CUP: Johnson Looking For Knockout Punch

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Looking For Knockout Punch

Jimmie Johnson has been fastest in each of the four sessions Sprint Cup cars have been on track this weekend...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 17, 2009 Charlotte, NC

Jimmie Johnson continues to exude quiet confidence heading into tonight’s NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Go ahead, pick your metaphor for Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:

• Heavyweight boxers looking to deliver the final knockout punch.

• The silver bullet, ready to go straight through the heart of the enemies.

• The Death Star, poised to destroy Alderaan.

Whatever the metaphor du jour, the No. 48 squad has been lethal so far this weekend at LMS, where Johnson has sat on the pole and been the fastest car in all three practice sessions, usually by a wide margin. This after leading 450 laps and winning two of the last three races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Already, Johnson & Co. have dropped six of the other 11 Chase drivers more than one full race behind in points. And this weekend, the goal is to open up some significant distance on drivers in positions 2-6, as Johnson pursues his goal of becoming the first driver in history to win four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships.

And don’t think for a moment that the competition doesn’t know what’s going on.

“It definitely sends the ‘Uh, oh’ message,” teammate and four-time champion Jeff Gordon said of Johnson’s remarkable performance of late. “You don't want these guys to get on a roll. We've seen what they have done in the past. I think that it shows that they are as strong as they have ever been and it is going to take a lot to beat them.”

“After this week, it could be Hendrick against Hendrick,” added Juan Pablo Montoya, who has a 3.5 finishing average in the first four Chase races, yet is third in points, 58 back of Johnson.

For his part, Johnson continues to exude quiet confidence heading into tonight’s NASCAR Banking 500 at LMS. “I think if we can lead a lot of laps, win the race, and something along those lines will send a statement,” he said.

But noting the recent successes of Montoya, along with those of teammates Gordon and Mark Martin, Johnson expects the competition to hang tough. “When I look at the performance that we've seen out of the No. 42 (Montoya), and No. 24 (Gordon), and the No. 5 (Martin) nobody's making mistakes. It doesn't seem like the pressure is really bothering anyone right now.”

And while Johnson clearly is the class of the field at the moment, his most intriguing pursuer — not to mention his closest pursuer — continues to be 50-year-old Mark Martin. The Batesville, Ark., native led the first three weeks of the Chase before falling 12 points in arrears when Johnson won at Southern California last weekend. And here at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Martin qualified second and was second in all three practice sessions.

Johnson and Martin each have five victories and 12 top-five finishes, with Johnson leading in top 10s by a narrow margin of 19 to 18. And Johnson most definitely has been impressed with what he’s seen out of Martin this year.

“His confidence and his abilities have increased the confidence of that race team and you can just see a team that just is rock solid,” Johnson said. “They'll tell you they're making mistakes, but from my perspective and everyone's perspective, they're so consistent and doing so well that we'd say it's no mistakes. And that's the type of stuff you need to do to win championships. And they just seem rock solid.”

For his part, Martin continues to avoid talking about the points and the championship. “I'll see you after the race at Talladega and after the race at Talladega, we'll talk about our championship,” Martin told me after qualifying. “I think everybody will know then who the real contenders are and a lot of things can change between now and then. … We'll race and we will let the racing decide the points tally. I'm not going to think about it and I don't have to. It won't change that points tally, so I refuse to look at it. I'm not going to look at it. I'm not going to be thinking about all that. I'm going to think about trying to win this race and then try to win Martinsville.”

As for the remaining Chase competitors, they’re simply hoping the No. 48 has the same kind of off race they had two weeks ago at Kansas, where Johnson had his worst finish in the Chase so far.

“Jimmie Johnson finished way, way back in ninth – a long ways back, right?” said Greg Biffle, the sarcasm dripping in his voice. “So I think that’s possible again – maybe a seventh or ninth-place finish.”

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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