Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan
When the caution came out with 25 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick made the decision the decision to stay out, while the rest of the leaders pitted. It’d turn out to be the right call as Johnson would hold off Harvick in the ensuing restarts to snatch up the victory. For Johnson, it marks his fourth career victory and his 10th trip to victory lane at Dover International Speedway.
“Just driving hard, working that trackbar adjusters as I could, trying to be smart on my line and I guess those guys on two tires were just never there,” he commented. “They just never came and the 4 and I were able to hold them all off.”
The caution flew with 25 laps to go when Kyle Busch and Brian Scott made contact. Scott thought he was clear, and would chop down in front of Busch, causing contact before both drivers hit the wall.
“I don’t know,” Busch said. “I guess Brian says his spotter didn’t say anything and he chopped me in the corner. I hate it for these guys. We knew that we weren’t going to win, but we could’ve got a top-five. Instead, we’re finishing 40th. It sucks.”
I apologize to @KyleBusch, his sponsors, his team, his fans, and all of JGR. 100% my fault, I didn't know he was underneath me until 2 late.
— Brian Scott (@bscottracing) May 31, 2015
The restart would come with 17 laps to go, featuring a three-wide battle between Johnson, Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., who took two tires. Johnson got the advantage into the corner, holding on till the caution flew with 16 to go. Clint Bowyer hit the back of Denny Hamlin, causing him to go down the track, before swinging back up into traffic, catching Kurt Busch in the process. They would both then hit the wall.
The restart came with nine laps to go with Johnson getting the holeshot, while Kasey Kahne (also on two tires) passed Martin Truex Jr. to move into second. Kahne would try to chase down his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, but was unable to. However, he’d get a shot to pass him with the caution flying once again with three to go. Casey Mears would slow, with Greg Biffle hitting him, sending Mears back down the track and leaving A.J. Allmendinger nowhere to go.
Johnson then held off all chargers on the green-white-checkered to score the victory. Behind him, Kevin Harvick, Kahne and Truex battled three-wide for second. Harvick would get the advantage, but was unable to track down Johnson.
“Restarts were bad,” Harvick stated. “We didn’t need to see the cautions. Got to figure out why the trackbar keeps breaking – that’s four of them so far this year.”
Kyle Larson managed to get by both Truex and Kahne to finish third while Kahne held on to finish fourth. Aric Almirola came back from being a lap down earlier to finish fifth, ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon. The final restart saw a bit of contact between Truex and Kahne, which left Truex feeling furstrated post-race.
“It wasn’t so much his hiccup,” Truex said. “I was inside of him and he ran us down on the apron, so I either had to back off or wreck everybody. We were never really good in practice, and got it better, but we’re still off there. it caught up with us at the end.”
“On the inside, they laid back on me to get a run and the spotter said I was clear so I went to the bottom in one,” Kahne stated. “I guess he was upset as he gave me a bump after the race. They were on the outside – where did you think I should go? We had a good car, sucks that we couldn’t pull it off. Glad to see a Hendrick car in victory lane.”
