BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jimmie Johnson was leaned against the pit wall at Bristol Motor Speedway, studying a colorful chart, shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn't help but grin.
Just when he thought momentum had begun to swing back in his favor, bad luck reached out and bit him once again. And hard.
Johnson qualified the Lowe's Chevrolet 11th for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, and improved to as high as sixth on the speed chart during the day's second practice before he got loose in Turn 2 and turned sideways down the back straightaway.
Unable to save it, he wrecked near the end of the back straightaway, relegating him to a backup car. The backup car is the one Johnson won in at Darlington earlier this year. Obviously, it's not made to race at Bristol, resulting in some handling issues with the front end.
The No. 48 team installed the engine from the primary car into the backup following Happy Hour, which Johnson finished in eighth position. But per NASCAR rules Johnson will move to the rear of the field during the pre-race pace laps Saturday.
"I just was trying hard, sixth on the board at the time, car was driving good and it looks like, watching the video, touched the track, turned me around and tore the car up," Johnson said.
"It's just crazy. One of these things that's taken place in the last month, when it happens on its own, it's no big deal. But you get four or five of them piled in there it stings."
This marks the fourth consecutive week Johnson has experienced trouble. He's blown engines the past three weeks at Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and Michigan, during which time he's lost 300 points to teammate Jeff Gordon. Heading into Indy, he'd just dominated Pocono and held a 232-point advantage.
He now trails Gordon by 68 points.
Johnson wasn't the only driver to experience trouble during post-qualifying practice. Kasey Kahne qualified second, but slapped the wall near Turn 2 during the second practice.
The No. 9 team won't go to a backup. Team owner Ray Evernham helped the team repair the car Friday, and plans to fly fabricators up Saturday morning to assist. As a result, Kahne will keep his front-row starting spot.
"It pushed up into the wall and I hit coming off turn four," Kahne said. "I didn't think it was that bad, but when I got out and looked it was pretty bad. They'll fix it. It just takes a long time to fix the rear-end housing. We missed the entire last practice because of it, and that doesn't help.
"It was a good car, and I'm sure they'll fix it up as good as new. We've got a good pit and a good starting spot for the race, so we'll just forget about it for now and try to do the best we can Saturday night. I'm still looking forward to it."
Jeff Green led the way in Happy Hour practice, followed by Ward Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and last week's winner, Greg Biffle. Busch, winner of the past three races here, starts 24th Saturday.
Just when he thought momentum had begun to swing back in his favor, bad luck reached out and bit him once again. And hard.
Johnson qualified the Lowe's Chevrolet 11th for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, and improved to as high as sixth on the speed chart during the day's second practice before he got loose in Turn 2 and turned sideways down the back straightaway.
Unable to save it, he wrecked near the end of the back straightaway, relegating him to a backup car. The backup car is the one Johnson won in at Darlington earlier this year. Obviously, it's not made to race at Bristol, resulting in some handling issues with the front end.
The No. 48 team installed the engine from the primary car into the backup following Happy Hour, which Johnson finished in eighth position. But per NASCAR rules Johnson will move to the rear of the field during the pre-race pace laps Saturday.
"I just was trying hard, sixth on the board at the time, car was driving good and it looks like, watching the video, touched the track, turned me around and tore the car up," Johnson said.
"It's just crazy. One of these things that's taken place in the last month, when it happens on its own, it's no big deal. But you get four or five of them piled in there it stings."
This marks the fourth consecutive week Johnson has experienced trouble. He's blown engines the past three weeks at Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and Michigan, during which time he's lost 300 points to teammate Jeff Gordon. Heading into Indy, he'd just dominated Pocono and held a 232-point advantage.
He now trails Gordon by 68 points.
Johnson wasn't the only driver to experience trouble during post-qualifying practice. Kasey Kahne qualified second, but slapped the wall near Turn 2 during the second practice.
The No. 9 team won't go to a backup. Team owner Ray Evernham helped the team repair the car Friday, and plans to fly fabricators up Saturday morning to assist. As a result, Kahne will keep his front-row starting spot.
"It pushed up into the wall and I hit coming off turn four," Kahne said. "I didn't think it was that bad, but when I got out and looked it was pretty bad. They'll fix it. It just takes a long time to fix the rear-end housing. We missed the entire last practice because of it, and that doesn't help.
"It was a good car, and I'm sure they'll fix it up as good as new. We've got a good pit and a good starting spot for the race, so we'll just forget about it for now and try to do the best we can Saturday night. I'm still looking forward to it."
Jeff Green led the way in Happy Hour practice, followed by Ward Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and last week's winner, Greg Biffle. Busch, winner of the past three races here, starts 24th Saturday.
