NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Advocare 500

Topics:  Advocare 500

Jimmie Johnson
November 11, 2012

AVONDALE, ARIZONA

Q.  What's your view of the championship now?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  It's way, way out of our control after the problem we had today.  We still have to go to Homestead and race, and anything can happen down there.  But not the position you want to be in leaving Phoenix.  I feel terrible for my team and how hard those guys work at Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe's, Kobalt Tools, Chevrolet, across the board.  There was a huge effort for them just to try to get us a championship, and I just hate for our day to turn out as it did today.  But that's racing, and we'll go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.

Q.  What was going on with the race car and what were you trying to do with it when the accident occurred?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  We were cruising along, and I think we were going to have a top 10‑day, maybe a top‑5 day if things worked out at the end right front.  I had a slight vibration starting in the right front.  I didn't know where it was really coming from, but we know now that it was the right front.  As I was coming off of Turn 4 it went down and straight in the wall it went.
Another 30, 40 feet around the corner I probably would have just had a flat and not hit the wall, but where it let go I had a direct line into the wall and knocked it down.

Q.  Fate usually smiles on you; it didn't seem to that time.
JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No.  That's the way it goes.  Anything can happen in racing.  I'm very proud of the year, I'm very proud of the effort the entire Lowe's team has put in.  I hate to see it potentially end this way, but again, that's racing.  I've been doing this a long time.  I've won a few championships and I've lost a lot.  Losing isn't any fun, but we'll be back next weekend and next year hungrier than ever and do the best we can.