Jimmie Johnson was fastest when it mattered to score his seventh win at Texas Motor Speedway and 81st of his career as he got Hendrick Motorsports first victory of the year.
Johnson started off the rear of the field after a tyre change after qualifying and made his way through the pack to put himself in the best possible position after the final round of yellow flag pit stops.
Joey Logano got the jump off the re-start, but with less than 20 laps to run Johnson pulled alongside and took the lead which he held through to the finish. He led just 18 of the 334 laps contested.
“I guess I remembered how to drive; and I guess this team remembered how to do it,” said Johnson after scoring his first win of 2017.
Kyle Larson also rounded-up Logano and was fast approaching Johnson through to the finish. Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., rounded out the top-five.
In terms of stage win, Ryan Blaney scooped both bonus stages, but he would go onto finish 12th in the races final results.
Click here to find out how.
The race featured eight cautions and 16 lead changes among six drivers.
The eighth caution was called for debris on Lap 299. Logano stayed on the track. Harvick led the cars down pit road on Lap 301 followed by Johnson, Truex, Earnhardt and Larson.
Logano held the lead on the Lap 304 restart while Johnson passed Harvick for second. On Lap 318, Johnson took the lead on the backstretch.
Larson now leads the championship standings by 17 points over Elliott.
VIDEO: Race wrap
RESULTS: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 – Texas Motor Speedway
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Laps Led | Status | Points |
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 334 | 18 | Running | 49 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running | 47 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 334 | 38 | Running | 36 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 334 | 77 | Running | 44 |
| 5 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 334 | 4 | Running | 40 |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running | 46 |
| 8 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 334 | 49 | Running | 39 |
| 9 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 10 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 11 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 12 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 334 | 148 | Running | 45 |
| 13 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 334 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 334 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 334 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 334 | Running | 17 | |
| 21 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 333 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 333 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 333 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 333 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 333 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 332 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 330 | 0 | Running | |
| 28 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 329 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 329 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 327 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 327 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 83 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 326 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 322 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 322 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 319 | 0 | Running | 2 |
| 36 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 314 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 37 | 55 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 313 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 38 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 303 | 0 | Running | 1 |
| 39 | 51 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 104 | 0 | Engine | |
| 40 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 9 | 00 | Accident | 1 |
|
Rank
|
Driver
|
Pts
|
Behind
|
Wins
|
Starts
|
Top 5’s
|
Top 10’s
|
Poles
|
|
1
|
Kyle Larson
|
315
|
Leader
|
1
|
7
|
5
|
5
|
1
|
|
2
|
Chase Elliott
|
298
|
-17
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
5
|
1
|
|
3
|
Martin Truex Jr.
|
275
|
-40
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
|
4
|
Brad Keselowski
|
274
|
-41
|
2
|
7
|
5
|
6
|
1
|
|
5
|
Joey Logano
|
243
|
-72
|
0
|
7
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
|
6
|
Ryan Blaney
|
224
|
-91
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
7
|
Kyle Busch
|
211
|
-104
|
0
|
7
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
8
|
Jamie McMurray
|
209
|
-106
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
|
9
|
Clint Bowyer
|
204
|
-111
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
10
|
Kevin Harvick
|
198
|
-117
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
|
11
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
190
|
-125
|
1
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
12
|
Trevor Bayne
|
164
|
-151
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
13
|
Ryan Newman
|
163
|
-152
|
1
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
14
|
Erik Jones
|
159
|
-156
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
15
|
Kurt Busch
|
151
|
-164
|
1
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
16
|
Denny Hamlin
|
151
|
-164
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
17
|
Kasey Kahne
|
147
|
-168
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
18
|
Aric Almirola
|
146
|
-169
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
19
|
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
|
139
|
-176
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
20
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
133
|
-182
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
21
|
Austin Dillon
|
130
|
-185
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
22
|
Matt Kenseth
|
126
|
-189
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
23
|
Daniel Suarez
|
125
|
-190
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
24
|
Ty Dillon
|
122
|
-193
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
25
|
AJ Allmendinger
|
107
|
-208
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
26
|
Paul Menard
|
106
|
-209
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
27
|
Chris Buescher
|
93
|
-222
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
28
|
Michael McDowell
|
91
|
-224
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
29
|
Danica Patrick
|
90
|
-225
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
30
|
Landon Cassill
|
83
|
-232
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
31
|
Cole Whitt
|
78
|
-237
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
32
|
Matt DiBenedetto
|
72
|
-243
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
33
|
David Ragan
|
65
|
-250
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
34
|
Corey LaJoie
|
39
|
-276
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
35
|
Reed Sorenson
|
30
|
-285
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
36
|
Michael Waltrip
|
29
|
-286
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
37
|
Jeffrey Earnhardt
|
24
|
-291
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
38
|
Gray Gaulding
|
17
|
-298
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
39
|
Derrike Cope
|
9
|
-306
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
40
|
D.J. Kennington
|
1
|
-314
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
41
|
Cody Ware
|
1
|
-314
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
42
|
Brendan Gaughan
|
0
|
-315
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
43
|
Elliott Sadler
|
0
|
-315
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
44
|
Joey Gase
|
0
|
-315
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
45
|
JJ Yeley
|
0
|
-315
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
46
|
Timmy Hill
|
0
|
-315
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
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