Johnson's crash tightens Chase race in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jimmie Johnson's seemingly inevitable march toward his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title was thrust into doubt on the third lap Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Contact with Sam Hornish Jr. sent Johnson into the wall on the backstretch, and the No. 48 car sustained major damage that required a comprehensive rebuild in the garage area. Johnson started the race with a 184-point advantage on the field with only three events remaining in the season, with a chance to clinch the championship next weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. The wreck changed all that, cutting a substantial chunk out of his lead in the immediate aftermath of the accident.

Race Video

• Johnson slams Texas wall
• No. 48 crew gets some help

Johnson was racing high through Turn 2 when Hornish, driving below him, appeared to wiggle from slight contact from David Reutimann. Hornish slid up the track and into Johnson, who wobbled and brushed the outside wall, but appeared to have the car saved -- until he and Hornish made contact once again. This time there was no correcting it, and Johnson's car rocketed down into the backstretch wall and sustained major damage.

"I got hit by the No. 00 [car of Reutimann] and was trying to catch it, and then got into Jimmie. I feel bad for him, because I didn't want to take him out," Hornish said. "It's an unfortunate set of circumstances. Obviously, you don't ever want to detract from the championship when you're really not even involved in it."

The scene in the garage afterward was frenetic, with up to a dozen Hendrick Motorsports crewmen scurrying around the No. 48 at any given point. Mechanics from other Hendrick teams leapt in to lend tools or help out. Crew chief Chad Knaus calmly surveyed the damage, and on the radio ordered piece by piece to be replaced -- quarterpanels, drive shaft, rear decklid, even the rear wing. Pieces of damaged sheet metal were laid out on the concrete behind the garage stall, while crewman sprinted back and forth to the transporter and the crash cart to retrieve replacements.

The repair process was still in its early stages when the caution period started by Johnson's crash ended, and the race went green again. As the No. 48 team raced to get the car back on the race track and salvage whatever points were possible, teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon ran near the front, and early in the event had each whittled the difference in the championship race to less than 100 points.

After more than an hour in the garage area, the No. 48 finally rolled back onto the race track 112 laps down. The car's front and rear portions were covered in black replacement pieces, and Johnson's lead had been reduced to 84 on Martin and 91 on Gordon.