Jimmie Johnson Cuts Finger, Gets Stitches During Rolex 24 at Daytona

NASCAR's first driver to win three consecutive championships in 30 years proved to be a real, living, breathing human being Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

El Cajon, Calif.'s Jimmie Johnson "cut the middle finger on his left hand while using a knife to try to cut a hole in his firesuit" according to the AP. The wound required stitches and prevented the Hendrick Motorsports driver from driving his final stint on Sunday afternoon in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Johnson was at the track to take part in the annual 24-hour race -- won by the Brumos-Porsche team despite some words of jealously from the competition -- when the injury happened.

Johnson was quoted by the AP and basically explained that the injury happened after he took the knife to his driving suit in an attempt to make a hole for a cooling tube.

To me, Johnson's injury sounds like a mistake all of us have made -- save for the part about it keeping him from driving a part in one of racing's most-treasured races. The injury had to lead to some interesting conversations around the team as news spread about Johnson's misfortune.

Perhaps, that crew-to-driver radio message went something like this: "Yeah, Vassar, you're going to have to stay in a little longer because the other Jimmie decided to go SAW IV on his finger. Many apologies, dude."

Or, perhaps, it didn't.

Aside from the fact that the injury proved Johnson's winning ways in NASCAR weren't the work of robot, it capped off a somewhat disappointing weekend for the Sprint Cup driver.

The driver's overnight stint halted early when a broken tailight on the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing machine forced him to pit road for repairs. While leaving the pits, Johnson broke the transmission and forced a lengthy repair.

The team, which included IndyCar's Jimmy Vassar and sports car usuals Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, wound up 7th in the Daytona Prototype Class.

Johnson, the AP made sure to note, isn't expected to miss time in the No. 48, thankfully.