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Sprint Cup
CUP: Advantage, Johnson, At Least For Now
Jimmie Johnson so far has outperformed his title rivals at Texas...
Watch Live! Streaming NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference Thursday, 1:00 pm ET. (Image: SPEED)
NASCAR doesn’t hand out points and prize money until after the checkered flag falls to end any given race, but so far at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson has a significant edge on Sprint Cup championship rivals Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
On Friday and Saturday at TMS, the cars have been on track a total of four times in advance of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500: 1. Friday’s 90-minute practice; 2. Friday qualifying; 3. Saturday’s first 45-minute practice; 4. Saturday’s final, one-hour Happy Hour round.
Each time, Johnson has had an advantage:
Practice No. 1 — Johnson, 9th; Harvick, 27th; Hamlin, 29th.
Qualifying — Johnson, 17th; Harvick, 26th; Hamlin, 30th.
Practice No. 2 — Johnson, 11th; Hamlin, 18th; Harvick, 31st.
Practice No. 3 — Johnson, 10th; Harvick, 20th; Hamlin, 24st.
Johnson hasn’t been running great at Texas so far, but he’s clearly established himself as faster than either of his rivals. The question at this point is, can he keep it up on Sunday and build on his points lead, which is 14 over Hamlin and 38 over Harvick?
That remains to be seen.
Johnson said where the three qualified shouldn’t affect where they finish on Sunday.
“We’ve all qualified poorly at a race in the Chase and driven to the front,” said Johnson. “I think the teams are strong enough and smart enough to not let a poor Friday affect their weekend. The one thing it does do obviously is put you in harm’s way so you need to get through the first 50 or 100 laps without any incidents and it increases the risk factor, but I think mentally the teams are all probably strong enough to tolerate a poor day (Friday).”
Despite his relatively poor performances Friday and Saturday, Harvick is optimistic about his chances. For him, Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 will be business as usual.
“I've probably won more championships than both of those guys combined. It's all the same,” said Harvick. “The only difference is it's just that it's got a lot more attention about what's going on but I've raced for championships my whole life and we've won a lot of them. And it's just one of those deals where you just race. And it's really no different than what you do on a weekly basis, honestly. You go out and you try to keep yourself from making mistakes and you try to do the things that you've done your whole life. This is no different.”
Hamlin thinks he’s in good shape to win it all this year.
“Without a doubt I think we can,” he said. “It starts this weekend. I know this is going to be a big weekend for us. We need to gain points this weekend. Phoenix next weekend is a good track for Jimmie and obviously our record is a little bit better than his at Homestead, but when he has a run at Homestead he can probably run as good as we can. We know where we need to make up points is this weekend.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
On Friday and Saturday at TMS, the cars have been on track a total of four times in advance of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500: 1. Friday’s 90-minute practice; 2. Friday qualifying; 3. Saturday’s first 45-minute practice; 4. Saturday’s final, one-hour Happy Hour round.
Each time, Johnson has had an advantage:
Practice No. 1 — Johnson, 9th; Harvick, 27th; Hamlin, 29th.
Qualifying — Johnson, 17th; Harvick, 26th; Hamlin, 30th.
Practice No. 2 — Johnson, 11th; Hamlin, 18th; Harvick, 31st.
Practice No. 3 — Johnson, 10th; Harvick, 20th; Hamlin, 24st.
Johnson hasn’t been running great at Texas so far, but he’s clearly established himself as faster than either of his rivals. The question at this point is, can he keep it up on Sunday and build on his points lead, which is 14 over Hamlin and 38 over Harvick?
That remains to be seen.
Johnson said where the three qualified shouldn’t affect where they finish on Sunday.
“We’ve all qualified poorly at a race in the Chase and driven to the front,” said Johnson. “I think the teams are strong enough and smart enough to not let a poor Friday affect their weekend. The one thing it does do obviously is put you in harm’s way so you need to get through the first 50 or 100 laps without any incidents and it increases the risk factor, but I think mentally the teams are all probably strong enough to tolerate a poor day (Friday).”
Despite his relatively poor performances Friday and Saturday, Harvick is optimistic about his chances. For him, Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 will be business as usual.
“I've probably won more championships than both of those guys combined. It's all the same,” said Harvick. “The only difference is it's just that it's got a lot more attention about what's going on but I've raced for championships my whole life and we've won a lot of them. And it's just one of those deals where you just race. And it's really no different than what you do on a weekly basis, honestly. You go out and you try to keep yourself from making mistakes and you try to do the things that you've done your whole life. This is no different.”
Hamlin thinks he’s in good shape to win it all this year.
“Without a doubt I think we can,” he said. “It starts this weekend. I know this is going to be a big weekend for us. We need to gain points this weekend. Phoenix next weekend is a good track for Jimmie and obviously our record is a little bit better than his at Homestead, but when he has a run at Homestead he can probably run as good as we can. We know where we need to make up points is this weekend.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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