#48-Jimmie Johnson was leading Sunday’s FordEcoBoost 400 at Homestead when he came in for a pit stop with 54 laps remaining in the race. ‘We were in position and putting the pressure on the 2 car like we needed to,’ Johnson said. That all changed in a heartbeat on Lap 213 when Johnson came in for what he hoped would be his final stop on pit road. The race lead ‘ and Johnson’s championship hopes ‘ were initially dashed when a member of his pit crew failed to secure a lug nut on one of his tires after changing it. As if the subsequent pass-through penalty he had to serve for the missing lug nut wasn ‘t damaging enough, Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure just 13 laps later that doomed his chances for good. He ended up completing just 224 of the race’s 267 laps and finishing 36th ‘ while Keselowski secured his first Cup championship by finishing 15th. ‘When I returned to the track, I could smell gear oil. And my experience is you never smell your own, you smell someone else’s. But clearly I was smelling mine,’ Johnson said.(NASCAR.com)(11-21-2012)
