Jimmie Johnson's pursuit of eighth title ends with Phoenix crash

Johnson, who for all practical purposes needed to win Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway to advance to the Championship 4, had a right-front tire go down and wrecked on Lap 150 of 312 just as the second stage was ending.

Johnson, who was running 11th at the time, drove his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the garage as the damage was too extensive to repair. He was credited with a 39th place finish.

Johnson’s wreck guarantees a new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion this season as Johnson won his NASCAR record-tying title No. 7 in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I knew I was hard on the brakes, but the run before we didn’t have any issues reported back. So, I felt like I was kind of doing the same thing,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, with so few laps to go to the end of the stage, as soon as I went in the corner and touched the brakes, the right-front just blew.

“I hate it for this team. They’ve worked so hard all year long and I’m very proud of their efforts. It’s obviously not the result that we want, but we’re Hendrick strong and I’m proud of my Team 48.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have a chance to make eight (titles) this year, but we’ll come back next year and try real hard.”

Johnson said he was disappointed in not being able to defend his championship but the performance during the playoffs this season was not good enough to contend. Johnson has led just 217 laps this season – the fewest during his 16 full-time seasons.

“The last couple of months we’ve been staying alive and at this stage with the Round of 8 and then the Round of 4, you can’t just stay alive,” he said. “You’ve got to be hitting on all cylinders and we just haven’t been there, unfortunately.

“Again, I’m very thankful for all the hard work that’s gone into this and all the efforts from (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the team, but we just can’t get there right now. We’ll try again next weekend and then do some good changes over the off-season and come back next year and be ready to go.”

Johnson’s most recent Top 10 was seventh at Charlotte last month. In the nine playoff races his best finish was third at Dover, Del. He’s led just 29 laps in the playoffs.

“We weren’t leading, we were having a decent day, but we were going to need a great day today,” he said. “I wish we were still out on track to still have a shot for it. You never know how these things unfold at the end, what kind of opportunities might come for us.”