Johnson blunders in late charge on ‘roval’
CONCORD, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson saw an opportunity to snap a losing streak that has lasted more than a year, so he went for the win.
His miscalculated move cost him a shot at a record-breaking eighth NASCAR Cup Series championship by knocking him out of the playoffs, and it allowed Ryan Blaney to steal a surprise victory Sunday in the debut race of the “roval” course at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Had Johnson simply settled for second, he’d be part of the 12-driver field with seven races to go. Instead, he collided with Martin Truex Jr. and wound up in a three-way tie for the final transfer position into the second round of the playoffs. The seven-time season champion was eliminated on a tiebreaker.
“I knew where I was on the math,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think that I was going to crash or spin trying to overtake him like I did. I thought I was making a calculated move and giving myself the chance to win, and unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way.”
The roval was a unique combination of speedway and infield road course created to improve the racing at CMS. The unusual layout and unfamiliarity made it a treacherous circuit for the 16-driver playoff field because it was an elimination race for four of the contenders.
The competition was unexpectedly clean until the end, which was marked by two different wrecks among the leaders and a red-flag period of almost 15 minutes. The chaotic close made for a suspenseful post-race period in which NASCAR had to review the results and break the tie between Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson and Johnson.
Almirola and Larson advanced, both by picking up desperation points on the final lap. Eliminated along with Johnson were 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon plus Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones.
Blaney had hovered around the cutoff line most of the race, but the Team Penske driver stunningly wound up the winner with an automatic berth into the next three-race round of the playoffs.
“I didn’t expect that. Sometimes it is better to have a little bit of luck on your side,” Blaney said. “You hate to see two guys take each other out, especially two of the best cars all day.”
The two best cars actually belonged to Larson and Brad Keselowski, one of Blaney’s Penske teammates.
Keselowski was on track to win for the fourth time in five races until he misjudged the entry into the first turn on a restart with six laps remaining. It triggered a multi-car accident that collected Larson, who had led 47 laps. Keselowski’s race ended after he had led 29 laps.
Kyle Busch also was in the accident and mocked his fellow drivers for their error.
“All of us are just stupid and don’t know where to brake,” Busch said. “We all just drove off into a 90-degree wall because I guess we didn’t have anything better to do.”
Larson, meanwhile, had to limp a wounded race car around the track for the final laps to cling to his spot in the playoffs. His fate also was determined in the final few turns when he passed the stalled car of Jeffery Earnhardt.
“I couldn’t even drive my car, it was so destroyed,” Larson said. “He was like 100 feet from the start/finish line, and I could see him (Earnhardt) creeping, and I was like, ‘Don’t go, don’t go!’”
Johnson should have been content following Truex across the finish line and moving on in the playoffs. But he was at the track where he once was virtually unbeatable, where he won eight points races on the oval — and he saw the opening Sunday to win for the first time in 52 races.
Johnson tried to dive inside and pass Truex with two turns remaining but ended up in a spin. Johnson collected Truex, who spun off course, Johnson’s car came to a stop and Blaney scooted past for the surprise victory.
Johnson wound up eighth and out of the playoffs. He stood silently next to his car for several minutes as NASCAR reviewed the final sequence and updated the standings.
“I was more worried about the win than anything else,” Johnson said. “We were in a transfer position and didn’t get it. Just going for the win. The wins are so important, and the veteran could have taken the safe route and didn’t.”
Truex, who technically was going for a repeat victory at the race because he won on the oval last fall at CMS, faded to 14th and deliberately spun Johnson after the race.
“Last-corner desperation behind us. He just overdrove it and was never going to make it and used me as brakes and turned us both around,” Truex fumed. “It sucks. We could have raced side by side off the last corner for a win, and that would have been cool.
“The fans would have been digging it, but instead we finished 14th and he’s locked out of the playoffs. I guess that’s what he gets.”