By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
It was an uncharacteristic day underneath the hood for Jimmie Johnson and William Byron.
Johnson exited the race on 227 for an oil pump issue, while Byron exited the race on Lap 329 for an engine issue.
At the time of the incident, Johnson was unsure of what the exact issue was. However, after a diagnostic from the team, the cause of the issue was an oil pump.
“It was something about the oil pump, I believe. I’m not sure if it’s through the belt, of something else went on. But, the amount of time it takes to get the engine apart and the oil pump out to put a new one on, it just takes too long. Thankfully, the engine is okay, we think; but it just takes too long to get the oil pump out,” Johnson said shortly after being sent to the garage.
As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the final race of the regular season, Johnson mathematically could be knocked out of the hunt for a record-breaking eighth championship. The goal for the No. 48 team is to minimize mistakes.
“I don’t want to be in this position. We have been around this spot for a while. We have seen it coming. We just need to transfer and honestly, I think our cars are capable of running in the top five. If we can just start minimizing mistakes, my own included, we will be much better off and have a shot,” Johnson stated.
For Byron, the engine began to go south around Lap 329. Ultimately, something broke and sent Byron to the garage.
“Yeah, we blew up. Not really totally sure why or what happened. We started to lose oil pressure the last run or so,” Byron stated.
“Everything seemed to be getting hotter and hotter and kind of accelerating higher and higher temps wise and also oil pressure was kind of flashing at me, which was odd. Yeah, just blew up, but we had a pretty solid day going. The car looked awesome and we will keep working hard.”
Byron was hoping for a 10th or 11th place finish. He ultimately finished 35th, while Johnson finished 29th.