BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jimmie Johnson and the Team Lowe's Racing crew were well on their way to a top-five finish in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After starting from the pole position, Johnson led twice for 14 laps and was in the top 10 when he suffered a flat right front tire with less than 25 laps to go in the 500-lap event.
While his Lowe's pit crew quickly replaced the damaged tire, the misfortune dropped the No. 48 Chevy Impala SS to an 18th-place finish, two laps down to race winner Jeff Burton.
"We had a good car and stayed in the top 10 for most of the day," Johnson said. "We had a tire go down at the end and just didn't have enough laps left to make it up."
Johnson continues to hold the 13th spot in the drivers' points standings after five events.
Qualifying for the race was rained out on Friday afternoon, causing NASCAR to set the starting grid based on points (for the first five races of the year, NASCAR refers to the previous year's final points standings), giving Johnson the front row starting spot.
When the green flag dropped, Johnson held the top spot for the first 13 laps before yielding to Clint Bowyer. The first three-quarters of the race were uneventful for Johnson and his Team Lowe's Racing crew as their hard work kept the No. 48 comfortably in the top 10.
The team's race strategy seemed to be going according to plan until trouble struck on lap 376. As they raced alongside one another, Johnson and Jeff Burton made contact in turn 2 of the half-mile speedway, causing Johnson to spin and bringing out the eighth caution flag of the race.
In spite of the setback, Johnson was sixth as he came to pit road under the yellow flag for fresh tires and fuel. Quick work by the Lowe's pit crew helped the team gain two positions in the pits, and Johnson moved up to fourth position for the lap 382 restart.
As the race resumed, it didn't take long for Johnson to realize something was awry with the steering on his Lowe's machine.
Johnson reported to crew chief Chad Knaus that the car's "toe-in" (front end alignment) had been knocked out by the contact with Burton. The handling issue caused Johnson to fade back to 10th position before the flat tire cost the team a shot at a lead-lap finish.
Johnson wasn't the only driver who dealt with setbacks in the closing laps. After a caution flag came out for debris with 10 laps remaining, it appeared there would be a five-lap "shootout" to the finish with Tony Stewart in the lead.
As the race resumed, Stewart's car slowed suddenly, allowing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, to take over the lead. Adding insult to injury, Stewart then made contact with Kevin Harvick with two laps to go, bringing out the final caution flag of the race.
NASCAR rules state there must be at least one attempt made to end the race under green flag conditions, so Stewart's misfortune set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
On the final restart, race leader Denny Hamlin took the green flag only to have his car slow, which allowed Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton (No. 31 Chevrolet Impala SS) to pass him and take the win. In fact, Childress cars swept the top three spots as Kevin Harvick (No. 29) and Clint Bowyer (No. 07) finished second and third, respectively.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford) finished fourth, and Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (No. 88) was fifth.
Of the other two Hendrick entries, Jeff Gordon (No. 24) fared best, finishing 11th. Casey Mears (No. 5), who was involved in an accident just past the midway point of the race, finished 42nd.
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) continues to hold the lead in the Sprint Cup Series drivers' points standings. Biffle, Harvick, Burton and Earnhardt Jr. round out the top five.
The Sprint Cup Series has a weekend off to celebrate the Easter holiday and returns to action in two weeks at another half-mile short track, Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
The No. 48 team is particularly fond of the track -- Johnson has finished in the top 10 in all but one of the Martinsville races in which he has competed. Johnson and the Team Lowe's Racing crew have gone to Victory Lane in each of the past three Martinsville Sprint Cup races and will look to make it four in a row.
The 500-lap Sprint Cup Series race airs live on Sunday, March 30, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX and MRN Radio affiliates.
TOP 10 FINISHERS AT BRISTOL
1. Jeff Burton (No. 31)
2. Kevin Harvick (No. 29)
3. Clint Bowyer (No. 07)
4. Greg Biffle (No. 16)
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)
6. Denny Hamlin (No. 11)
7. Kasey Kahne (No. 9)
8. Eric Almirola (No. 8)
9. David Gilliland (No. 38)
10. Matt Kenseth (No. 17)
TOP 10 IN POINTS AFTER BRISTOL
1. Kyle Busch (No. 18)
2. Greg Biffle (No. 16)
3. Kevin Harvick (No. 29)
4. Jeff Burton (No. 31)
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)
6. Kasey Kahne (No. 9)
7. Ryan Newman (No. 12)
8. Tony Stewart (No. 20)
9. Clint Bowyer (No. 07)
10. Kurt Busch (No. 2)
WHERE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DRIVERS RANK IN POINTS
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Jeff Gordon
33. Casey Mears
TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Martinsville Speedway
Friday, March 28
LIVE: Sprint Cup qualifying, 3:30 p.m. ET on SPEED
Saturday, March 29
Sprint Cup final practice, 9 p.m. ET on SPEED
Sunday, March 30
Pre-race, 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX
Race, 2 p.m. ET on FOX
