Lowe’s Chevy Involved in Late-Race Accident at Talladega
Jimmie Johnson was involved in a late-race accident in Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Talladega Superspeedway, relegating him to a 31st-place result.
Johnson started the race from the top spot after qualifying was canceled for weather and the lineup was set by driver points. Johnson quickly showed his No. 48 Chevrolet was one of the fastest on the track when the race began. He led seven times for a total of nine laps.
As the race wound down, Johnson looked to be closing in on a top-10 finish but made contact with teammate Jeff Gordon on Lap 181 of the scheduled 188, causing left-rear fender damage to the Lowe’s Impala.
Just two laps later, the caution flag waved when five cars wrecked in the tri-oval, extending the race past its scheduled length and forcing the field to execute its first green-white-checkered restart.
Because of the caution, Johnson was able to come down pit road under the yellow flag for repairs but returned to the 2.66-mile oval deep in the pack. The race restarted and Johnson made his way to the front. But before the leader could take the white flag, nine cars wrecked just in front of Johnson in Turn 4. He avoided the collision and moved up the leader board for the second attempt at a green-white-checker finish.
As drivers took the green, Johnson worked his way through the field. But as he attempted to move to the high line on first lap, he made contact with Greg Biffle, spinning across the track and slamming into the inside wall.
The Lowe’s Impala suffered significant damage and was loaded on the truck with two laps remaining.
The final attempt at a green-white-checker finish ended with Harvick edging past Jamie McMurray at the finish line by .011 seconds.
Johnson maintains the Sprint Cup Series points lead, 26 over race winner Kevin Harvick.
The Sprint Cup Series will be under the lights next weekend when they visit Richmond International Raceway for Saturday night’s event. The race will be broadcast live on FOX beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
