Jimmie Johnson manned up. Saturday the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion met with the media at Phoenix International Raceway to explain what happened that sent his Hendrick Motor Sports Chevy hard into the wall during Friday night’s final round of qualifying.
Johnson was the only car among the four car Hendrick team to make it into the final session of three rounds of qualifying. During the final five minute session he had just put down a quick lap eventual pole winner Kyle Busch to go second when disaster struck. Johnson had some sort issue that prevented him from turning. His Chevy crashed hard into the wall forcing the second red flag of qualifying. Johnson was uninjured but the team was forced to a backup car for Sunday.
Late Friday Johnson Tweeted that his steering wheel had come off.
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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