Jimmie Johnson’s day at the Echopark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday could not have gone worse.
Johnson announced in November that he would be driving in a select amount of Cup Series races this season, including the Daytona 500. The 7-time Cup Series champion finished 31st at the Daytona 500 in February. His next race came Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and it went poorly.
On the first lap, Brad Keselowski spun Chris Buescher, who then clipped Ty Dillon. Dillon started to spin and caught Johnson’s No. 84 Chevrolet, which was trying to move out of the way.
Jimmie Johnson is done for the day early at COTA. https://t.co/uus82XRSbs pic.twitter.com/yTCiUAkrnM
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 26, 2023
Dillon was unable to continue, while Johnson’s No. 84 wasn’t able to beat the damaged vehicle clock and had to exit the race with a 38th-place finish.
The No. 84 has their 7 minute DVP clock expire and will not resume the race. pic.twitter.com/ftC3P2B3Gr
— LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (@LEGACYMotorClub) March 26, 2023
Johnson said that the contact broke his suspension. He addressed the poor result after the race.
"It's really disappointing … Sadly, we didn't take one lap under green."- Jimmie Johnson's day comes to an end at COTA.@ReganSmith | https://t.co/82cGlF9XJq pic.twitter.com/5yzJ0N22TK
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 26, 2023
“It’s really disappointing, but it comes with racing. It’s part of it. … We’re back around the wreck and know those things can happen,” Johnson said afterwards.
That’s a really unlucky finish for Johnson, who was driving in just his second Cup Series race this season. It’s fair to wonder whether Johnson will add another race to his schedule to make up for the brutal finish at COTA.
