Jimmie Johnson wrecks on 3rd lap in Texas

Sun Nov 8, 3:05 PM EST
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NASCAR crew members roll Jimmie Johnson's car into the garage area after an ...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Jimmie Johnson crashed on the third lap of the NASCAR race at Texas, where he was trying to move closer to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup season championship.

The series points leader was coming out of the Turn 2 on the third lap Sunday when Sam Hornish got loose and made contact.

Johnson scraped the outside wall and appeared to possibly save his car before he was hit again by Hornish. That knocked Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet hard into the inside wall.

There was heavy damage to both cars.

Crew members were working to replace the front and rear suspensions of Johnson's car, and making other repairs. It looked like a makeshift body shop in the garage area, with crew members from teammate Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. helping out. All were scurrying around a car that was basically being rebuilt.

Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, slammed his fist on the team's pit box when the accident happened. A few minutes later, he could be heard on the radio calmly telling his crew to take their time and get it right.

Johnson came into the race with a 184-point lead over teammate Mark Martin and 192 over Gordon, the polesitter, though he could not have clinched Sunday even with a victory. There are two races left after Texas.

The Associated Press