Cup Series Archives - Beating and Banging

Jimmie Johnson Gets Heated and Drops F-Bomb Talking About Legacy Motor Club Teammate During Duels

kyle — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 22:26:56 +0000

Jimmie Johnson is a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and the GOAT in the eyes of many. But all those achievements came while driving the No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports. Driving the No. 84 for Legacy Motor Club, which he co-owns, is a different number that comes with a much different perspective.

The two-time Daytona 500 champion has never had to sweat out qualifying and running in the Duels to secure a spot in the Great American Race. On Thursday, he did just that and it came with some tension-filled moments late in the race after the NASCAR Hall of Famer was involved in an incident with 10 laps to go and dropped to the back of the field.

On the subsequent restart with six laps remaining, Johnson knew he had to pass the other open car, the No. 44 of JJ Yeley, to secure a spot in the 500. Just as the cars approached the green flag to resume action, the driver made a request of his spotter.

@JimmieJohnson qualified for the Daytona 500 but there were some tension-filled moments during his Duels race, including him desperately trying to get help from his Legacy Motor Club teammate @Erik_Jones. pic.twitter.com/XZqXudU4NH
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) February 16, 2024

“Erik can help me a ton here,” Johnson said over the team radio, referring to the No. 43 LMC car driven by Erik Jones, which was six cars in front but in the outside lane.

“I’m sure they’re telling him,” his spotter replied.

After taking the green and hard racing with Yeley for a couple of laps, the 48-year-old had another request.

“Need Erik to drag back,” Johnson suggested.

“They’re working on it,” his spotter assured him. “Burdett’s telling him. I told him.”

Just 30 seconds later, being unable to gain ground, the veteran driver’s frustrations boiled over.

“I need f****** help!” he called out.

A minute later, Johnson again mentioned needing “help from the 43.”

Johnson Relieved to Qualify for Daytona 500 After Tension-Filled Moments

In the end, Jones didn’t provide help to Johnson. On that final lap, the No. 84 battled back and forth with the No. 44, falling behind in the first half of the trip around the 2.5-mile circuit, but then in the final couple hundred yards, taking advantage of cars stacking up in the outside lane and Yeley taking avoidance measures and moving up the track, slipping by on the inside to take the checkered flag in 12th position. Yeley finished 16th.

Just minutes after his heated words over the team radio, Johnson expressed relief and appreciation at the same time in his post-race interview.

“I’ve never been in a position like this before,” he told Fox’s Jamie Little. “I have such a great appreciation for everyone before me that’s tried to race their way in. Although there’s only six more cars, I know at one time there were many more. It’s very stressful. Very thankful that we got this Carvana Toyota in the race.”

Could Johnson’s newfound appreciation for his experience in the Duels provide him with extra motivation to win his third Harley J. Earl Trophy? We’ll find out on Sunday.

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Ryan Blaney Justifiably Upset, Cusses on National Television After Violent Crash in Duel

kyle — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 22:03:53 +0000

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Ryan Blaney has been smiling a lot since arriving in Daytona, and justifiably so after closing out the 2023 campaign in Phoenix hoisting the NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy. If momentum wasn’t enough, heading into Daytona, the Team Penske was already viewed as a favorite due to his previous success on superspeedways, including a win in the Summer 2021 race, and a pair of runner-up finishes at the Great American Race in 2017 and 2020.

Blaney competed in Duel 2 and was running sixth with 15 laps to go and in position to secure a solid qualifying spot for the Sunday race. However, as is often the case at the 2.5-mile track, one wrong move and it can all become chaotic in the blink of an eye. And that’s exactly what happened when the 30-year-old fell victim to superspeedway racing with multiple cars stacking up, and his No. 12 getting right-rear hooked by William Byron and taking a hard right, violently slamming into the outside wall. Moments later, flames came out from under the hood as it slid down the track to a slow stop.

“I gotta get out. I’m on fire,” Blaney said over his team radio.

After a visit to the infield care center, the champion visited with Fox’s Josh Sims and didn’t attempt to hide his frustration.

“I saw the replay and it looks like a terrible push. Once again got to be right-reared into the wall. I don’t know who it was, who it stems from,” he said while watching a replay. “The six (Brad Keselowski) is into the back of the No. 8 (Kyle Busch), the eight’s lifting and I get hooked. Shitty pushes by people three times in a row at Daytona I got a wrecked race car. I’m getting pretty sick of getting right-reared by someone’s awful push.”

Blaney Victimized With Another Big Hit at Summer 2023 Daytona Race

Blaney referenced three times in a row. The latest incident came at the August 2023 race when he was once again running up front and got a bad push by Ty Gibbs onto his right rear, which sent the No. 12 shooting up the track, where he suffered a massive hit and replays showed the SAFER Barrier bending and absorbing much of the energy from the blow.

A short time later and after his mandatory visit to the infield care center, Blaney spoke with reporters and praised the safety of the car.

Ryan Blaney on how he is feeling and how he was wearing a mouthpiece that recorded data for NASCAR and consultants at Wake Forest to analyze. According to NASCAR, his Daytona wreck was among the five hardest hits when it comes to G-forces in NASCAR races this year. pic.twitter.com/nZNbt2f9Ea

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 31, 2023

“Yeah, that was large,” he said. “Big testament of the new front clips. That would have hurt a lot more if we didn’t have the new front clip on it. So that’s a positive about that. Still pretty hard.”

Blaney has individually proven multiple times over the last year the improved safety of the Next Gen car with the previously-mentioned impacts, plus the one he suffered at Nashville last year when he unexpectedly and unfortunately found a section of the track that didn’t have SAFER barrier, and he was vocal about it afterward, even acknowledging days later before the Chicago race that there was some concern about him making the race due to him suffering concussion-like symptoms.

Years from now, looking back on his career, the Penske driver will be able to reflect and he’ll undoubtedly remember this portion of it for the big hits with a Cup Series title sandwiched in between.

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