Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson says it was “great” to be back in contention at Texas because it is where Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet “deserve to be”.
Johnson and Hendrick endured a torrid 2018 season in which the driver went winless and exited the playoffs at Charlotte’s Roval race after last-lap contact with Martin Truex Jr.
The poor run of form came after Hendrick made organisational changes designed to bring out the best in its four-car team.
While Johnson has now gone 66 races without a win after finishing fifth in Texas, he did take pole for the race and led 60 laps on his way to his first top-five finish since last May’s Charlotte Coca-Cola 600.
“It’s great to be back in the mix, it’s where this team deserves to be, and Chevy,” said Johnson.
“Everybody on board, the work that goes into these cars. The track, the changes we continue to make.
“I hope everyone at Hendrick is smiling. To have cars with such pace, two or three cars with good results, it’s a big step in the right direction for us.
“We are definitely moving in the right direction. The car was good in clean air and had a lot of speed in it, so I think we have found kind of the centre for our cars and what has to happen.
“It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race.”
Johnson finished ahead of team-mate and 2017 Xfinity Champion William Byron, with Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman finishing 13th and 18th respectively.
Byron has endured a difficult start to his Cup Series career and his debut season in 2018 led to an average finish of just 22.1.
His Texas result last weekend matched his best Cup finish of sixth at Pocono last year and he has so far improved his average finish to 17.3 after seven races in 2019.
Describing his run at Texas, Byron said: “We needed this.
“It’s been a long road for sure, the last year-and-a-half, really, starting with this team.
“We’ve been working harder and harder and the guys have been putting in a lot of work.
“Still work to be done and definitely getting it there in the right direction.”