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Sprint Cup
CUP: Johnson Adjusting To No Longer Being Champ
Jimmie Johnson failed to win the Sprint Cup title last season for the first time in six years…
Jimmie Johnson says he'll do anything to win the Daytona 500. (Photo: Getty Images)
A new day has dawned for Jimmie Johnson.
Dethroned in 2011 by Tony Stewart after claiming a record five straight Sprint Cup Series crowns, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is no longer NASCAR’s resident king of the hill.
It’s a hill, however, that Johnson desperately wants to be on top of again – even if it means stretching himself to get there.
That’s exactly what the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet plans to do coming off a season in which he finished a career-worst sixth in points and won just two races.
Both are unacceptable statistics by his lofty standards.
“It's been a very good off-season for me to internalize some things and to really evaluate what goes on from my standpoint and my involvement with the team and how good of a teammate and team member I can be for the 48 car, and I'm making changes,” said Johnson in between Friday’s morning and afternoon test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.
“I feel like even though I tried over the five-year (championship) run to not stall out, and tried to continue to evolve and challenge myself and recreate myself, it's hard to do it. You have a roadmap that's working and it's hard to get too far from it. This winter has been really good for me to really dive down and understand the areas where I feel like I can do a better job and be a better member of the 48 team.”
Johnson says he and crew chief Chad Knaus have been examining areas where they struggled in 2011, when Johnson – or “Superman” as he’s been called – seemed uncharacteristically human and his No. 48 Chevrolets were often a tick off the pace.
“I've spent a lot of time through the off-season thinking about the way I'm involved with the race team, the responsibilities I have, just the way I've gone about work for the last five years, and it's hard to argue with the last five years and what had happened,” Johnson said. “Last year was the sixth year and we didn't get the results that we wanted. But I really felt like we were competitive in a lot of areas. Chad and I made some mistakes in the Chase and took ourselves out of it.”
Surprisingly, Knaus is not in Johnson’s garage stall for the three-day preseason test at Daytona. A well-documented workaholic, Knaus is clear on the other side of the world – in South Africa – while fellow Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte and No. 48 car chief Ron Malec oversee Johnson’s effort.
But don’t think for a moment that Knaus, responsible for guiding Johnson to each of his championships, has forgotten about his driver and team.
“He's been texting and emailing, so there still is that communication taking place,” Johnson said. “But we've got a very confident race team, and everybody is following the test plan, and we're going through the motions. Truthfully, a lot of the work for this test was done at the shop getting prepared, and now we're just following a test plan. It's worked out well for Chad to take some time for himself, and I'm really happy that he has decided to do this.”
Johnson is meanwhile still adjusting to how it feels to no longer be the champ. Among the changes he faces in 2012 is losing the No. 1 pit stall and the transporter spot reserved for the past season’s champion team.
“I've made more mistakes walking to the wrong end of the garage,” Johnson said. “I've been programmed for so many years to walk to a certain stall that it's been tough, and even driving into the pits the first three or four times, I didn't know where to pull in. It's not going to end.
“That's a good thing, too, that reminder every week that I had it really good over there as the champion in that first spot.”
Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.
Dethroned in 2011 by Tony Stewart after claiming a record five straight Sprint Cup Series crowns, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is no longer NASCAR’s resident king of the hill.
It’s a hill, however, that Johnson desperately wants to be on top of again – even if it means stretching himself to get there.
That’s exactly what the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet plans to do coming off a season in which he finished a career-worst sixth in points and won just two races.
Both are unacceptable statistics by his lofty standards.
“It's been a very good off-season for me to internalize some things and to really evaluate what goes on from my standpoint and my involvement with the team and how good of a teammate and team member I can be for the 48 car, and I'm making changes,” said Johnson in between Friday’s morning and afternoon test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.
“I feel like even though I tried over the five-year (championship) run to not stall out, and tried to continue to evolve and challenge myself and recreate myself, it's hard to do it. You have a roadmap that's working and it's hard to get too far from it. This winter has been really good for me to really dive down and understand the areas where I feel like I can do a better job and be a better member of the 48 team.”
Johnson says he and crew chief Chad Knaus have been examining areas where they struggled in 2011, when Johnson – or “Superman” as he’s been called – seemed uncharacteristically human and his No. 48 Chevrolets were often a tick off the pace.
“I've spent a lot of time through the off-season thinking about the way I'm involved with the race team, the responsibilities I have, just the way I've gone about work for the last five years, and it's hard to argue with the last five years and what had happened,” Johnson said. “Last year was the sixth year and we didn't get the results that we wanted. But I really felt like we were competitive in a lot of areas. Chad and I made some mistakes in the Chase and took ourselves out of it.”
Surprisingly, Knaus is not in Johnson’s garage stall for the three-day preseason test at Daytona. A well-documented workaholic, Knaus is clear on the other side of the world – in South Africa – while fellow Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte and No. 48 car chief Ron Malec oversee Johnson’s effort.
But don’t think for a moment that Knaus, responsible for guiding Johnson to each of his championships, has forgotten about his driver and team.
“He's been texting and emailing, so there still is that communication taking place,” Johnson said. “But we've got a very confident race team, and everybody is following the test plan, and we're going through the motions. Truthfully, a lot of the work for this test was done at the shop getting prepared, and now we're just following a test plan. It's worked out well for Chad to take some time for himself, and I'm really happy that he has decided to do this.”
Johnson is meanwhile still adjusting to how it feels to no longer be the champ. Among the changes he faces in 2012 is losing the No. 1 pit stall and the transporter spot reserved for the past season’s champion team.
“I've made more mistakes walking to the wrong end of the garage,” Johnson said. “I've been programmed for so many years to walk to a certain stall that it's been tough, and even driving into the pits the first three or four times, I didn't know where to pull in. It's not going to end.
“That's a good thing, too, that reminder every week that I had it really good over there as the champion in that first spot.”
Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.
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