Jimmie Johnson led all Team Chevy drivers at Kansas Speedway to bring his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet home in third place in the STP 400, Round 7 on the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tour. Carrying a vintage ‘muscle car’ paint scheme in homage of Earth Day, and celebrating the 1967 Chevrolet ‘Mountain Green’ custom color, the five-time champion was a strong contender throughout the 267-lap contest.
Johnson battled his way from the 15th starting position and took over the lead on lap 92. He held that spot for a mere handful of laps before green flag pit stops brought his No. 48 Chevrolet to pit road. During the stop, one of the pit crew members dropped a lug nut; which cost Johnson valuable seconds. While he continued to run up-front, he was unable to obtain the right balance in the car to vie for the win. Johnson’s third-place finish marks his fourth top-five finish of 2012.
Kevin Harvick started on the outside front row and pulled away from his competitors early in the race. He remained in the top-five throughout the first portion of the event; but, prior to his second scheduled pit stop of the afternoon, his No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet ran out of fuel. The team was able to get him back on track, but Harvick fought a tight-handling condition to cross the stripe in sixth place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued his consistent campaign in 2012 with a seventh-place finish in the race. The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet remained in the top-10 throughout the race, but never found the right balance through the corners that was needed in order to contend for the victory.
Earnhardt Jr.’s teammate Kasey Kahne earned a top-10 finish for the second week in a row and brought his No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevy home eighth.
Other Team Chevy finishers were: Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet – 12th; Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet – 13th; Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet – 14th; Kurt Busch, No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Inc. Chevrolet – 17th; Paul Menard, No. 27 Menards/Zecol Chevrolet – 18th; Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet – 20th; Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet – 21st; Jeff Burton, NO. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet – 22nd; Regan Smith, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing/Farm American Chevrolet – 24th; David Reutimann, No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet – 29th; Dave Blaney, No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet – 37th.
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