An already eventful race took another dramatic turn when a multi-car accident swept up several drivers -- including Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson -- Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Wreck started by Jimmie Johnson knocks out Kevin Harvick, David Ragan
Kevin Harvick and David Ragan were swept into a wreck started when Jimmie Johnson spun rookie Jeb Burton.
The wreck began when a frustrated Johnson tapped the rear of rookie Jeb Burton, who was several laps down. The contact sent Burton spinning and in the aftermath David Ragan ran into the back of Johnson. Harvick, not seeing the incident ahead, slid sideways into Ragan’s stopped car when he attempted to slow down.
Johnson continued after repairs on pit road, while Harvick drove to the garage. Sustaining the most damage, Ragan needed a tow. No drivers were injured.
Bristol recap
Johnson had been involved in an earlier incident with Kurt Busch, who drifted up the track and pushed Johnson into the wall. At the time Johnson was running in the top 10, but lost a lap after incurring damage to the right-rear.
“Sometimes when you race back there with the squirrels, you find the nuts sometimes,” Ragan told Fox Sports. “But that’s just Bristol. You’re racing hard, and (Burton) was a little slower and Jimmie’s probably a little impatient trying to get back to the front and he just touched him there.”
Burton didn’t think Johnson spun him deliberately. He acknowledged his car was slower than Johnson’s and needed to concede the position. But because of Bristol’s tight confines, Burton struggled to move out of the way.
“(Johnson) probably got tight underneath me and got into me and I already had a lot of wheel input in it because I was really tight too,” Burton said. “Everybody was slipping and sliding out there and the last thing we wanted to do was tear up a car.
“He was behind me for a couple laps and I knew he needed to go. Once he got to my door I was going to let him go. You just can’t move over because you’ll lose too much time and go a lap down.”
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