Jimmie Johnson and Ty Dillon won’t even be credited with completing a lap in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, after being involved in a multi-car accident at the end of the race’s first lap.
Here’s a replay of the incident on the first lap of Sunday’s #NASCAR Cup Series event at @NASCARatCOTA.@JimmieJohnson and @tydillon have both retired from the event, without completing a single lap.#NASCAR | #EchoParkGP
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) March 26, 2023
However, the incident didn’t start with either of the race’s first two retirees, as Brad Keselowski spun his No. 6 Ford Mustang at the exit of the corner, in front of the remainder of the pack.
In the aftermath, Chris Buescher, teammate to Keselowski at RFK Racing, got into the left-rear of Ty Dillon, sending the No. 77 spinning to the inside of the track, where he slammed into Jimmie Johnson.
Both Spire Motorsports and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB would attempt to repair their vehicles after the incident, but both teams were not able to get their entries back on track to log additional laps in Sunday’s event.
Johnson, returning to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023 as a partial owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, was excited to compete in the event at Circuit of The Americas, one of the venues added to the Cup Series schedule after the seven-time champion left.
