Sunoco Pit Move of the Week: Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Jimmie Johnson was one of the few cars that had the potential to stay with Matt Kenseth at Las Vegas, but a pit accident on lap 40 introduced a multitude of problems.

SUNOCO PIT MOVE  Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Lepage collide on pit road.

On the first pit stop of the day, Johnson and Kevin Lepage collided on pit road. Johnson's car didn't suffer much damage -- just some bent metal on the right front -- but the loss of track position was devastating.

Johnson did his best to rally. He stayed on the lead lap, but his car simply didn't work as well in traffic as it had out front.

Even so, 100 laps later, crew chief Chad Knaus felt good about his chances at a top-five run.

"We're back in the game now," Knaus radioed to his driver and crew. "All we need now is one more (good) stop."

But Johnson's car continued to struggle on the long runs. On lap 202, Johnson asked for track position, and Knaus put on just two tires.

The change elevated to Johnson to third place, but he didn't stay there long. With his left-side tires already 67 laps old, Johnson didn't stand much of a chance against the rest of the cars on the lead lap.

He wound up 16th, the next-to-last car on the lead lap.