CUP: Johnson Wins Even Without Luck

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Wins Even Without Luck

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson wins his second in a row at Vegas...

Mike Hembree | Posted February 28, 2010 Las Vegas, NV

NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson grabs the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after winning the Shelby American. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

If results at Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway provide clear indications, Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team have downforce tracks figured out to the final degree.

Results: Shelby American

Every year when the Sprint Cup circus packs up and leaves Daytona International Speedway after two long weeks, everybody says the “real” season kicks into gear at the two intermediate tracks that follow – Auto Club and Las Vegas.

If that is indeed the case, Johnson is kicking into gear in style as he kicks everyone else in the rear.

He won at Auto Club with a touch of luck and then backed up that victory Sunday at Las Vegas with a late-race rally that overwhelmed the dominant car of teammate Jeff Gordon.

Three races. Two victories. One Jimmie Johnson, seemingly still atop his sport.

He’s this good this early. What’s ahead?

“When you get on the downforce tracks, we get going well, and I'm happy that we're off to a quick start this year,” Johnson said Sunday. “A few years back, we left this racetrack with our tail between our legs. But today everything went well.

“No bones about it, I don’t feel incredibly confident with the (restrictor) plate racing. I know how to go fast and be in the mix, but it’s just not my specialty to look in the mirror 80 percent of the time and try to figure out how to win the race. I’m used to chasing people down.”

He certainly did that to near-perfection Sunday, using crew chief Chad Knaus’ late-race pit strategy to reel in leader Jeff Gordon in the race’s twilight miles and win for the second straight week. Gordon was obnoxiously dominant, but his team’s decision to go with two new tires instead of four on the last round of pit stops left the door open for Johnson.

“Man, I did all I could for the three runs before that, and I had nothing for him,” Johnson said. “I could get close, then couldn't get the pass pulled off.

“It worked well there. We had a great race car all day long. I think it really showed the strength of the Hendrick cars when Jeff and I checked out from everyone. I guess the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) was back there running with us chasing everybody down. In the end, we had a car that was right on that last run.”

Knaus said the team made adjustments through much of the race and had superb pit stops all day, other than one in which a dropped lug nut caused a delay.

“We felt as though coming into that last pit stop if we took four tires and went out somewhere in the top eight, we would have a shot to win the race if everybody else took two,” Knaus said. “To leave pit road in third position, we were pleased. Great job by everybody.”

Johnson’s 49th career victory pushed him to 12th on the all-time Sprint Cup list. With one more win, he’ll tie two of the sport’s big names – Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett.

Johnson said there was no “I’ll show you” approach to the Vegas race after some observers overplayed the luck element in his Auto Club victory.

“If people are trying to find a way not to accept the quality of race team we have, that’s cool,” he said. “We’ll just come back this week and take the trophy again.

“I have to say, that’s a smart-ass remark, but truthfully from last week to this week there was nothing in my head that said I need to go prove something to someone. There was nothing in my mind that said people are saying the lucky comment.

“We went out and won that race last week. Luck put us in the position. We still had to run 20 laps or 30 laps and hold off the 31 and the 29. We slept great after the race Sunday night in California. I’m very happy to come here and get it done again.”

Results: Shelby American

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.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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