Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/OnPitRoad.com
Jimmie Johnson experienced two uncharacteristic self-spins at Daytona in the Advance Auto Parts Clash on Sunday. The two spins were very similar to spins by his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Chase Elliott, last year while competing at Daytona.
First, while exiting turn four on lap 18, Johnson got loose, turned hard left and clipped the right rear quarter panel of Kurt Busch sending the No. 41 into the outside retaining wall and eventually out of the race. Johnson was fortunate enough to continue relatively unscathed.
The second spin, on lap 50, proved more severe for defending Cup Series champion. Johnson once again got loose in turn four. His No. 48 Chevy quickly turned toward the inside wall, eventually making contact and coming to rest near the entrance of pit road.
“We haven’t talked about it leading into this. I saw Chase (Elliott) really loose a couple of times off of (Turn) 4. We will definitely be aware of it now, but it’s not anything that we planned on having to fight while we were out here.” “I don’t know. I guess last year there were a couple of issues there. It’s so bizarre because the car hasn’t been loose anywhere else.”, Johnson said, referring to the similarities among his team.
The Hendrick team will now begin the process of trying to diagnose the issue. Johnson indicated it could be related to the height of the rear spoiler. “I would have to assume that it is relative to the height of the rear spoiler. When there is less air and the air is so turbulent back there, the spoiler is so small it is real easy to get the pressure off of it and then the back just rotates around.”
When asked for possible solutions, Johnson said, “We can adjust rear shocks, rear ride height and try to get more pitch in the car in a sense to keep the spoiler up in the air longer.”.
The Hendrick cars have been fast over the last several days at Daytona, as evident by placing two cars on the front row for the Daytona 500, but this loose condition could cause them problems and is a potential issue to watch during the remainder of Speedweeks.
