Johnson finished eighth at Watkins Glen, posting his series-best 15th top-10 result. His lead in the Sprint Cup point standings is 75 over Clint Bowyer.
After the destroyed racecars were towed away, the smoke faded and the crowd dispersed, Kyle Busch was left standing triumphantly in victory lane at Watkins Glen. Brad Keselowski got to the bumper of Kyle and bumped him in the final corner but it wasn't enough to dislodge the No.18 from the top spot.
The three Penske cars combined to lead 73 of the 82 laps in the Zippo 200 and swept the top two spots while leaving the rest of the field to fight for the leftovers.
After some exciting races at Pocono Raceway and Iowa Speedway last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head north for some road course racing at Watkins Glen International, the always entertaining 2.45 mile road course in Upstate New York. This weekend
Johnson started from the pole at Pocono but found trouble on lap 76 when he cut a tire and hit the wall. Despite the damage, he finished 13th and actually increased his lead in the points standings to 77 over Clint Bowyer.
After a weekend of racing at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Wednesday night of dirt racing at Eldora for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, all three series head off to new destinations this week with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono and the Nationwide Series heading back to Iowa Speedway for the second time this season.
Johnson controlled the Brickyard 400 until a slow pit stop late in the race likely cost him any chance at the win. He finished second behind Ryan Newman and still maintained a healthy led in the Sprint Cup point standings.
