CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 24: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Patriotic Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Jimmie Johnson disqualified from Coca-Cola 600; NASCAR inspection issues
Shane Walters
Johnson finished 2nd in the 600-mile NASCAR race; He’ll be credited with 40th
On Sunday night, the NASCAR Cup Series unloaded in Charlotte, NC. The race is a 400-lap event, the longest race in the sport.
Jimmie Johnson qualified outside pole position for Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch set the pole position.
After qualifying, the cars were impounded by NASCAR officials. Teams were allowed minimal adjustments to the cars ahead of the race later that night.
Jimmie Johnson got loose early in stage 1 and dropped outside the top 10 as he lifted the throttle saved it from smacking the wall. In stage two, he climbed back to 10th.
By the end of stage three, Johnson moved back to 4th. He was back in the running for the race lead.
With just 2 laps to go, William Byron spun to bring out a caution. This sent NASCAR’s longest race into overtime. The extra maps officially made Sunday’s race the longest in the history of NASCAR, distance wise.
Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr and other elected to pit. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and about 9 others, stayed out on the track.
As they went back green, Johnson held 2nd and was all over Keselowski for the race win. He came up just short, finishing 2nd.
It was an up and down night for Johnson. But, the No. 48 team rallied to a decent finish.
Jimmie Johnson fails post-race tech at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Unfortunately, the night has taken another steep dive for Jimmie Johnson. The No. 48 failed post-race inspection and the team has been disqualified.
NASCAR introduced a post-race tech process last year. That gives fans a clear answer on the race winner, within hours.
Previously, NASCAR would take cars back to the R&D Center for a tear-down evaluation. They’d then have the official results by Tuesday-Wednesday, when those tear downs were complete.
Inspection now takes place at the race track itself. Now, at 2am, we’ve been informed of the disqualification of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports machine.
The race was delayed by rain in stage 1. That pushed the finish of NASCAR’s longest race, right at midnight.
So, why did Johnson fail post race tech inspection?
Per the NASCAR release, “Officials said that the No. 48 car failed the Optical Scanning Station (OSS) portion of the technical inspection after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Johnson and the team were relegated to a last-place finish in the 40-car field.”
Specifically, Johnson failed the rear-end alignment portion of the OSS.
Jay Fabian, NASCAR Cup Series director
“The 48 ran strong tonight all night. I hate it for them. They had a good car, performed well,” NASCAR Cup Series director Jay Fabian said.
“But yeah, the allowance is built in for parts that move. There’s an allowance for that. But if parts break, you know, the number is the number. There is no real parameter outside of that.”
“There’s parts in the past that have been designed to failure break. Certainly not suggesting that’s the case here. But that’s what’s gotten us to this hard line of this is a post‑race number and there is a fair tolerance from pre‑race numbers to post,” Fabian concluded.
Race winner Brad Keselowski cleared post-race inspection. He is the official winner of the event.
Johnson will be officially credited with a 40th place finish, last. He will also forfeit all 11 stage points he earned throughout the night.
Cliff Daniels, No. 48 crew chief comments on disqualification
“Disappointed about our post-race OSS. We think something must’ve broken but won’t know until we get it back to the shop tomorrow and can diagnose,” Daniels stated via twitter.
He added, “Tough news after a strong night. This team is getting stronger We are focused forward. We’ll be back Wednesday with another great car.