CUP: Jimmie Johnson wrecks out hard as competitive Kansas race boils over

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Jimmie Johnson picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at the Kansas Speedway when his #84 Advent Health Toyota crashed out after completing 175 of 268 laps.

The finish, which came in Johnson’s 693rd series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since May 29, 2023 at Charlotte, 34 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 13th for the #84, the 189th for Toyota, and the 667th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 28th for the #84, the 409th for Toyota, and the 1,374th from a crash.

Johnson’s last feature on this site following the Coca-Cola 600 turned out to be his last of the year in the #84, the result of a family tragedy that forced him to withdraw from the inaugural Chicago Street Course race. With Legacy Motor Club’s switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, Johnson made his return at this year’s Daytona 500, where he barely beat B.J. McLeod for one of the final transfer spots in the field, only to be collected in the first wreck of the day and finish in 28th. His results at Texas and Dover were no better as his continued adjustment to the NextGen car saw him finish 29th and 28th.

Kansas, site of three of his 83 career victories, marked his second-straight start and third in the last four. Though he began the weekend as the slowest of the 38 entrants in practice, it seemed the consecutive starts were paying off. He picked it up in qualifying, securing 10th in Round 1B with a speed of 181.147mph (29.801 seconds), good enough to secure 19th on the starting grid. It was his best Cup start since October 18, 2020, when he qualified 14th in his most recent Kansas start, his last for Hendrick Motorsports.

In an unexpected twist, Johnson would give the command to start engines for a race in which he would compete. Legacy team co-owner Richard Perty was originally declared the grand marshall, but had to cancel due to a conflict with son Kyle’s charity ride.

Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Derek Kraus, making just his third career Cup start in Kaulig Racing’s #16 Project Wyoming Chevrolet. He was originally to be joined at the tail end of the field by William Byron, who sprinted to the second-fastest lap in opening practice, then slapped the wall in qualifying, leaving him a disappointing 36th on the grid. But an unapproved adjustments penalty for repairs was not enforced on Sunday, leaving Kraus on the outside of the final row as the field addressed the starter’s stand.

When the green flag dropped, Kraus let the field pull away from him off Turn 4, then got a run coming to the stripe, putting him back alongside Riley Herbst in the #15 Monster Energy Ford. Still, Kraus remained in 38th spot as the field completed the first lap. On Lap 3, Kraus caught and passed Herbst, and the next time by opened up about a one-second advantage. On Lap 7, Daniel Hemric dropped behind Kraus into the 37th spot, and Herbst now closed the gap on Hemric’s #31 LA Golf Chevrolet. Both then lost touch with the rest of the pack. Next to fall back was Ryan Preece, whose #41 HaasTooling.com Ford dropped to 37th on Lap 12, and was caught by Herbst three laps later. Herbst finally dropped Preece to last on Lap 18, and himself opened a one-second advantage over the #41. By Lap 30, Preece was just five seconds ahead of then-leader Ross Chastain, but was nearly saved from being the first driver lapped when Todd Gilliland pitted his #38 Long John Silver’s Ford on Lap 30, kicking off a sequence of green-flag stops. Gilliland returned to the track in 37th on Lap 34 with Preece still last, the pair both one lap down. Herbst retook the spot on Lap 36, followed on Lap 39 by Corey Heim, who pitted his #43 Dollar Tree Toyota. Heim had been caught speeding on pit road, forcing him to pit a second time and costing him a lap. On Lap 51, Kraus made a pit stop after he’d started to lose pace the lap before, dropping him to 37th just ahead of Heim. Heim then caught and passed Kraus on Lap 55, putting the #16 back into last place for the first time since Lap 2. By Lap 57, Kraus was about a half-lap behind Heim, the two of them on the same lap. He remained in last place until Lap 78, when he passed Heim on track to drop the #43 to last, and soon the two were separated by two other cars. This kept Heim in last place on Lap 81, when the caution fell to end Stage 1.

On Lap 87 and still under the Stage 1 caution, Herbst took over last from Heim. He remained in the spot on Lap 91, when Preece dropped to the last car in line mere moments after receiving the “Lucky Dog” at the end of Stage 1, putting him back on the lead lap. Preece caught and passed the last-place Herbst on Lap 94, and then Kraus now dropped three seconds back of the pack on Lap 96. On Lap 115, Preece followed Gilliland as the first cars to pit under the next round of green-flag stops. Soon after, Harrison Burton pitted his #21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford, dropping him to last for the first time on Lap 118. Herbst retook the spot on Lap 122, and by Lap 138 was shown two laps down. Kraus pitted on Lap 150, dropping him to last again the next time by, and became the first driver three laps down. This kept Kraus in last on Lap 165, when the next caution fell to end Stage 2. Herbst retook the last spot just before the Lap 173 restart, now showing two laps down himself. But on Lap 176 came the first caution for an on-track incident.

That time by, Johnson was running on the lead lap, but outside the Top 20, when he was spun by Corey LaJoie’s #7 Gainbridge Chevrolet entering Turn 1, sending both cars spinning into the outside wall. While LaJoie ended up facing backwards with the car sliding to a stop, Johnson clobbered the fence with the right front and rear of his car, then spun to a stop in the grass. A brief fire under the hood was extinguished, and the right-front wheel was completely dislodged from its suspension. Johnson climbed out without serious injury, his race done, and stared at LaJoie as he passed. LaJoie made it back to pit road along with Austin Hill, whose #33 United Rentals Chevrolet suffered nose damage in the tangle. The pair recovered to finish 26th and 33rd, respectively. Johnson took last place from Herbst on Lap 179, and his car was towed to the hauler by way of the rear entrance on Lap 186. NASCAR declared Johnson out on Lap 199. At the infield care center, Johnson said LaJoie spun him while he tried to set up for the corner.

Also declared out with Johnson was Austin Cindric, whose #2 Snap-On Tools Ford suffered left-front damage and a broken toe link in the right-rear following a tangle with Denny Hamlin’s #11 Sport Clips Toyota and Bubba Wallace’s #23 MoneyLion Toyota down the backstretch. Cindric ended up finishing 37th. Taking 36th was Harrison Burton, whose #21 spun off Turn 2 and required a tow back to his pit stall. He cleared the “Crash Clock” and managed to come home six laps down, still under power. Completing the group were the only drivers two laps down – the #15 of Herbst, who took 35th, and Joey Logano, whose #22 Shell / Pennzoil Ford was stranded on the frontstretch after a single-car spin, also requiring a tow.

Legacy Motor Club and Haley both turn heads on a remarkable night

Behind the record-shattering photo finish decided between Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher, Johnson’s two teammates at Legacy Motor Club gambled on the final pit stop to challenge for top-ten finishes. John Hunter Nemechek slipped to 13th in his #42 Family Dollar Toyota and earned his best finish since he was 6th at Bristol while Corey Heim climbed all the way from last place into contention, only to tangle with Austin Dillon’s #3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet and spin into the infield grass, dropping Heim to 22nd and Dillon to 25th. Not far ahead of them, Justin Haley completed his spirited charge in the early laps to come home 18th, his second-best finish of the 2024 season behind only his 17th at Bristol.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for both Johnson and the #84 in a Cup race at Kansas.

*The 175 laps Johnson completed ranks as the fifth-most for a Cup Series race at Kansas. The record of 250 laps was set by Josh Bilicki on May 2, 2021.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #84-Jimmie Johnson / 175 laps / crash

37) #2-Austin Cindric / 184 laps / crash

36) #21-Harrison Burton / 262 laps / running

35) #15-Riley Herbst / 266 laps / running

34) #22-Joey Logano / 266 laps / running

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (3)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Legacy Motor Club, Motorsports Business Management, Penske Racing, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Ford (5)

2nd) Toyota (2)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP