Jimmie Johnson spins, wrecks early at Kentucky – Nascar

Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson spun and hit the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 31 of 267 in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, one of multiple wrecks in the race.

For Johnson it was the second time during the race weekend that the No. 48 Chevrolet SS found the wall at the 1.5-mile track. Johnson wrecked during practice on Friday and had to go to a backup car for Saturday’s race.

Johnson has two victories this season, but they came early at Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway. He has just one top-10 finish in the past eight Sprint Cup races.

His best finish at Kentucky came in the series’ inaugural race in 2011, when he finished third.

After heading to the garage, Johnson returned to the race on Lap 75, 42 laps down from the leaders. He finished in 32nd place.

Johnson wasn’t the only driver to experience trouble, either. Joey Logano (Lap 53) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Lap 10) spent time in the garage after smacking the wall. Logano finished 39th and Stenhouse was 40th.

“You’re trying to slow down a lot and the brakes started going away and I don’t know what happened after that, if a rotor blew up or what made the tire go down, but the right-front went flat and I was pretty much along for the ride after that,” Logano said.

Rookies Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney ended up in the garage as well (Lap 87) after making contact, and the caution came out again on Lap 93 for a wreck on the backstretch involving the Nos. 7, 10, 34, 42, 44, 47, 95 and 98. Elliott finished in 31st place, and Blaney was 35th.

Cautions also came out for wrecks involving the Nos. 83, 7, 10, 15, 47 and 38 cars.

After his hard crash on Lap 170, AJ Allmendinger, driver of the JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet SS, emerged from the infield care center with a wrap on his left forearm/wrist. Allmendinger finished in 36th place.