NASCAR: Johnson advances in Chase with victory

Jimmie Johnson ended a career-long 24-race winless streak with victory at Charlotte in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup, postponed to Sunday after Hurricane Matthew struck.

Having started from 11th, Johnson managed to cement himself in the Round of Eight for the first time in the current Chase era, with a faultless race on his home track.

Matt Kenseth took second place as he avoided the late aggressive driving and harsh tire wear. Starting from last, Kenseth also managed to overcome a penalty accrued on pit road for having too many men over the pit wall. He narrowly missed out on victory as Johnson jumped him on the final restart of the race.

Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

"That is massive," said Johnson. "I'm so happy about that. So happy to be in Victory Lane with this guy, with Chad Knaus (crew chief).

"We're a brotherhood on this No. 48 team, and just so thankful for the friendship and the hard work. Same thing for everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. We're really going to enjoy this."

A 12-car wreck and a red flag, triggered by excessive bump-drafting from Martin Truex Jr. on Austin Dillon, rearranged the pack behind Johnson on a late restart.

Truex later faced a clutch failure as he restarted, ending his fine run of form. This left five Chase drivers finishing below 30th place in a Chase round for the first time since 2007.

The drivers, though not in the running for Chase Cup victory, showed blistering pace in the closing laps. Kahne, on the slower, less grippy inside line, was overtaken by Kenseth in the closing stages.

Two of the 12 remaining Chase drivers faced significant issues before that red flag: polesitter Kevin Harvick's ECU failed, joined by Joey Logano in the garage, who hit the wall three times due to tire problems.

"One was the left front and one was the right front, from what I hear," Logano said after his second wreck. "Once you hit the wall once, it kind of throws the front-end geometry out of line, and that's probably what screwed up the second one for all I know.

Tire abrasion was exacerbated in the early stages as the hurricane had washed away any residual rubber, leaving a slick surface.

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Originally on Autosport.com

Quotes via NASCAR Wire Service