NASCAR Xfinity Series

Johnson, Patrick among 16 cars caught in Big One at Daytona

Published Feb. 26, 2017 8:25 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A 16-car crash on Lap 129 took out some on of the top contenders in Sunday’s Daytona 500, including seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Going into Turn 3, Jamie McMurray made an aggressive move on Johnson, tapping it and moving it from the top lane down the track, where Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got hit by Trevor Bayne.

From there, the wreck was one, involving nearly half the field.

“Really? I’m mean, the whole back straightaway, two of ‘em tried to crash me,” Johnson said.

The usually unflappable Johnson was clearly and understandably annoyed.

“That could have been avoided and it wasn’t called for,” Johnson said. “From the minute I got off of Turn 2 on the entire back straightaway, I kept getting hit and the rear tires are off the ground. I know there is a lot of energy behind me in the pack, but I didn’t have a chance. I fought it the whole straightaway and finally got turned going into (Turn) 3.

“It’s very unfortunate,” said Johnson. “I hate it for Lowe’s. I hate it for Chevrolet. We’ll go to Atlanta next week and see what we can do there.”

Johnson was knocked out of the race, as were Clint Bowyer, Danica Patrick, and Chris Buescher. Other drivers caught up in the crash included 2016 Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano.

“It was the funnest (Daytona) 500 I’ve ever had,” said Patrick. “Well, probably not 500, more like 300 or 250. It is a real shame. I feel like we could have been a contender at the end, for sure we could have been an influencer.”

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