NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Dethroned Johnson Planning Return To Top
Jimmie Johnson fell short of collecting a six-pack of championships but says he’ll be a contender again next year…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted December 03, 2011   Las Vegas, NV
Sixth place driver Jimmie Johnson poses with his trophy during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion's Week Awards Ceremony at Wynn Las Vegas on December 2, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jimmie Johnson stepped out of his champion’s robes and into a new role – that of challenger – Friday night.

Chances are he’ll wear it well.

The effort to win six Sprint Cup titles in seven years already has begun for Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates. He helped new champion Tony Stewart celebrate Friday – even participating in a little head-table charade at the start of the awards ceremony at Stewart’s suggestion – but emphasized that the search for a return to the very front row has begun in earnest.

“We’ve had two major sit-down meetings discussing what changes we can make, what we can do better, the ways we communicate, the note-taking we do – all of the aspects of how we work the garage and the time at track,” Johnson said. “We’re not necessarily redesigning or restructuring things, but we’re just trying to make sure we’re doing all the right things.

“Times change. What worked for us the last five years didn’t work this year, so maybe we need to make some changes in how we go about things.”

The changes, Johnson said, probably won’t include personnel switches within the 48 team.

“There’s always a couple of question marks in making sure that we have exactly what we need, but I’m 90 percent sure everybody is returning,” he said.

Johnson finished sixth in points this season after recording five straight championships. He remained in the hunt for a sixth title right into the heart of the Chase and said he blames himself for mistakes that knocked him from contention.

“I think that I look at the contact with the 18 (Kyle Busch) at New Hampshire,” he said. “That was a decision I made in the car and pushed too hard to try to make that happen. I look at Charlotte (where he crashed). I can’t blame anyone but myself because I was driving the car.

“I think our strategy as a group at Talladega (in the Chase race) – we just didn’t execute well there. It worked fine for us in the spring. It did not work coming back in the fall.

“The contact with Kyle and crashing the car in Charlotte. I haven’t done that in other Chases, and I can’t do that going forward.”

Jeff Gordon, Johnson’s overachieving teammate, has won four championships but has struggled to find a fifth. His last came in 2001. Johnson said he isn’t worried about having a shot at returning to the top.

“Before we won the championship, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders in 2006 (his first title year) because I didn’t know how many chances I’d have to win a championship,” Johnson said. “It’s such a rare opportunity for a driver. To miss it by eight points in ’04 and not get it done in ’05, that was tough for me. So I do recognize how rare those chances are.

“I think we really had a chance to be part of it this year and mistakes took us out of it. If we don’t make mistakes next year, I think we’ll be a factor. I think we’re going to be a contender next year.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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