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Sprint Cup
CUP: Johnson Has Been On Ropes
Jimmie Johnson has won five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway
Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch spin in turn 2 during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Those who would write off Jimmie Johnson's Chase chances after a poor opening race should have their pencils confiscated.
In 2006, his first of four straight championship years, Johnson not only had a rotten first race – he crashed at Loudon and finished 39th, but he also was less than impressive in the following three events, finishing 13th, 14th and 24th.
What happened next? Johnson put together a remarkable string – finishes of second, first, second, second and second and closed out at Homestead with a ninth to win his first title.
The fact that Johnson finished 25th (and last among the Chase contenders) Sunday at Loudon shouldn’t be considered disastrous, then, although it’s obviously not the result the No. 48 team would have selected.
“I left New Hampshire devastated [in 2006],” Johnson said Tuesday. “I felt like we were out of it, that we had no chance to win the championship. I learned a lot from that ’06 season. I know we can all find stats and trends to favor someone, but it’s 10 races. There are so many variables and so many opportunities for something to go wrong.
“2006 proved all that to me. Other people made enough mistakes that let us back in. Twenty-fifth is not the way to start, but we can’t be down and depressed. We ran well and competed.”
The proper response, beginning this week with Race Two at Dover International Speedway, Johnson said, is to keep pushing forward while concentrating on his team, not everyone else’s.
“If you look at our team and the way we operate, we’re not really concerned about what other people do,” he said. “Some teams scan [radio communications] and focus on other teams and watch what other people do. That’s not our style.
“We focus on what we’re doing. I think that’s a good trait for our team. There are some other teams out there who are very concerned and occupied with what other people do. … Those are the guys during the stretch of the Chase that, I think, can be affected by the pressure. Will they? I don’t know.”
Johnson seems to deal well with the heat of the Chase – the competition, the travel, the media responsibilities – but admits that it gets his attention.
“In the car, you feel it for sure,” he said. “There are moments in the Chase when you’re around the Chase guys, that are tough. … Everyone is the top 12 has a shot at the championship. You’re not going to cut people slack. I know I had some fun with the 11 car [Denny Hamlin]. I’m sure there were some really intense moments out there with the other Chasers.
“The toughest part for me in the first two Chases was before I got to sleep at night, after all the chaos of the day goes away. That was the toughest time for me. Once everything got quiet and I was by myself, that’s the part that really gets tough.”
Johnson figures to be among the favorites this weekend at Dover, a track where he has won five times.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks,” he said. “I’m excited to get back. After last weekend’s race, we definitely need to get some points and get things going.
“We can’t have another bad race. We have to be spot-on from here on out. … Opening with a 25th isn’t the right thing. We’re a great race team. We have to pick our chins up and lift our heads up and go to work. We have to show up at Dover and give 100 percent again.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.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.
In 2006, his first of four straight championship years, Johnson not only had a rotten first race – he crashed at Loudon and finished 39th, but he also was less than impressive in the following three events, finishing 13th, 14th and 24th.
What happened next? Johnson put together a remarkable string – finishes of second, first, second, second and second and closed out at Homestead with a ninth to win his first title.
The fact that Johnson finished 25th (and last among the Chase contenders) Sunday at Loudon shouldn’t be considered disastrous, then, although it’s obviously not the result the No. 48 team would have selected.
“I left New Hampshire devastated [in 2006],” Johnson said Tuesday. “I felt like we were out of it, that we had no chance to win the championship. I learned a lot from that ’06 season. I know we can all find stats and trends to favor someone, but it’s 10 races. There are so many variables and so many opportunities for something to go wrong.
“2006 proved all that to me. Other people made enough mistakes that let us back in. Twenty-fifth is not the way to start, but we can’t be down and depressed. We ran well and competed.”
The proper response, beginning this week with Race Two at Dover International Speedway, Johnson said, is to keep pushing forward while concentrating on his team, not everyone else’s.
“If you look at our team and the way we operate, we’re not really concerned about what other people do,” he said. “Some teams scan [radio communications] and focus on other teams and watch what other people do. That’s not our style.
“We focus on what we’re doing. I think that’s a good trait for our team. There are some other teams out there who are very concerned and occupied with what other people do. … Those are the guys during the stretch of the Chase that, I think, can be affected by the pressure. Will they? I don’t know.”
Johnson seems to deal well with the heat of the Chase – the competition, the travel, the media responsibilities – but admits that it gets his attention.
“In the car, you feel it for sure,” he said. “There are moments in the Chase when you’re around the Chase guys, that are tough. … Everyone is the top 12 has a shot at the championship. You’re not going to cut people slack. I know I had some fun with the 11 car [Denny Hamlin]. I’m sure there were some really intense moments out there with the other Chasers.
“The toughest part for me in the first two Chases was before I got to sleep at night, after all the chaos of the day goes away. That was the toughest time for me. Once everything got quiet and I was by myself, that’s the part that really gets tough.”
Johnson figures to be among the favorites this weekend at Dover, a track where he has won five times.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks,” he said. “I’m excited to get back. After last weekend’s race, we definitely need to get some points and get things going.
“We can’t have another bad race. We have to be spot-on from here on out. … Opening with a 25th isn’t the right thing. We’re a great race team. We have to pick our chins up and lift our heads up and go to work. We have to show up at Dover and give 100 percent again.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.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.
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