ALL-STAR: Johnson Chasing Charlotte Magic Of Old

Sprint Cup

ALL-STAR: Johnson Chasing Charlotte Magic Of Old

Jimmie Johnson used to be virtually unstoppable at Charlotte Motor Speedway...

Jim Pedley | http://www.RacinToday.com | Posted May 17, 2011 Kansas City, KS

Jimmie Johnson is the new Sprint Cup points leader. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

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Taking to the track and turning actual laps used to be a formality for Jimmie Johnson at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kind of an uninteresting lead-in to the part of the day where they usher him to Victory Lane and hand him the winner’s trophy.

Sprint Cup points races, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Races, it didn’t matter. Johnson had a grip on the 1.5-mile CMS in a way that baffled and infuriated those who raced against him and those who hated him alike.

But the good times at CMS have ebbed for Johnson and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. Ebbed beginning with the 2006 season. Since then, the five-time champion has just one points-race victory and one All-Star victory in 15 starts.

A big question this week – the week leading up to the 2011 Sprint All-Star Race – is: Can Johnson and his bunch re-summon their Charlotte mojo?

Johnson said last week when asked that question, “We’ve been in contention and have been in the top five and been running well” at CMS the last couple races.

“I enjoy that track.”

But that is far from saying “absolutely” or, well, “yes,” which used to be the standard answers.

Johnson’s CMS run – which saw him win five points races and an All-Star Race from 2003 through 2005 – was ended by an unlikely opposing driver. It was the driver of the machine which repaved the surface at Charlotte prior to the start of racing there in 2006.

Yep, one of the great drivers and teams in the history of NASCAR was beaten by a vehicle which tops out at about 2 mph.

“When they put that new surface down we lost the advantage we had,” Johnson said.

The new surface was completed in March 2006 at a cost of $3.5 million. It replaced a surface which had been laid down in 1994. The two layers of the new surface contained modern polymers and were applied using the newest in repaving techniques.

With the new surface still warm, Jeff Black, the Speedway Motorsports Inc. paving engineer overseeing the project, said of the result, that it was "the best of any track we've ever done."

But best for whom? Not Johnson, certainly.

“The old track,” Johnson said, “and how rough it was and abrasive it was, really fit my style. We had a great setup for it and I knew how to drive the track. The rougher the track, the better in my opinion; I seem to do better at those tracks.”

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Heading to Charlotte this week, there is something on Johnson’s side. Something which could help him in his quest to add a third All-Star Race victory to his resume.

That would be time.

Time is the enemy of smooth, new tracks. Weather and wear change the character of asphalt and change it for the better, many drivers will tell you.

Johnson is one of those drivers, especially when it comes to Charlotte Motor Speedway. “In time, the track will get there. It changes a little bit each year and we’ll see where it is now,” he said.

It was pretty good last year, Johnson said. Almost good enough for him that Saturday night in May.

“I think we had a great shot to win last year’s All-Star race and led late and I think we had a problem on pit road and came out third and restarted inside of the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) and spun out with, I think, just a lap or two to go,” Johnson said. “It was one of those make-it or break-it moves. I needed to get by him if I was going to have a shot at the No. 2 (Kurt Busch), and I just didn’t have that opportunity. So I just went out and went through the grass off of Turn 4 down the frontstretch. So, we’re there.”

From the sound of it, Johnson would love to add that third All-Star victory.

“I'd have to say the mindset of our All-Star event is a lot different than others when you look at the Pro Bowl, you look at the baseball All-Star Game, basketball's All-Star stuff,” Johnson said. “No one in our sport is really concerned about saving something or getting hurt, playing at 80 percent, whatever it may be.

“You hear that stuff all the time. You watch the Pro Bowl. The guys aren't hitting like they normally do. Our series, the hits are actually probably worse, harder, stronger. The intensity and commitment for our All-Star event seems to be a lot higher than others. So that mindset is the difference to me.”

This year’s All-Star event is scheduled for Saturday night and will be broadcast on SPEED beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Pedley

RacinToday.com

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