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Sprint Cup
CUP: Johnson Met Texas Trouble Last Year
A lap three crash forced the No. 48 team to hustle last fall at Texas...
Jimmie Johnson prepares to return to the track after a lap 3 crash last fall at Texas Motor Speedway that sent the No. 48 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
How quickly can the Chase change?
Three laps into a race, that’s how quickly.
It happened a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway. Point leader Jimmie Johnson was minding his own business and trying to get settled in as the opening miles of the Dickies 500 clicked by.
All of a sudden, his future looked very clouded.
David Reutimann and Sam Hornish Jr. collided in the heavy early-race traffic in turn two on the super-fast track, and Hornish bounced into Johnson. That contact sent Johnson into a wild ride from the outside of the track through a pack of traffic and hard into the inside wall.
His Chevrolet was mangled.
Johnson spent 112 laps in the garage for repairs before returning to the track and finishing 38th.
He kept the point lead and went on to win the Sprint Cup championship, of course, thanks in large part to the fact that he entered Texas with a 184-point advantage over second-place Mark Martin.
Similar circumstances this week in Texas, however, would be very bad indeed – for Johnson or his two pursuers, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. This year’s Chase is much tighter, with Hamlin only 14 points behind and Harvick 38 in arrears.
None of the Big Three can afford a nasty finish.
Johnson has a splendid record at Texas. He has finished in the top 10 in 14 races at TMS and has completed 95.6 percent of the laps run.
The difference this year is that Johnson enters TMS not with a comfortable point lead but in danger of losing first place.
“We need maximum points,” Johnson said. “Of course, it’s a little bit more forgiving or easy on your team and yourself with a big points lead. But we don’t have that this year. We’re going to have to race, and we’re ready for it.”
The car Johnson will race this weekend competed most recently at Charlotte last month. Johnson started 10th and finished third in that race.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Three laps into a race, that’s how quickly.
It happened a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway. Point leader Jimmie Johnson was minding his own business and trying to get settled in as the opening miles of the Dickies 500 clicked by.
All of a sudden, his future looked very clouded.
David Reutimann and Sam Hornish Jr. collided in the heavy early-race traffic in turn two on the super-fast track, and Hornish bounced into Johnson. That contact sent Johnson into a wild ride from the outside of the track through a pack of traffic and hard into the inside wall.
His Chevrolet was mangled.
Johnson spent 112 laps in the garage for repairs before returning to the track and finishing 38th.
He kept the point lead and went on to win the Sprint Cup championship, of course, thanks in large part to the fact that he entered Texas with a 184-point advantage over second-place Mark Martin.
Similar circumstances this week in Texas, however, would be very bad indeed – for Johnson or his two pursuers, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. This year’s Chase is much tighter, with Hamlin only 14 points behind and Harvick 38 in arrears.
None of the Big Three can afford a nasty finish.
Johnson has a splendid record at Texas. He has finished in the top 10 in 14 races at TMS and has completed 95.6 percent of the laps run.
The difference this year is that Johnson enters TMS not with a comfortable point lead but in danger of losing first place.
“We need maximum points,” Johnson said. “Of course, it’s a little bit more forgiving or easy on your team and yourself with a big points lead. But we don’t have that this year. We’re going to have to race, and we’re ready for it.”
The car Johnson will race this weekend competed most recently at Charlotte last month. Johnson started 10th and finished third in that race.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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