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Erik Jones leads Toyotas for best-career Cup finish

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Blaney surprise winner at Pocono Raceway

<p>LONG POND &#8212; Jimmie Johnson sat down and slumped against the outer wall of the track at Pocono Raceway. With the rear of his No. 48 car destroyed after a vicious collision with the SAFER barrier, there was only one thing to tell his team over the radio.</p><p>&#8220;Whoo,&#8221; Johnson exhaled. &#8220;Got away with one there.&#8221;</p><p>A rare sight in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race &#8212; a nasty wreck for the seven-time champion. It was one that knocked him out of Sunday&#8217;s Pocono 400, leaving him with a 36th-place finish.</p><p>It was one of several tough moments for team Hendrick in the race, as Chase Elliott (eighth place) was the only one of the four drivers to actually finish.</p><p>Brakes were the culprit for Johnson and Kasey Kahne (35th), while Dale Earnhardt Jr. had another issue shifting, blowing his transmission for the second time this weekend and bowing out on lap 59 in 38th place &#8212; next to last.</p><p>But it was Johnson who had the roughest experience, saying that it was the biggest scare he had on the track since a crash at Watkins Glen back in 2000.</p><p>His brakes failed on lap 95, as his right rear started glowing &#8212; and then smoking &#8212; presumably when brake fluid hit the rotors.</p><p>With no ability to stop, Johnson first tried to cut down the track toward the infield. He caught the edge of the grass before physics took over and flung him back up top, smashing him into the wall at high speed.</p><p>&#8220;My instincts &#8212; you&#8217;re looking at the corner, you look at all that real estate to the inside and I pointed it down to the infield,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;Once I was in the grass, I was like, man, I&#8217;ve been here before, I should have just turned dead right into the wall and got to the wall right away.</p><p>&#8220;You have a split-second decision to make there. Fortunately, this one turned out well for me. Just an exciting ride.&#8221;</p><p>Easy to say that after the fact, and after he was released from the care center without any issues.</p><p>Right after the wreck, it was a different feeling as he collected himself on the pavement.</p><p>&#8220;When the brakes fail like that,&#8221; Johnson said, &#8220;there&#8217;s so much time to think about the crash, and I just needed a minute. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that. And to have it turn out where I basically just scared myself and got out of the car and walked away, I just needed a second to sit down and catch my breath.&#8221;</p><p>And regain his sense of humor.</p><p>&#8220;Just want to let my wife and kids and my mom know that I&#8217;m OK,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll go change my underwear and get ready to go home.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Harvick skirts disaster</strong></p><p>Earnhardt&#8217;s shifting mistake ended his afternoon early. Harvick&#8217;s didn&#8217;t keep him from finishing second, just a hair behind Ryan Blaney.</p><p>&#8220;I missed a shift from third to second &#8212; (the engine) should&#8217;ve blown up,&#8221; Harvick said. &#8220;But it never blew up. &#8230; Really proud of the engine shop.&#8221;</p><p>Despite narrowly missing out on his first win of the season, Harvick was generally happy with his car.</p><p>&#8220;We ran (Blaney) down,&#8221; Harvick said. &#8220;I just couldn&#8217;t charge any corners like I needed to with the stopping power I had. Everywhere else, the car handled flawlessly all day.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Eventful debut for Wallace</strong></p><p>Bubba Wallace ran his first Cup race on Sunday. One of his good friends in the sport, Blaney, earned his first victory.</p><p>But Wallace needed to briefly visit the care center before seeing Blaney in Victory Lane. The rookie, it seems, had worked himself into such a fit over multiple speeding penalties on pit road, that he actually passed out.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very hard on myself,&#8221; said Wallace, who said this was a frequent occurrence. &#8220;I get super pissed off. I get so mad I just pass out.&#8221;</p><p>Wallace, driving the No. 43 car in place of the injured Aric Almirola, finished one lap down in 26th place.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just a competitiveness,&#8221; Wallace said. &#8220;Even if it&#8217;s playing video games, my girlfriend gets mad at me because I&#8217;ll be playing this golf game on my phone and I want to chuck it across the room. I gotta work on it. I want to win.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Brake failure on lap 95 sent Jimmie Johnson careening into the wall at Pocono Raceway, knocking him out of Sunday&#8217;s Pocono 400. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_AP17162783167426201761119134730.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brake failure on lap 95 sent Jimmie Johnson careening into the wall at Pocono Raceway, knocking him out of Sunday&#8217;s Pocono 400. </caption0><photoCredit0>Matt Slocum | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> WpIeyORuKP4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpIeyORuKP4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> NASCAR</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Johnson’s wreck highlights rough day for Hendrick at Pocono