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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Johnson Doesn’t Like Lucky Tag
Jimmie Johnson has three victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 27, 2010   Las Vegas, NV
Jimmie Johnson prepares to qualify for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Five days after winning the Auto Club 500 in Southern California, Jimmie Johnson was unhappy with anyone who termed his victory “lucky.” He made that much clear during his media session Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A quick recap: Johnson pitted under green on Lap 224 of the 250-lap race at ACS. While in the pits, a caution came out for Brad Keselowski's spin. Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew exited pit road just in time to beat race leader Jeff Burton back to the start-finish line. The rest of the field pitted under yellow and Johnson inherited the lead, which he held onto the rest of the way to win.

Kevin Harvick appeared to have a faster car in the closing laps, but lightly brushed the wall while trying to pass Johnson for the victory. Harvick held on for second.

“They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too,” Harvick said of Johnson after the ACS race. “I mean, Jimmie is a good friend of mine, but there's no way of getting around how lucky they are. You don't win four championships and do all the things they've done. They did a good job today in winning the race, but they have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass. I mean, there's no way to get around that.”

Friday at LVMS, it was Johnson's turn to respond to those who say he's lucky.

“For us, last weekend, luck didn't have us lead 101 laps,” said Johnson, who qualified 20th for Sunday's Shelby American, race No. 3 of 36 on the 2010 Sprint Cup season.

“Luck didn't hold off the No. 29 (Kevin Harvick) car. Luck put us in position. I'll take that. I'm the first to admit it,” he said. “But luck didn't win the race for us. It gave us an opportunity to win the race and then I had to do my job. The funny part, too, is that when I was on pit road and the caution came out, I swore I was dead in the water. Every time I've been on pit road and the caution comes out, you're dead. It's just how it works. And I beat the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) off of pit road by half a car length. Some may say it's lucky, but I look and say we had a great pit stop.”

As for his detractors who called him lucky, Johnson said, “There are some that may not give us the credit. But deep down inside it doesn't matter if it's a fan or a competitor; they know this No. 48 team is the real deal.”

Nor did Johnson countenance the notion that his four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships were bad for the sport.

“I think kids watching the races watch somebody that’s winning, dominating and say, ‘I want to grow up and be like that,'” said Johnson. “I don’t think that many, if any, kids on local short tracks or local go-kart tracks watching the race and sees who finishes 43rd and says, ‘I want to be that guy.’ That just doesn’t happen.”

That's also how it works in other sports, Johnson said. “In the big scheme of things in sports, we all look at sports and say, ‘Shaun White is the best in snowboarding and dominates.’ Does it hurt their sport? No. If you look at golf, granted Tiger’s (Woods) got some different issues now, but before that, did it hurt golf? No. You got through tennis (Roger) Federer, did it hurt that sport? No, it helped.”

Asked about the thousands of empty seats at ACS last week, Johnson said it's up to the track owners to do a better job filling them.

“You look at the competition side of NASCAR and the field is closer than it's ever been,” said Johnson. “Drivers are being encouraged to speak their minds. You look at everything that goes on in this fenced off area and we're tapped out in there. We're doing everything we can to put on a great show. People may think that we race for points, which is absolute crap. We're out there to win races. So everything in that garage area is tapped out. What happens over here in filling those stands, that responsibility needs to go back on the tracks and the promoters and they need to understand what it takes to sell tickets and put people in the stands.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.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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