Jimmie Johnson triggers 18-car pileup at Dover

When Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet stalled on a restart Sunday at Dover International Speedway, what erupted was the kind of big wreck that normally occurs on a restrictor-plate track.

Johnson was positioned in the outside lane alongside leader Matt Kenseth as the AAA 400 Drive for Autism restarted on Lap 354. But as Johnson began to accelerate and shift from second gear to third, his shifter became locked, slowing the No. 48 car suddenly. And with the field aligned in two rows, those behind Johnson had little visibility and maneuverability and begin piling into one another.

“Just a freak deal with something with the transmission,” Johnson said. “I’ve never had that happen to me in my career.”

“Unfortunately, I lost a shot at winning and I hate to see all those cars tore up.”

In the aftermath a total of 18 cars received damage of some kind, including Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Due to the amount of carnage scattered across the frontstretch, NASCAR stopped the race to allow track workers to clean up the accident. The red flag was displayed for 11 minutes, 22 seconds.

“When you are stacked up on the restart like that there isn’t much to be able to see at all,” Logano said. “I tried checking up and going to the bottom like we were going to miss it and got hit from behind and that sent me into it more.”

Truex and Harvick, who started on the pole and led a race-high 117 laps, had two of the fastest cars and were both able to continue though neither factored in the outcome. Truex salvaged a ninth-place result, Harvick finished 15th.

For Truex, the outcome was a continuation of a frustrating season that has seen him contend for victories several times yet not be able to break through. He finished second to Denny Hamlin in the closest finish in Daytona 500 history (0.010 seconds), led the most laps last month at Texas Motor Speedway only to finish sixth when pit strategy backfired and dominated a week ago at Kansas Speedway but fell to 14th when a part of a wheel assembly came apart during a late pit stop.

“I don’t know when our luck will change, all I know is that we’re bringing really fast cars to the track and contending for the win,” Truex said. “It’s got to turn around, we’re too good of a team not to have a victory by now.”

Of those who were unable to continue, they were evaluated and released from the infield care center. Aric Almirola was the only driver injured, believing he may have broken the pinkie finger on his left hand.

“It just stinks we all got stacked up like that,” Almirola said. “I banged up my hand. I think I may have a broken finger, it is pretty sore and swollen.”