Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Attacking Mt. Johnson
Is NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson getting into drivers heads?
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 26, 2010   Martinsville, VA
Jimmie Johnson is currently 3rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
In the preseason, rough and rowdy Kyle Busch was considered one of the major threats – perhaps the biggest – to Jimmie Johnson
and the Hendrick Motorsports team’s search for a fifth straight Sprint Cup championship.

It’s a long season, and Busch has many months remaining to make a charge. Through five races, however, the comparison is colored all Johnson. He has won three of the first five races of the season and has stepped up to the plate when the bell has sounded. Busch has a lone top 10 and seems to still be a bit uneasy in finding a balance with new crew chief Dave Rogers.

Is there a driver vs. driver measuring stick that’s appropriate here?

“I’m only as good as my equipment will let me go,” Busch said Friday. “Everybody’s been asking me why I haven’t been running good. Is it my head? Is it this or that? I’m driving my butt off every week. I can only go as fast as my car will let me go.

“Jimmie Johnson is not going to be beat me because he’s in my head. He’s going to beat me because he has a better car than I do.”

Johnson said teams trying to elevate their competitive level need to work on all elements.

“I think it boils down to people and not just saying the driver needs to step it up,” he said Friday. “It’s the whole organization. If you look at the racing and the cars we have, the box is so tight and the cars are so even – more equal than it’s ever, ever been.”

Drivers tend to pooh-pooh the idea that a driver who is on a long run of success – Johnson clearly fits here – can scramble the thought processes of his competitors and, in effect “get in their heads.”

But…

Asked about the impact of Phoenix International Raceway increasing the length of its spring race, Busch said, “Just more laps for Jimmie to lead, I guess.”

It’s probably not as big a factor as in years past, but the mental aspects of all this are evident when a driver like Kurt Busch, frustrated by losing to Johnson in the closing laps last week at Bristol, steps out of his car and almost immediately says he’d rather lose to anyone other than the 48 camp.

“That made me smile,” Johnson said. “I was getting ready to do my victory interview and could hear that. I’ve always wanted to be that guy who frustrates the field and garage area. I was fortunate enough to see (Dale) Earnhardt and (Jeff) Gordon do that during their runs.

“You ask anybody in the garage. They want to be that guy. They want to be in my shoes. I’m pretty excited to hear it.”

Anyone but Jimmie. It’s something heard more and more these days.

There is no indication that the Johnson express will slow this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Quite the opposite, in fact. After struggling early in his career here, Johnson now has virtual ownership of the property, having won five of the track’s past seven races and scoring six wins overall, only one less than active victory leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon.

Kevin Harvick, the seasonal point leader, said he doesn’t look at Johnson’s dominance as a mountain to overcome but instead uses it as a stimulus to improve.

“It just motivates you to keep working on your stuff and keep trying to make it better,” Harvick said. “They haven’t won three out of the first five races by being lucky. They win them because they have all their stuff together, and, when they get a lucky break, they capitalize on it and make things happen.

“They are the ones that have everything going right now and (they are) where you base yourself on where you stand as far as being competitive and doing the details right. They do all that right. So, we definitely don’t let it frustrate us like that. You just use it as motivation.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

Tunnelheads, Pick Your Starters! Win Weekly! Win Monthly! Win The Championship!
mike.hembree's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.