In a major shakeup early in Sunday's Dickies 500, Sprint Cup Series points leader and three-time champion Jimmie Johnson wrecked on lap 3 off the Texas Motor Speedway Turn 2, sustaining heavy damage to the No. 48 car.
David Reutimann appeared to get Sam Hornish loose, who then clipped Johnson's car. Johnson spun and temporarily to saved the car, but he again ran into Hornish and then slammed the inside wall.
The No. 48 car sustained heavy damage and went immediately to the garage. Members of both the No. 48 team and several from Jeff Gordon's No. 24 team hurried to assist.
As soon as the car hit the garage, crew chief Chad Knaus started circling it to assess the damage and to begin to assign repair roles to his team members. The crew plans to change the rear end and front suspensions, as well as other key parts.
With Johnson in the garage, the points race for the championship has dramatically changed. With Gordon in the lead and Mark Martin currently running in the 12th spot, Johnson would be leading Gordon by 31 points and Mark Martin by 84 points.
"No one wants to see that happen," said Martin's crew chief Alan Gustafson. "That happened to us last week at Talladega and it's a terrible feeling."
"I hate it for those guys and its tough to get taken out of the race early like that."
You can post a comment
below or read more of
Mary Jo Buchanan's stories here.
