Johnson wrecks two cars Friday at Darlington Raceway
By Reid Spencer - Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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Tim Parks / NASCAR Scene
DARLINGTON, S.C. - In Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup practice, Jimmie Johnson found out just how treacherous the "new" repaved Darlington Raceway can be.
Just after Johnson's team had fine-tuned the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to his liking, the two-time defending Cup champion banged the Turn 1 wall in Friday's first practice, wrecking his primary car.
After pressing his backup car, chassis No. 465, into service for final practice, Johnson spun again, hitting the inside wall and breaking the front splitter on his Chevy. The team repaired the backup car and re-presented it for inspection before qualifying Friday afternoon.
"I hit the wall in Turn 1," Johnson said of the first accident and the two laps that preceded it. "We worked hard over the night to make some gains, and we ran two of the fastest laps -- those two laps -- and, unfortunately, I crashed on my third [lap].
"But we're very optimistic about the gains we've made, and I'm still trying to understand why we lost it. I lost it early on the straightaway before the corner, so something happened up on the straightaway."
Unfortunately for Johnson, no one found the answer before the final practice.
"I almost hit the wall, so when I was trying to pull it off the wall over here [in Turn 2], I just kind of spun it out to miss the wall, and I just brushed the inside of the wall. But it's just some cosmetic stuff, so we're cool.
"The splitter - I just barely grazed it, so the splitter must have caught on something. But we won't go to another backup. We'll be using that car, and we'll be fine."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jimmie Johnson
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