#48-Jimmie Johnson was the points leader coming into the race at Phoenix, but finished 32nd due to an accident when a right front tire blew with 77 laps to go. The team made reapirs and Johnson returned to the race 33 laps down.
Johnson: ‘We still have to go to Homestead and race and anything can happen down there. But this is not the position we want to be in late in Phoenix. I feel terrible for my team and how hard these guys work; everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools and Chevrolet. Across the board there has been a huge effort put in 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?
Johnson: ‘We were cruising along and I think we would have had a top five day or a top 10 day if things worked out at the end. And I had a slight vibration starting in the right front. I didn ‘t really know where it was coming from but clearly now it was the right front. And as I was coming off of Turn 4, it went down and I went straight in the wall. If I were another 30 or 40 feet around the corner, I probably would just have had a flat and not hit the wall. But, where it let go, I had a direct line to the wall and knocked it down.’
Q) FATE USUALLY SMILES ON YOU, BUT IT DIDN ‘T SEEM TO THAT TIME
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 my 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 and 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 and do the best job we can.’
Q) WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE ON THE RACE TRACK?
Johnson: ‘We blew a tire coming off Turn 4 and I hit the wall real hard and damaged the race car. I think we would have been in the top five maybe at best; maybe 7th or 8th the way the race was unfolding. It’s unfortunate to have the day end like this and potentially end our season and hopes for a championship this way.’
Q) DESCRIBE NOW THE EMOTIONS AND WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE TO DO TO REGROUP TO RALLY BACK WHEN YOU GET TO MIAMI?
Johnson: ‘Well, that’s what this team is made of. We ‘ll always rally and regroup and do all we can. Unfortunately we lost a lot of control or all control in the championship. We can go down there and win the race and do everything on our behalf and it still won ‘t net us a championship. So, we ‘ll go down and do our part and just see how things unfold. Today was proof that anything can happen in this sport and we ‘ll see how things shake out in Miami.’
Q) ON CHAMPIONSHIP:
Johnson: ‘It’s way, way out of our control obviously with the problem we had today. We still have to go to Homestead and race. Anything can happen down there, but not the position we want to be in leaving Phoenix. I feel terrible for my team and how hard these guys work. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe’s, KOBALT Tools, Chevrolet, across the board this has been a huge effort put into this to try to get us a championship. I just hate for our day to turn out as it did today, but that’s racing. We will go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.’(See more quotes by Johnson and other drivers at Team Chevy)(11-12-2012)
