CUP: Johnson Still The Man To Beat

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Still The Man To Beat

Jimmie Johnson is gunning for his fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship...

Tom Jensen | Posted July 27, 2009

Jimmie Johnson is gunning for his fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Give Jimmie Johnson credit for honesty.

Asked if felt at all sorry for Juan Pablo Montoya, who dominated Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, but lost it on a late-race speeding penalty, Johnson showed a rare bit of candor and insight into a racer’s personality.

“No,” said the three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, laughing audibly in the process. “We're all so selfish. I could say if you want, I would have gone to Victory Lane to congratulate him. I would have been proud of him.”

And then he added, “I'm sure happy I got the trophy.”

Johnson passed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin on a late-race restart with 24 laps to go to take his first and only lead of the race, holding on to defeat Martin by 0.400 seconds. That gave Johnson his third Brickyard 400 victory in the last four years and made him the only driver to win it twice in a row.

The untold storyline, however, is it also was that it was clear evidence that Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are ready to pursue a fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title, something no one has ever managed since the series began racing 60 years ago.

Quietly, Johnson has begun to round into championship form. In his last eight races, he’s earned two victories, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. During that time he has led a total of 626 laps. The only race he didn’t finish in the top 10 came at Michigan International Speedway, where he led 146 of 200 laps, only to run out of gas on the last lap of the race.

Yes, Tony Stewart still leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings with a margin of 192 points over Johnson. And Stewart’s third-place finish at the Brickyard shows he’s not going anywhere, but there’s no question that Johnson is rounding into title form.

And without doubt, Johnson has become a dominant closer, a clutch performer who finishes races the way John Elway used to finish football games for the Denver Broncos and Mariano Rivera picked up saves for the New York Yankees. Like Michael Jordan in the final minute of an NBA game, Johnson and Co. function at their absolute best when the race is on the line. Johnson showed that much when he outdueled Martin in the closing laps.

“It was cool to see,” Johnson said of the victory, his third of the season and 43rd of his career. “It's what the 48 is known for. I'm glad we were able to win today because it gives us the confidence in our approach to the race, what we need to do coming up into the Chase (for the Sprint Cup). I feel very good about the way things are going and where we're headed.”

The surprising part of all this, perhaps, is that more people aren’t talking about Johnson’s pursuit of history. Then again, that suits the El Cajon, Calif., native just fine.

“I mean, it has been quiet,” he said. “That is good because it allows us to focus and not get caught up in all the energy around winning races and leading the points. But we know it's coming. We know the Chase is coming up. Our guys are trying to treat each race leading into the Chase like we are in the Chase.”

And for the last three seasons, the Chase has been the No. 48 team’s time to shine. Johnson thinks it could be again this year.

“We're buckled down and ready,” he said. And after his Brickyard triumph, no one could doubt he means business.

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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