Hendrick Motorsports said Tuesday defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is feeling ‘much better’ after suffering from dehydration at Richmond. A spokeswoman also said crew chief Chad Knaus found nothing wrong in the car that would have caused Johnson’s dehydration. The six-time NASCAR champion was assisted to the infield medical center following his eighth-place finish Saturday night. Johnson was lying down next to his car after the race and was helped by his crew to a golf cart. He spent nearly 90 minutes in the care center and needed 5 liters of intravenous fluids and said after he wasn’t sure what caused the dehydration. Johnson plans to fulfill all his obligations this week associated with NASCAR’s promotion of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Johnson has a full slate of media activities planned for Wednesday in New York, then again on Thursday in Chicago.(Associated Press)(9-9-2014)
UPDATE: Jimmie Johnson said the cooling system for his helmet was blowing warm air and that likely caused his dehydration following last week’s race at Richmond. Johnson said the issue with his cooling system was discovered by his Hendrick Motorsports team on Tuesday. ‘It’s nice to have a good idea as to what went wrong and why I got so hot in the race car,’ he said in quotes provided by Hendrick Motorsports. ‘It’s a newer system that we’ve implemented, so we’re just going back to our old faithful system that’s worked for years and years. We should have the problem rectified.’ The team earlier Tuesday said crew chief Chad Knaus did not discover anything wrong with the car itself. Johnson said he’s feeling much better and traveled late Tuesday to New York to begin media obligations for the beginning of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.(Associated Press)(9-10-2014)
