Storms interrupted the Sprint Cup races at Kansas Speedway Saturday night for two hours and 16 minutes, before races resumed with Jimmie Johnson finally winning.
With a name like SpongeBob Squarepants 400, several fans were speculating was it any wonder that everybody would get wet? Rain and lightning moved into the Kansas City, Kan., area around 7:40 p.m. A red flag stopped the race at lap 98 of the 267 laps. Racing on Saturday, after the rain delay, did not finish until after midnight.
Second place went to Kevin Harvick, and third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon was fourth. It was a sweep by Chevrolet of the top four places. Joey Logano was fifth, in a Ford.
Johnson, in the Lowe’s Chevrolet car, is third in overall point standings behind Kevin Harvick, who is in first; and Martin Truex Jr., in second.
It was Johnson’s third victory and 15th top 10 finish in 18 races at Kansas Speedway. So far this year, Johnson has three victories and eight top 10 finishes.
Martin Truex Jr. was the leader at the time the race was stopped. Kurt Busch also led early in the race. In all, there were 16 lead changes with 10 drivers in the lead at some point.
At one point, the winner, Johnson, had narrowly missed an accident early in the race. He had started 19th and found himself at the back, gradually working his way to first place.
Logano also had to drop to the back of the line after going into the pits too soon, later in the race.
Other notable events included Matt Kenseth spinning out; Tony Stewart hitting the wall; David Ragan into the back of another car and then spinning out; and Jeb Burton spinning out.
Rounding out the top 10 tonight were Matt Kenseth, Toyota, sixth; Brad Keselowski, Ford, seventh; Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, eighth; Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, ninth; and Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 10th.