Sunday’s Real Heroes 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway was a historic day for NASCAR.
After sitting idle for nearly 70 days because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the engines roared back to life for 293 laps of racing around one of NASCAR’s finest race tracks but without the luxury of their biggest cheering sections, the fans.
But even with the awkwardness of an eerie quiet garage and a deserted pit road, when the command was given to roar the engines of 40 race cars, the empty feeling of what we didn’t have was replaced with the vibe and excitement as if it was the season-opening Daytona 500.
Brad Keselowski won the pole in a qualifying draw, but the real story in the early part of the race was Hendrick Motorsports.
Whether it was Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway winner Alex Bowman, Johnson’s iconic No. 48 Chevrolet, or the other buckaroos of Chase Elliott or William Byron, the four-car powerhouse came to Darlington to play.
Play hard.
Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is craving to be a constant frontrunner on Sundays while hungry for a return visit back to Victory Lane, a once familiar place that the El Cajon, Calif. native that has eluded him for nearly three years.
And during the closing laps of Stage 1 at Darlington, the veteran Johnson maximized his Darlington experience and overtook Byron for the race lead and appeared to be setting sail to just his third career NASCAR Cup Series stage win since the introduction of the system in 2017.
But then the unthinkable happened, Johnson wrecked.
And for an instant second, the world stopped in shock.
On the final lap of Stage 1, Johnson was attempting to lap Chris Buescher when Johnson’s Chevrolet made contact with the left-rear fender of Buescher’s Ford. The contact sent Johnson’s automobile sideways and careening to the inside backstretch wall.
The damage ended Johnson’s 22nd race at the track dubbed Too Tough To Tame and a distant 38th place finish.
Johnson said he wished he could have had a do-over.
“Gosh, what I would do to get that corner back to do it over again,” said Johnson.
“Coming to the end of the stage, I was just trying to make sure I got a good run off of turn two. I felt like I was going to be able to exit the corner side-by-side with him, things just went horribly wrong there. What a great car, I feel terrible for my team and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.”
Johnson finished 38th — but the finish was not all for naught.
You could blame the accident on Johnson, you could point the finger at Buescher, but the outcome will not change.
And while Johnson sits 12th in the championship standings after the fifth race of the year, there is plenty for Johnson Nation to look forward too.
For a handful of laps on Sunday, you would have thought that Johnson was back with Chad Knaus and the duo was back to mastering their craft while leaving the rest of the competition in the dust.
Instead, Johnson perhaps is giving the competition only an inkling of what to expect for the rest of 2020 with crew chief Cliff Daniels – whose bond only continues to accelerate both on and off the track.
For nine precious laps on Sunday, Johnson looked like the man that could not easily be broken let alone forced into making a mistake.
But things do happen. It’s racing. You pick up the pieces and move on.
Though for Johnson, Daniels and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, Wednesday’s 500k race at Darlington is not just about a rebound – it is about making a statement.
A damning statement from 38th place – his finishing position in Sunday afternoon’s race.
And the whole world will be watching again hoping they can deliver.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) May 17, 2020
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
