Johnson Wins SpongeBob SquarePants 400

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 from Kansas Speedway on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

Johnson picked up his series-leading third victory of the season at Kansas.  The win followed another disappointing qualifying session for the No. 48 team.  Johnson said he used his experience to get past the disappointing starting positions.

“We tried so hard to get our qualifying under control and we put a huge effort into it again,” Johnson said.  “To be 19th…it really stunk.”

Rain delayed the event for over two hours following a caution on lap 94.  When the race restarted, the track was very different from the start of the race.  Johnson said everyone struggled with handling throughout the night.

“A long hard night of racing and fighting for track position,” Johnson said.  “Once we got up front we were able to hang on to it.”

“These guys just worked so hard and I’m proud of everybody.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Jeff Gordon

5. Joey Logano

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kurt Busch

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Ryan Newman

11. Aric Almirola

12. Greg Biffle

13. Jamie McMurray

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Kyle Larson

16. Sam Hornish Jr.

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Paul Menard

19. Casey Mears

20. Carl Edwards

21. Clint Bowyer

22. Austin Dillon

23. Michael Annett

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Ty Dillon

27. Danica Patrick

28. Josh Wise

29. Landon Cassill

30. Justin Allgaier

31. Trevor Bayne

32. David Gilliland

33. David Ragan

34. Brett Moffitt

35. Cole Whitt

36. Michael McDowell

37. J.J. Yeley

38. Joey Gase

39. Tony Stewart

40. Erik Jones

41. Denny Hamlin

42. Jeb Burton

43. Alex Bowman

Photo courtesy Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Big thanks to friend and fellow CLNS Radio contributor Adam Niemeyer for the photo of Johnson's burnout. Check out his blog here.