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Kyle Busch’s lament: 'We’re out of fuel’
Breaking down the Chase for the Sprint Cup after Texas
Jimmie Johnson's wreck overshadows drama of Kurt Busch's victory at TMS
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Jimmie Johnson finished 38th at the Dickies 500 inside the No. 48 Ugly Duckling.
"It wasn’t a fun car to drive, either," Johnson said.But that’s where it stops being funny.The No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Chevy had to be welded, bolted and duct-taped together after wrecking in the first three laps of the race. The new paint job was basic reconstruction black. The greatest driver on the planet dropped 111 points off his Chase for the Sprint Cup lead during this one painfully long afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Johnson later pleaded guilty to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.He was miffed at Sam Hornish Jr., whose No. 77 AAA Dodge Charger tapped him and took him out on Turn 4, Lap 3. Johnson said he never saw what happened.Johnson drove his wounded Chevy back to the garage, where jigsaw-puzzle surgery was performed by one of the best crews in the business. Needed were complete front- and rear-end replacements. A sway bar had to be untwisted; a new suspension hung. A bit of weld here, a handful of mounts there. Pretty much the works.This ordeal put the three-time defending Cup champion out of the race for 75 minutes, from initial impact to re-entry on Lap 115. He sat in the garage for 68 of those minutes, and never budged. Like a captain going down with the ship, Jimmie hunkered down inside the cockpit, helmet strapped on … lost in thought."I kept thinking what I could’ve done differently. I don’t think there was anything …," said Johnson, who had a TV view of the race to keep track of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates/nearest competitors, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.Johnson also didn’t want to give his busy crew any reason to think they weren’t going to get the car back on the track. (Crew chief Chad Knaus had told Jimmie a couple of minutes inside the garage: "Hop out of the car, we’re done.") Johnson kept his famous focus, even as he sat there in disbelief over what was happening to his Sprint Cup points lead."I think you have a much better understanding why Chad and I have been so nervous," Johnson told the media. "It’s still out there. There’s no telling what’s gonna happen."Next week at Phoenix. Or the final week at Homestead, Fla.Johnson came into TMS with a cushy 184-point lead over Martin. He leaves with a 73-point advantage, albeit still a healthy lead."The first 20-30 minutes [inside the garage] were pretty painful," Johnson later admitted. "I finally calmed down some and caught my breath."The record for the biggest deficit to be overcome in a Cup series championship with two races to go is 85 points by Alan Kulwicki in 1992. "We have a decent lead … [but] there’s still an ouch to it," said Johnson. "As we saw today, anything can happen. It’s not as bad as it could have been … [but] it’s still a big ouch."This produced one of the most surreal moments in TMS history.
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