Video: Massive wreck at Dover halts race
On a restart with 46 of 400 laps remaining, leader Jimmie Johnson failed to come up to speed and it appeared Martin Truex Jr., who was lined up behind him, plowed into the rear of Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet.
That move ignited a massive wreck that ended up collecting 18 cars of the 40-car field, and in the processed knocked several contenders for the win – including Johnson and Kevin Harvick – out of contention.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS: Involved in 18-car accident on Lap 355
AT WHAT POINT DID YOU REALIZE SOMETHING WAS WRONG?
“As soon as I went from second and tried to go to third, I kind of got up into the neutral gate of the transmission and didn’t even go to third. It stopped before it ever went to third. And then I tried fourth and third and fourth and eventually I got hit from behind. There was a long pause there where I was trying to, I thought maybe I missed a shift; but it wouldn’t go in gear. Martin (Truex, Jr.) was good and patient with me. He gave me a couple of opportunities to try to find a gear and it just locked out and wouldn’t go into gear for some reason. It was still that way at the end and I couldn’t drive the car and I don’t think I’m all that damaged, but unfortunately I lost a shot at winning and I hate to see all those cars tore up."
DID YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES EARLIER IN THE RACE?
“No, nothing. And in my career, I’ve never had a transmission do that to me. I’ve had them kind of lock out of reverse at a test session or even in the garage area or something, but to lockout and not go across the gate and then no gear available is something I’ve never had before."
TAKE US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED ON THE RESTART:
“I got a great start in second gear. As I went to put it in third (gear) and came across the shifting gate it never went into third. It actually got locked in the neutral area of the transmission. I had plenty of time. Martin (Truex, Jr.) was plenty patient with me and I was trying to get third and I couldn’t. I tried for fourth and third and fourth and I finally got hit. Just a freak deal with something with the transmission. I’ve never had that happen to me in my career."
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET: Involved in 18-car accident on Lap 355
ON THE IN-CAR CAMERA, WE SAW THAT YOU SHOOK YOUR HAND A LITTLE BIT. ARE YOU OKAY?
“Yeah."
DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED?
“I didn’t. They were just stopping in front of us. I thought I was clear on the outside, but the No. 13 (Casey Mears) got hooked and came into us."
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“They started wrecking way up in front of us. I couldn’t really tell what was going on. I got to the outside and thought we had it missed, but the No. 13 (Casey Mears) came up the track, he got collected in it."
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 CODE 3 ASSOCIATES/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined on lap 342
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
‘We know exactly what happened. Something broke on the rear-end; on the rear-end side of it, not the chassis side. So, when it did that, somehow it punctured the oil tank. So that’s the oil you smell. You can see coming down pit road just going back and forth, left and right. We just broke a track bar."
WE HEARD YOU SAID THE TRACKBAR BROKE WALK US THROUGH THE INCIDENT AND WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED:
“Well, the trackbar broke and the back of the car flops back and forth. I don’t know what more there is to say about that. It just broke. I mean there wasn’t any…we had been fighting, the car was acting weird for the last 80 to 100 laps. I’m sure it was already starting to break and it finally just broke the rest of the way."