CUP: Johnson Takes Huge Step Towards 4 In A Row

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Takes Huge Step Towards 4 In A Row

Jimmie Johnson has 15 consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 25, 2009 Martinsville, VA

Jimmie Johnson came in second the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tums Fast Relief 500 which was his 15th top-10 finish in 16 races at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

For a driver on the verge of setting one of the most significant marks in NASCAR’s long and rich history, Jimmie Johnson seemed unusually terse after his second-place finish in Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Asked how he felt heading to Talladega with a points lead of 118 points over Mark Martin and 150 over
Jeff Gordon and just four races left on the schedule, Johnson said, “I'm so tired of answering this question. I think you guys can all figure it out.

Talladega, there's no telling, and I feel good with the other tracks after that as long as we don't have any mechanicals.”

Pressed a little further, the points leader and three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion didn’t elaborate a whole lot on his quest for a record fourth consecutive title.

“It's the same stuff over and over again,” said Johnson. “The mechanicals, the stuff we can't control is the stuff I'm worried about. The stuff we can control, I feel we're going to be great. Four good tracks coming up for us. If we have no issues, I feel that we can race for this championship and things will turn out as we want. But the stuff I can't control, I know it gives everybody something to talk about, but I'm tired of talking about all the what‑ifs, and I'd just rather not.”

Well, there you have it.

For the record, even if second-place Martin wins the next four races and leads the most laps in each, Johnson can clinch by averaging a 4.0 finish with one lap lead in each of the finial races. So far this Chase, Johnson’s average finish in six races is 3.0, and he’s led at 14 laps in every race.

Clearly, Johnson is in command of his own destiny at this point, even with the always-dangerous Talladega Superspeedway next on the horizon. Now, he’s at the point where he’s racing as hard as he can on the track, and zoning out everything else off the track.

“I need to just worry about doing my job and not let the emotions affect my effort and my focus,” he said. “That can be negative thoughts, it can be good thoughts. You've just got to stay focused on your little world, or I stay focused on my world, and that's it.

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Tom Jensen

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