DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Ten men in matching black-and-blue jumpsuits surrounded the $250,000 car and readied for surgery. One held a motorized saw. Another yanked his gloves tight. Their job was to bring life back to a car in critical condition. The Daytona 500 was about to restart, with or without the No. 48.
A minute earlier, a tow truck deposited what was left of Jimmie Johnson s Chevrolet into garage stall No. 13 at the Daytona International Speedway . As the truck hauled the car down the road abutting the rest of the garages, a chunk of the right side of Johnson s car fell off. Nobody bothered picking it up. It sat there, a lonely reminder of the fragility of the 3,400-pound machines that hurtle around racetracks at almost 200 mph.
Feb 28, 2012
This was a historic night at Daytona. Rain postponed the 500 to Monday for the first time in its 54-year history, and a morning spit pushed the start time to 7 p.m. The lights brighter than ever, the atmosphere electric despite empty seats, the spirits around the track cranked to 11 for The Great American Race finally in prime time, drivers slinked into their cars sure they d be the one. Daytona does that, an amphetamine for confidence.
And there isn t a current NASCAR as accomplished as Johnson, who won five consecutive titles before finally ceding last season s to . For Johnson, this was a new beginning. He won the 500 in 2006. In the following five tries, he was no better than 27th. Johnson qualified eighth this week. He made it around the first lap without incident.
But before he could reach the first turn a second time, Elliott Sadler , who has run 430 Sprint Cup races, bumped him. Johnson lost control. He spun into the wall. The crash took out David Ragan and Danica Patrick , the glamour draw whose debut at Daytona lasted barely a minute. The yellow flag unfurled.
As doctors examined Johnson to ensure the wreck did no more than shake him up, the car was hustled to the garage. Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec awaited it. They had already barked instructions to their staff. They would need to move fast.
It s like the ER, Malec said. After someone gets into an accident, you clear out the wound, cut it open and find out if she s curable.
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