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FONTANA, Calif. — Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson did not make a qualifying attempt for Sunday’s Auto Club 400, the team announced late Friday afternoon just before qualifying was to begin at the 2-mile track.
Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was involved in a single-car incident during practice and the team opted to bring out a backup car. Work on the car was not completed in time for him to turn any laps in the final practice and his Hendrick Motorsports team decided not to participate in qualifying with the car untested.
“We had a tough practice session and mid-pack was probably going to be our goal anyway so to take our lumps here at a track that’s really wide with a lot of lanes, a long race … we’ll take our lumps and get the car right,” Johnson said. “We’ll take advantage of the precious minutes we’ll have in Saturday’s practice session and go from there.
“Pit road is going to be a problem,” the six-time California winner conceded. “We’re not going to have a good pick there. We’re definitely not in a position we want to be in, so we’re going to take the time now and make sure we get everything right, get the car right.”
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Said No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus: “I just felt it was wiser to get the car prepared correctly rather than qualify poorly. I wasn’t comfortable putting Jimmie in a position where he would have to hustle a car that he hasn’t turned a lap in yet.
“We are all the way out here on the west coast, and brought two race cars. If we were to crash this car, we would have to pull a car from a teammate and it would be a very difficult obstacle to overcome. We want to be prepared to put the best race car on the track for our driver, Lowe’s, Chevrolet and all of our sponsors. So, we are going to take the time to do that by working on it this afternoon.”
Johnson will start 37th for Sunday’s race, but he did not seem overly concerned. He started last in the 2016 season finale at Miami and rallied to win the race and his record-tying seventh Cup title.
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“If I was to tear this car up again in qualifying we’d be heading next door to the 88 team to get their backup car, put a wrap on it, change (the) interior,” Johnson said. “We just felt it best to get everything right and get prepared for (Saturday). We’ll start from the tail end, but I think my history shows I can make up plenty of spots, pass plenty of cars.
“We’ll just make it exciting coming back.”