Johnson, Team Lowe’s, Relegated to 35th-Place Finish in Daytona
It was a roller coaster day at Daytona International Speedway for Jimmie Johnson and the Team Lowe’s Racing crew. After overcoming a flat tire on Lap 117 of the scheduled 200, the team waited out two red-flag periods before a final 39-lap run to the finish. But with fewer than 12 laps remaining Johnson reported a problem in the rear end of his Lowe’s Impala SS, which ultimately forced him to the garage and relegated him to a 35th-place finish.
Johnson started the season-opening event third and maintained a top-ten position for most of the race. But when a yellow flag waved just past the halfway mark, Johnson indicated he had a flat tire and brought his machine down pit road for new Goodyears. When he arrived in the 48 pit stall, the team discovered fender damage where the shredded tire had made contact. The crew used the caution period wisely and remained on the led lap while making several trips down pit road for repairs.
But before the race was restarted, NASCAR determined that a pothole between Turns 1 and 2 needed attention and brought the field down pit road under a red flag. NASCAR and track officials spent the next hour and 45 minutes repairing the problem.
“They are doing their best to get the show in,” said Johnson during the red-flag break. “The thing keeps coming out (patch to fill the hole) whatever they’re putting in isn’t getting hard enough to stay. But we were all dodging it. Now we know where it’s at. Everybody is dodging it.”
The event was eventually restarted and when the green flag waved the Team Lowe’s Chevy quickly moved from 34th to 18th, where it was running when a second red flag period began in order to continue working on track repairs.
The drivers once again brought their machines down pit road where they remained for 45 minutes before returning to the track for the final 39 laps. Johnson made a charge through the field when the green flag waved and was running in the top 10 when he reported on Lap 188 of 200 that there was a problem in the back end of his 48 Chevrolet.
“It was something with the drive, either the axel or the rocker broke in the rear end or something with the hub on the left side,” explained Johnson. “We only (had) drive in the right rear tires, so something broke coming through Turns 3 and 4 and I just had the one wheel driving.”
He maneuvered his machine down the pit lane and to the garage before it was deemed unfixable.
“It’s definitely not the finish we wanted,” said Johnson. “It was a really long day and we had a great car so to go home with a 35th-place result is disappointing. Luckily it’s just the first race – we’ll head to California next week and hope for better luck.”
The next stop on the Sprint Cup Series schedule is Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.). The Feb. 21 race will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
