Johnson Wins Bank of America 500

By ESPN

CONCORD, N.C. -- So many drivers would have loved to have had Jimmie Johnson's problems this summer.

A losing streak? Didn't he win two races earlier in the year? Doesn't he have 77 for his Sprint Cup career? Oh, and there are those six Sprint Cup championship trophies. So what is there to complain about?

But Johnson, when asked about having a win fall out of his grasp a week ago at Dover thanks to a pit road penalty, didn't hesitate to react to the fact that his career-long winless streak had stretched to 24 races.

"It's been a long summer, there's no doubt," Johnson said after Dover. "Leading laps [in recent weeks] certainly helps and takes the sting off of the long summer, but I'd really like to get to Victory Lane soon."

"Soon" ended up being seven days, as Johnson captured the Bank of America 500, a race rescheduled thanks to Hurricane Matthew from Saturday night to a Johnson-favorable day race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Johnson's victory was a relief to not only himself but the entire Hendrick organization. No Hendrick driver had won a race since Johnson won his second of the season March 20 at Auto Club Speedway in California in the fifth race of 2016. Even for a driver with six big trophies and millions in winnings, the losing stunk.

He could have looked at his six Cup trophies and relish in the years when he dominated, the years when he was the driver to beat, instead of the quintet of Toyotas from Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing. Instead, he grew quiet, as he often does when frustrated, and the last win seemed like an eternity ago.

"The past is the past," Johnson said. "You know, I've always raced for the experience I've had in the car. It hasn't been about stats or the previous trophies that I've won or what's really ahead of me.

"There's an experience that I have in the car that I chase and I love: the community that's created on a race team, the bond and friendship that you have."