Jimmie Johnson wrecked on Lap 145 at Indy and relinquished the points lead. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Johnson under care, but Knaus livid with EMTs

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jimmie Johnson suffered what he called the hardest hit of his career Sunday in the Allstate 400 after the right-front tire blew on the Lowe's Chevrolet, sending him hurtling into the outside retaining wall 15 laps from the finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Johnson, woozy while sitting on the pit wall after the accident, was transported via helicopter to Methodist Hospital for further precautionary evaluation. He was treated, then released.

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"Man, that was hard," Johnson said. "That's by far, I think, the hardest hit I've taken. Just blew a right-front tire and away I went, head first.

"So thank God for the soft walls and HANS device and everything. I'll be OK. I'll be scratching my head for the next day or two, though."

Crew chief Chad Knaus said he didn't think Johnson had suffered "any serious injuries," but that he was "definitely dizzy, he definitely blacked-out."

Johnson said he was unable to remember steering the car to the pits following the accident.

"I don't really remember coming from Turn 4 to the pits," he said. "I just remember kind of waking up on pit road the guys pulling me out of the car. So it's all good."

When Johnson pulled to a stop in his pit stall, the No. 48 Chevrolet was on fire underneath the hood. Smoke filled the cockpit as the crew rushed to extract Johnson from the car.

Knaus was incensed with the timeliness of NASCAR's response to the accident.

"You come to these events and make a mistake as a team and get penalized for it, and there's a driver that's sitting on pit wall out there in need of an ambulance and NASCAR doesn't even send an ambulance down there, what happens to them?" Knaus said.

"I think it's ridiculous. We walked all the way from 39th pit stall into the garage area before we had any medical attention whatsoever."

NASCAR said two emergency personnel were on site, spoke with Johnson and that he declined treatment.

"Here's what we know, there were two EMT personnel on site and they spoke with Jimmie and Jimmie declined treatment, said he was fine," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

"The EMTs called up to the tower and said he was declining to be seen, so then no other further medical assistance was sent. However, after he was sitting there a while an official did walk him to the infield medical center for further treatment, once they realized he needed to be seen."

Running 11th at the time of the accident, Johnson finished 38th and forfeited the series points lead to race winner Tony Stewart. He trails Stewart by 75 points.