JJ buys Truex’s team kids bicycles as apology

DOVER, Del. – Jimmie Johnson said he made a bad mistake last Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He said he felt bad about his mistake in the final chicane, where his back wheels hopped as he hit the brakes, causing him to spin into leader Martin Truex Jr. and costing both of them a shot at the win.

But apparently it’s now time for some laughs.

Truex crew chief Cole Pearn said Sunday morning at Dover International Speedway that he was texting with Johnson earlier in the week and told him, “Twelve road bikes and we’ll call it even.” Then Saturday morning, the team saw Johnson coming into the garage following a bicycle ride and one of Pearn’s crew members told Johnson: “Sweet bike; is that what we’re getting?”

Johnson came through. Sort of. The Truex team had a gift waiting for them Sunday morning: 12 children’s bikes sitting on the team’s car hauler lift gate.

Johnson tweeted:

Well… @colepearn suggested I could buy some road bikes to ease the team’s pain from last weekend. After some careful thought and consideration, I went shopping. 😜 pic.twitter.com/663ryIqxMf

— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) October 7, 2018

Pearn laughed about it and put up a note underneath the bicycles that said: “Free bikes (tend to wheel hop)”

The Hendrick Motorsports team plans to donate the bicycles, but plans were still being made on exactly how to do that Sunday morning.

“We don’t have room for them on the truck, so some kids are going to walk away pretty happy,” Pearn said Sunday morning.