Action Express Goes to Spare Tub After Johnson Accident

Image: IMSA

Action Express Racing is building up a new car around a spare tub following Jimmie Johnson’s accident in qualifying for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The No. 48 Ally-sponsored Cadillac DPi-V.R made heavy contact with the Turn 17 barriers in the closing moments of the session after the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion sustained two spins in the matter of two corners.

“I made a mistake, bottom line,” Johnson said. “I was pushing to try to get into the top-four on my fastest lap.

“I had a mistake out of Turn 16, spun, tried to get back going and didn’t realize how much trash I had on my tires entering Turn 17, to try and come around to catch another flying lap.

“I went into 17 and just lost it. I hammered the wall pretty good.”

After having initially assessed the damage, it was determined that the team would go to a spare tub for tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.

Work began to build up the car in the mid-afternoon and is expected to be completed ahead of warmup tomorrow morning.

“Just to play things safe we’re going to go with a spare tub and put all-new parts on it,” Johnson added.

“This place is so brutal that we have the luxury of having a spare tub and a lot of new parts so we’re just going to build a new car and take that into the 12-hour tomorrow.”

Johnson will share driving duties of the newly built No. 48 Cadillac with Simon Pagenaud and Kamui Kobayashi.

The trio, along with Mike Rockenfeller, are coming off a podium finish in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John