By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
CONCORD, N.C. – It was quite the eventful day for seven-time NASCAR Champion and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After qualifying for the event fourth, Johnson found himself ultimately starting third. This was due to the fact that teammate Alex Bowman was forced to start at the rear of the field, instead of his second-place qualifying effort after going to his backup car after a crash during practice on Saturday.
Early on Johnson complained of some rear stability problems but found himself consistently running within the Top-5 running order. However, that was all about to change on lap 22 when he was involved in an on-track incident with teammate Alex Bowman and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones, and Denny Hamlin that saw the caution flag being waved early into the 109-lap event.
Johnson found himself finishing stage 1 in the 29th position but crew chief Cliff Daniels told him over the radio, “We’re in good shape Jimmie, everything is repaired and solid.”
33 laps in, Johnson told Daniels he needed more drive off and on lap 37, he had to pit for what appeared to be a possible flat tire. The veteran NASCAR driver would come back however to finish the second stage of the event in a very solid 4th position.
Another mistake would set Johnson back as he missed the chicane and would have to do a stop and go on lap 73. One lap later, Johnson brought his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet down pit road for four tires and fuel.
Even with mistakes through out the race and being caught up in an early incident, Johnson was able to bring it home to a 9th place finish in the Bank of America Roval 400. The finish marks Johnson’s 10th Top-10 of 2019 thus far to go along with three Top-5 finishes in 29 starts.
(Photo: Sarah Handy/Kickin The Tires)
Following the event, Johnson spoke about his day and recovering from the lap 22 spin, “We had the spin, and then twice I flat spotted tires and had to pit out of sequence, so pretty frustrating with myself on those two mistakes. One I think I was running fourth or fifth when I did it, just made too many mistakes but luckily I had a strong enough car to get back to ninth.”
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway next weekend for Sunday’s Drydene 400. The track also known as The Monster Mile is one of Johnson’s best and it’s also the track where he had his last career win in the Spring of 2017. In 35 starts at the track, Johnson has amassed an astounding 11 wins, 17 Top-5s and 24 Top-10 finishes.
When asked about heading to Dover for the next race, Johnson said, “Love that place, can’t wait to get there!”