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NNS: Johnson, Montoya Feel For Danica
Danica Patrick hasn’t been in a NASCAR race since February....
Tom Jensen  |  Posted June 26, 2010   Loudon, NH
Jimmie Johnson (Right) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Left) know what it's like to be on the outside looking in. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Danica Patrick has her work more than cut out for her as she returns to NASCAR for today’s New England 200, her first stock car race since late February.

And no one is more sympathetic to her predicament than four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson, pilot of the all-conquering No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, also dabbles in the Grand-Am sports car series. And when he does, he goes from being the big dog in the Cup garage to just another guy trying to survive, which is very much where Patrick will be today on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire oval.

“I go and run a few Grand-Am races a year and leave my comfortable world of running up front and having that mindset that comes with it — knowing you're going to be one of the players in the game — to making sure you're not the slowest person on track and not making simple stupid mistakes and spinning the car on cold tires,” said Johnson. “I mean the whole mindset changes from being aggressive to also being defensive. And it's a totally different way to act on track. I do sympathize with her on the project and commended her for taking the risk and chance and giving it a shot. Hopefully she has the patience to stick it out for a long time and find her way through it all.”

Without question, mastering the heavy and ungainly stock cars after a career spent in featherweight, nimble and high-downforce single-seaters will be a huge test for Patrick over the next couple of years.

“That's the hardest part is to say ‘OK, for the next three to five years I'm going to have to make mistakes, be in the spotlight,’” said Johnson. “Because she clearly commands a big presence when she's around, and take all the negative with it as she is learning her way. But at some point it'll click for her.”

Of all the drivers who’ve taken a shot at NASCAR after growing up in open-wheel racing, Juan Pablo Montoya has had the most success. But even that has been somewhat limited. In 125 career Sprint Cup starts, Montoya has one victory, 16 top-five and 35-top-10 finishes.

Like Johnson, Montoya looks at Patrick’s situation and sees hard times ahead, at least in the short term.

“I think it's just hard when you drive two different cars,” said Montoya, who claimed the pole for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I used to struggle when I drove the Nationwide and Cup cars. So I think for her, the transition is pretty hard. I don't know. It's not easy. I think what she's going through is not easy and I think you're going to see as the weekend goes along, she's going to get more competitive and more competitive and she's going to run better. But I don't know what her schedule is and when she's running again. I think she's running Indy Cars again next week. The change has got to be hard.”

Montoya said in addition to the major differences between cars — horsepower, downforce, traction — there are myriad smaller adjustments to make. “Simple things,” Montoya said. “ ... How you sit. How you look at everything. How the dash is and how the gears are and how the clutch is. The whole thing is different. The more that I run Cup I can get back to the Cup car that much easier. But I mean when I get in the Grand-Am car I go, ‘Whew.’ I've done it three or four years already and it's weird as hell."

Long-term, Johnson thinks Patrick can succeed in NASCAR.
Danica Patrick is mobbed by media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“It's just time in both cases. To come in and run a handful of races in a year and with the testing restrictions we have, it's going to take even more time for her to be comfortable at this track and in these cars,” Johnson said. “She's a race car driver. She is capable of being successful in this sport, but it's going to take time.”

Johnson cites Montoya’s learning curve as evidence of what’s ahead for Patrick.

“Juan was all in when he came in, on top of being a very talented guy who can drive anything,” said Johnson. “And he's proven that through all the things that he's raced. You watch other open-wheel greats come in like Dario (Franchitti) and he wasn't here long enough to really get his feet under him. Sam (Hornish Jr.) has been here for a few years and he is still trying to figure out the difference in the balance. So it's not an easy crossover. And in the end it just takes time.”

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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