UNB! NETWORK STAFF REPORT
During the 6th caution in this past Sunday's Bojangles' Southern 500, Jimmie Johnson pulled down pit road in a way that had his teammate Jeff Gordon upset.
Right after Gordon saw Johnson dart down pit road, Gordon said "They better penalize that 48 for what he did coming onto pit road. I hate to tell on him, but there's just no way. They were being very specific in the drivers' meeting about where to turn on the banking."
"The topography of the track is very unique," Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, said yesterday evening on FOX Sports 1's "NASCAR Race Hub" show. "Where the apron actually starts and where you pull down is different. You think the apron is really, really huge and that's why Kyle (Busch) got in trouble qualifying for the XFINITY race."
Busch's qualifying time was disallowed due to a blend line violation.
But as for Johnson, he was not penalized. NASCAR gave him a warning, and that was the end of that situation.
The six-time series champion spun out on Lap 133, bringing out the seventh caution of the race. Knaus explained the spin on the show as well.
"We had to be aggressive at that point. Obviously, we spun out. We lost a set of tires right here. That was very early in that run that that spin took place after Jeff was yelling at us. And we had to come down pit road, put on another set of tires. Moved up through the field relatively quickly at that point. Put us a set of tires behind, which in the end really hurts us.
"When we got to that third to last caution on Lap 301, we had to make a decision. Either put on a set of scuffs or a set of stickers. The runs had been really short at that time and we opted to put on a set of scuffs and of course we had the longest run of the race right there and actually got lapped and it was a big mess."
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| A screenshot of the incident as Johnson darted down pit road in the 2015 Bojangles' Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. |
Right after Gordon saw Johnson dart down pit road, Gordon said "They better penalize that 48 for what he did coming onto pit road. I hate to tell on him, but there's just no way. They were being very specific in the drivers' meeting about where to turn on the banking."
"The topography of the track is very unique," Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, said yesterday evening on FOX Sports 1's "NASCAR Race Hub" show. "Where the apron actually starts and where you pull down is different. You think the apron is really, really huge and that's why Kyle (Busch) got in trouble qualifying for the XFINITY race."
Busch's qualifying time was disallowed due to a blend line violation.
But as for Johnson, he was not penalized. NASCAR gave him a warning, and that was the end of that situation.
The six-time series champion spun out on Lap 133, bringing out the seventh caution of the race. Knaus explained the spin on the show as well.
"We had to be aggressive at that point. Obviously, we spun out. We lost a set of tires right here. That was very early in that run that that spin took place after Jeff was yelling at us. And we had to come down pit road, put on another set of tires. Moved up through the field relatively quickly at that point. Put us a set of tires behind, which in the end really hurts us.
"When we got to that third to last caution on Lap 301, we had to make a decision. Either put on a set of scuffs or a set of stickers. The runs had been really short at that time and we opted to put on a set of scuffs and of course we had the longest run of the race right there and actually got lapped and it was a big mess."
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