Point leader crashes in Friday practice

NASCAR Nextel Cup point leader crashed his primary car during initial practice at Pocono Raceway on Friday. Johnson's No. 48 Hendrick Chevy suffered heavy rear end damage.

The team will have to resort to a back-up car.

"I got loose in turn one," said Johnson. "I spun out and tore up the race car. If there's a time to have it happen, now is the time. There's a long break before the second practice. We'll take it from there. Just trying hard and got loose. One of those deals."

It's a bad start to the weekend for Johnson whose point lead has shrunk in the last several weeks. He now leads second place Greg Biffle by just 77 points.

"I knew when I turned off into the corner that I was loose," Johnson continued. "As I started cycling through the bumps it just kept coming around. At that point you just kind of drop your head and hold on."

Johnson swept both Pocono races last year and finished sixth in the June event this season.

"We had a decent run up there and got a good finish out of it," said Johnson of the June event. "But I felt like we were a little bit off. The No. 25 (Vickers) was really good. We made some changes and feel really good about going to Pocono. The No. 24 (Gordon) is up in Indy testing now. We're looking good for the next couple of races."