Watkins Glen will remain one of six tracks where Jimmie Johnson has never won a NASCAR race, but it is a track that he will always remember as a turning point in his life and racing career.

In 2000, during the then Busch Series race, Johnson’s brakes gave way after a pit stop on which he took fuel and changed four tires. For Johnson, this moment would change his perception of racing and his value for life.

Recalling that race, Johnson, who was driving the #92 Alltel Chevrolet, said, “It’s the only time I thought I was dead. I mean, I’ve hit harder, you know, been unconscious those moments, but there’s been a lot of crashes where you’re like, this is going to hurt.”

The incident happened two laps after his pit stop when Johnson was approaching turn one, and the #92 Chevrolet veered off the groove at the inside of the track. The car shot through the grass with the bumps in the turf launching Johnson’s ride over the gravel trap before slamming into the foam barrier. The Chevrolet tore through the barrier all the way up to the rear tires. 

The shocking impact was terrifying. Just 6 weeks earlier, Adam Petty had passed away in a similar crash. Johnson got out of the car and stood on his hood to celebrate.

Chunks of the styrofoam barrier flew 50 feet into the air from the massive contact. When asked what speeds he was going at, Johnson replied, "We looked at the data from the test because we tested there before that and straightaway speeds 152. And so I scrubbed off some speed on the way.” 

Recalling what he saw, he said, “When I was airborne and saw the white, I’ve only hit concrete. So that’s why I thought that’s it. This is it.”

Johnson's 2017 Pocono Brake Failure

Johnson’s brakes gave way in Watkins Glen, and he had made a mental note of what he would do the next time it happened. “I told myself, if I ever lose brakes again, I’ll turn to the outside wall.”

Johnson then spoke about his brake failure on lap 95 in 2017 at Pocono Raceway. “It happened again at Pocono. I wore out the brake pads on the car, braked to the floor and I turn in. And I’m yelling at myself.”

In 2017, when Johnson’s brakes gave in, he hit the wall at turn one head-on at high speed, with the car not just being totaled but going up into flames. 

Johnson said that those incidents helped change his robotic perspective on the sport.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar