CONCORD, N.C. – Lined up on the front row for the final restart of Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400, Jimmie Johnson had done everything he could to ensure he advanced to the Round of 12 in the playoffs.
By then, he had gained 14 extra points thanks to a sixth-place Stage 1 finish and a runner-up result in Stage 2.
He had avoided a multiple-car incident late in the race and made his way up to second place for a restart with three laps remaining, in position to advance to the Round of 12 on points.
But when he reached the leader’s bumper on the final lap, he made a split-second decision. He wanted to give the No. 48 team the win.
“I was more worried about the win than anything else,” Johnson explained. “I had been so good into that final braking zone, I really felt like I could put some pressure on him and take a shot at it. I got out of the chicane on the back straightaway better than he did and put some pressure on him. Got him loose and off the bottom and I thought that was my chance.”
He carried plenty of speed into the final chicane on the final lap of the race, but he couldn’t control the No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet ZL1 as the rear tires began to lock and create wheel-hop.
Johnson spun through the chicane and collected the leader, Martin Truex Jr., in the spin.
“I knew where I was on the math,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think that I was going to crash or spin trying to overtake him like I did. I thought I was making a calculated move and giving myself the chance to win. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.”
He was able to corral the No. 48 Chevy and come to a complete stop to avoid a penalty for missing the chicane, but by the time he crossed the finish line he had fallen to eighth place.
That left him in a three-way tie in the point standings with Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola.
The tiebreaker was highest finish in the Round of 16. Larson’s second-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Almirola’s fifth-place finish at Richmond allowed them to advance over Johnson, whose highest finish in the round was eighth.
With that, Johnson was eliminated from playoff contention.
“I took myself out of a shot at the championship and obviously affected (Truex’s) day, which I feel bad about,” Johnson said. “I wish I wouldn’t have been so focused on a race win and I could have transferred and kept my championship hopes alive, but we had such a good car and just one of those split-second decisions to race for the win instead of for the points, and it bit me.”
The morning after the race, Johnson took to Twitter to share his thoughts “after sleeping on it.”
“I would only change one thing,” the driver tweeted. “I should’ve added front-brake bias heading into the braking zone. I think we would’ve been door-to-door with the 78 across the (start-finish) line.
“Bring on Dover.”