By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Jimmie Johnson was able to overcome adversity on Saturday night at Richmond Raceway in the Federated Auto Parts 400.
During the race, Johnson was busted with a speeding penalty on pit road and lost the in-car adjustable trackbar in the middle of the event.
“We overcame the speeding penalty and my trackbar adjuster quit working. I was really limited on the adjustments in the car, especially here when you need the trackbar high to get started and lower over the course of the run. I just had to just deal with it,” Johnson said post-race.
Despite having those issues, Johnson was impressed with the run he had at Richmond but expected to finish closer to the front of the field.
“That was a good run. I think we were from fourth to eighth. That was the window of where we could have finished. We could’ve been a little bit better. We could’ve been better, but a nice top-10 finish and hopefully we moved up and got out of that cut group and go to the ROVAL and survive,” he added.
When Johnson found out that he was actually still in position to be eliminated, his tone changed
“That sucks. We did well. We have to go there and have a great day. That is all there is to it,” he added.
Going into the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, Johnson finds himself 14th in the standings, only needing six points to avoid elimination.