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Menard dominated the majority of the race from the pole position of his Ford Mustang, led by Wood Brothers, but in the rain threatening to end the race earlier, Johnson made his turn in the backstretch on lap 57.
Their collision caused a huge pile-up which involved most of the terrain. Heavy rains then fell during the ensuing yell and the race was called soon after.
"Jimmie went down, I got a little closer and I quickly realized that I had to be fired at the left-back," said Menard, who also pointed out that Johnson had taken him into the July run at Daytona last year. "Jimmie does a lot of things on these tracks, it's unfortunate.
"We just turned there. I did not really know what had happened before seeing a replay. I felt like it was an aggressive side-drafting. I turned inward and hooked to the right and hell was unleashed.
"It was a pretty tamed race until then. We knew that the last round was essentially a new race – a small race to make money until the end. It was really planned.
"I'm surprised we recovered a file again after the last reboot, but I knew something like that was going to happen. It was just a matter of time. "
Joey Logano of Team Penske, another Ford driver, managed to break through the chaos to finish third and said: "From my point of view, it's just cars that are collapsing and trying to get them out of there. avoid, but it looked like [Johnson] was trying to trade with Paul. I'm sure it's not intentional, but he definitely threw it away. "
Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Mustang Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire Repair Center & Tire Centers, Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Ally
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / LAT Images
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