Jimmie Johnson Dale Earnhardt Jr.

There are plenty of crashes in NASCAR, but it’s particularly rare to see a significant one between two prominent drivers who also happen to be teammates. That’s what happened Sunday at the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond, Virginia, though, where Jimmie Johnson accidentally sent fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. into a wall on the 345th lap:

Earnhardt later told Fox Sports’ Tom Jensen the crash felt like an “explosion”:

“He (Johnson) said he didn’t see us,” said Earnhardt. “We were out there running around the top and weren’t ready to pit yet, and he said that he didn’t get any notice that there was a car on the outside. … Jimmie didn’t know I was there. Came off the corner and didn’t know I was there. It was an explosion. But the car held up pretty well.”

In his post-race Periscope, Earnhardt said his tires were destroyed and his car was dented by the impact. He wound up finishing 30th after two pit stops inside the final 50 laps, while Johnson finished 11th. The two were able to patch things up afterwards, and Johnson even jokingly apologized on Twitter:

While Earnhardt relayed a text from his mother:

But some of Earnhardt’s fans weren’t too happy, with one tweeting (and later deleting) “Breaking News… @JimmieJohnson needs a ride to his EYE appointment Tomorrow morning. SMH.. for REAL dude U didn’t SEE THE 88!! Damn”. Johnson still engaged with her, though:

And with someone else who went after him:

Hopefully he won’t put anyone into the Twitter wall.

[For The Win]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.