KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Early in Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup practice session, Jimmie Johnson spun off Turn 4- The five-time champion kept his car off the wall, hitting only the orange commitment cone at the entrance to pit road-
Later in the session, a puff of smoke shot from the right rear of the No- 48 Chevrolet as Johnson drove off Turn 2- Johnson brought the car to the garage, where he crew began diagnosing the problem-
“As I was coming in, I saw some smoke in the mirror, and I could smell it, and it looks like we have an issue with the radiator or something up front,” Johnson said as the crew worked on the car-
“There’s nothing wrong with the engine- It’s certainly a quick scare when you see that blue smoke and the smell that it has- I was pretty nervous-”
Similarly, the earlier spin wasn’t a big deal-
“I just spun out trying real hard on that first sticker run,” Johnson said, “and we got things back under control and the balance in the car- It’s really fast- I’m happy about that-”
Despite the issues, Johnson was third fastest in the practice session behind Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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