Daytona Ends in Disappointment

What looked to be promising night for Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team ended with a 31st-place finish after the Kobalt Tools Chevrolet became a victim of a 19-car accident with 12 laps remaining in the race.

Friday’s qualifying session was washed out by rain, allowing Johnson to start the 160-lap event from the second spot.

The Kobalt Tools Chevrolet led the race early and ran in the top 10 throughout the night.

Johnson was racing for the lead late in the event but was shuffled back to 13th in draft just before a chain-reaction collision took place on Lap 148.

“You can’t see much from the cars,” said Johnson. “I saw the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) down on the flat. Then I was hit from behind and everybody was trying to slow down and just got caught up in things. We came close, I mean, 380-something miles (of 400) of not having a big one and then we always seem to have that big one at the end.”

Johnson’s Kobalt Tools machine was towed back to the garage while he was seen and released from the infield care center.

“I couldn’t really tell from where I was (if people were too aggressive),” continued Johnson. “I would just be speculating, but the energy inside the draft changes as the laps wind down. We all know that every move you make could be worth five or 10 points on the track in position. You could sense it. We knew it was coming and you could feel it building and sure enough it happened.”

Johnson’s finish resulted in him falling one spot in the driver point standings. He’s now 3rd, 225 points behind leader and race winner Kevin Harvick and 13 points behind second-place Jeff Gordon.