he just said 200 is great but let’s goget 250. So that tells you where his head is, I love it. Oh man, what a day. Very fast race car. I want to thank Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for an awesome race car. The Kobalt Tools Chevy was bad fast. We had a little pit thing that went awry earlier in the race, but we still worked our way back up there. Had a great race car and won the race.”
We are nearing the halfway point in “the regular season” of racing. There are several key players that have to “let the dogs out”, if they have any hopes in making the Chase. They only way for some of those marquee drivers to get into the Chase is to secure a few wins before the Sun sets on Richmond in September! The said marquee drivers include, but are not limited to, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, and Carl Edwards!
It is time to let the big dog eat!
The NASCAR crowd has two weeks to enjoy all the festivities that surround Memorial Day and the Coke 600. There is the, The Pit Crew Challenge, the Camping World Truck Series race Friday night, followed by the gala of the fan favorite Sprint cup All-Star race Saturday night.
This Saturday night is when “the Stars come out, and the gloves come off “, and to the winner goes all the spoils a $1,000,000 pay-day at Charlotte Motor Speedway! It is also the day when not many of the race cars will be able to be driven up on the haulers, because of that $1,000,00 payday, some of the race cars will be in various stages of wrecked, crumpled, and mangled sheet metal!
Check out the unofficial results from the Bojangles Southern 500.
After eleven races here is the official Sprint Cup standings.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
