CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson placed eighth at Darlington Raceway Wednesday night in an event that started late and ended early due to rain.
Johnson had been working his way up the field after he started in 37th when the race was called with 20 laps to go. He ended a six-race streak without a top-10 finish at Darlington and Johnson's placement marks his third top-10 result this season.
William Byron finished 12th, Alex Bowman was 18th and Chase Elliott placed 38th.
Elliott was riding in the top two when he was tapped on his rear bumper and spun out. Just a few minutes later the race was called because of the weather.
Denny Hamlin won the race.
Below is a closer look at how Wednesday's race at Darlington unfolded for the four Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 38th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Elliott started in 17th due to the inverted positions from the first Darlington race. He was in 16th when the first caution occurred on the fourth lap.
- By the time the competition caution was brought out on lap 25, Elliott was in 11th place. He broke into the top 10 after going three wide and surging ahead on the outside wall. He soon moved up two more spots to eighth and finished the first stage in seventh.
- Elliott was in ninth place 12 laps in the second stage and opted to pit when another caution came out. He was in 15th coming off pit road and quickly moved to seventh 80 laps in.
- The No. 9 driver fell back to 15th when the field went green again but was in ninth 42 laps into the second stage. With that move, Elliott was one of three Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the top 10.
- With 12 laps left in Stage 2 he was in second and chasing down the first-place driver. He lost out on winning the first stage by less than half a second.
- Coming off pit road for the third stage, Elliott was in eighth but quickly regained the No. 2 spot. He maintained second until he made the pass for first with 68 laps left in the race.
- With 44 laps to go Elliott was had reclaimed the No. 1 position after he fell a couple of spots. Elliott went to pit during the 10th caution and was in seventh after the stop. He was in fifth a couple of laps later, then surged ahead to second.
- Elliott was turned by another car and he was hit the wall with less than 25 laps left in the race. That finished his night and Elliott placed 38th.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 12th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Byron rolled off the grid in 34th and was in 31st place when the first yellow flag dropped. He was in 27th when the field went green again.
- He continued his climb up the leaderboard and was in 25th when the second caution occurred in lap 11 and was 17th when the green flag dropped. He was in 18th when the competition caution was called.
- Byron was in 19th for the final third of the first stage and was able to slide up one spot by the end of the first 60 laps. When the next caution came out on lap 72 Byron was all the way up to 12th place. However, he opted to pit and was in 18th by the time he came off pit road.
- The next caution was out by lap 80 and Byron stayed out in the field, allowing him to jump to third. With 25 laps left in Stage 2 Byron had dropped to fourth.
- By lap 111 Byron was in seventh and bringing up the rear of teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, but he leapfrogged Bowman and soon moved up to fourth. He dropped a couple of spots before the stage ended and was sixth.
- Shortly after the field went green Byron was in 17th. He moved up to the top 10 of the field for a while, but decided to pit by lap 177. He was back in 17th afterward.
- After the next pit cycle Byron was in 20th and had moved up to 15th with 30 laps to go. He was 12th when it began to rain at the track, which cemented his position.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 8th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Johnson started in 37th and moved up to 33rd by the time the field went green on lap seven. He was in 30th when the next caution came out.
- By lap 15 Johnson pushed ahead to 21st but he dropped to 23rd by the time the competition caution came out. Johnson was 19th when Stage 1 ended.
- Five laps into Stage 2 Johnson had moved up to 18th but when the first caution of the stage occurred he opted to get fresh tires on pit road.
- Patience began to pay off for Johnson and by lap 111 he was in 12th, which he maintained until the end of the second stage.
- He was in 11th 12 laps into Stage 3 and finally broke into the top 10 with 82 laps left in the race.
- Johnson was in 17th place with 43 to go then jumped up to 15th three laps later. He was riding in 14th when the 10th caution occurred.
- With 24 laps left the race was under caution due to rain. Johnson was in eighth place at that point, which was how he finished.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 1LE
FINISHED: 18th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Since Bowman was the runner up in the first Darlington race, he started in 19th for Wednesday’s event. He quickly jumped up to 14th when the first caution came out.
- He slid up two more positions to 12th when the field went green again and moved up another four spots to eighth 18 laps into the race.
- Bowman’s climb continued and he was in sixth place by lap 22 where he remained when the competition caution came out on lap 25. He cracked the top five 30 laps in and was in fourth place one lap later.
- The No. 88 driver as in the top three by lap 43 but finished the first stage in fourth. On lap 48 he tapped the wall while battling for second and sustained damage to his car.
- When the second stage kicked off Bowman was back in third place. He soon moved up to second place nine laps into Stage 2. During the fifth caution Bowman opted to pit and get new tires. He came off pit road in 13th and the fresh tires allowed him to get back in the top 10 quickly.
- He was in sixth place 41 laps into Stage 2 and maintained that position for the latter part of Stage 2. However, Bowman dropped a couple of spots to eighth when the stage ended.
- Bowman fell back to 12th with 44 laps left in the race and then dropped another two laps to 14th a couple laps later. He moved up to 11th by the time the 10th caution came out.
- When the rain started to fall at the track Bowman was in 18th, which is how he placed.