“The wins are so important”: When an Earnhardt-Larson moment eliminated Jimmie Johnson from NASCAR playoffs at the ROVAL

Legacy Motor Club driver and seven-time Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson lost the chance to secure a spot in the playoffs in a chaotic finish at Charlotte Roval in 2018. Johnson tried to break his 58-race winless streak but wasn't successful, resulting in a spin. But the race was not over yet, and Jeffrey Earnhardt's spin led to his elimination.

The #88 Toyota driver qualified in sixth place and did well in both stages of the race. Later, in the final stage, Johnson was just behind the leader, Martin Truex Jr., and in the last lap, he tried to take him in the final two corners, resulting in a spin. The spin collected Truex also, and both the drivers lost their P1 and P2 in the end.

Jimmie Johnson finished in eighth place, and Truex Jr. finished in P14. Johnson could have easily succeeded in the next round if he hadn't tried to surpass Junior in the last two corners.

Jeffrey Earnhardt also got involved in a spin while overtaking #8 Daniel Hemric, giving a clear path to Kyle Larson. Earnhardt Jr. finished one place after Larson gave him one extra point that led to Jimmie Johnson's elimination.

After Kyle Larson's P25 finish, the scores for the 12th rank ended up in a three-way tie between Aric Almirola, Johnson, and Larson. Several minutes later, the result was announced, and Johnson couldn't secure the spot. In a post-race interview, Johnson said:

"I was more worried about the win than anything else. We were in a transfer position and didn't get it. Just going for the win. The wins are so important, and the veteran could have taken the safe route and didn't." [00:20]

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Once Carl Edwards tried a classic video game move on Jimmie Johnson

A decade before Jimmie Johnson lost his playoff qualification, Carl Edwards tried a last-minute maneuver on Johnson at the Campin World RV 400 held in 2008 at Kansas Speedway. However, things didn't go as planned for Edwards.

He tried gaining the lead over Johnson with his aggressive driving style and hitting the guardrails in turn three. The Roush Fenway Racing driver thought that the walls would help him maintain his speed, but the results were the opposite of what he thought. In a post-race interview, Edwards said:

"I plan on hitting the wall, but I didn't play on the wall; slow me down that much. I played a lot of video games where you can just run it in the wall and hold it wide open. That's what I did, but it didn't work out quite the same as a video game."

Edwards further mentioned that he managed to execute this move on many drivers, but Jimmie Johnson was different from others and was a "smart driver" who didn't let him pass through, backfiring his plan. However, three years later, Carl Edwards struck back and successfully executed this move on Johnson winning the race.