Jimmie Johnson on Bulldozing Talladega, Luck and Enjoying the Ride

To hear Jimmie Johnson describe it, the most challenging part of wrapping up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship is not getting wrapped up in winning it. No matter how hard everyone else tries to convince him the trophy's been engraved.

He holds a 184-point advantage -- nearly a full race lead -- on second place Mark Martin and only needs to finish 10th place or better in the remaining three Chase for the Championship races to secure the trophy. That's even if Martin wins all three races and leads the most laps in each.

But Johnson insists his approach in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy will be the same as if he was trailing by 184 points and promised he wasn't about to start being conservative.

"We're showing up to win races,'' Johnson said. "Finishing 10th isn't as easy as it sounds. It is a tough field of cars out there and we need to be on our game. With three to go, we need to race these next two as if we're behind in the points and get every point we can.''

In an interview this week with the national press, Johnson also shared his thoughts on a controversial Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway race Sunday, how good luck has affected his unprecedented title run and if he ever takes a moment to enjoy the journey.

Johnson made candid remarks after a sixth-place finish at Talladega on Sunday, when multi-car crashes took out his closest championship rivals -- Hendrick Motorsports teammates Martin and Jeff Gordon. And a frightening collision sent Chase driver Ryan Newman's Chevy airborne resulting in a red flag.

Two days later, Johnson didn't back down from his opinion that the only way NASCAR was going to tame the dangerous multi-car melees at the 2.66-mile speedway was to take a bulldozer to the track's 33-degree banked turns.

"At the end of the day, I hope people realize we have messed with enough in the garage area with cars, with threatening drivers, regulating -- some people think they've over-regulated, other people think we're under-regulated -- but the bottom line is we're going to have these issues until we're required to let off the gas going into the turns,'' Johnson said.

"I think overwhelmingly, the public is understanding and starting to recognize that you can't change the cars anymore. You can't scold the drivers anymore. ... the only way we can get the racing to change is by changing the track. It's the only thing left. We've messed with every other area and nothing has worked.''

He also said he's heard the outcry from fans upset with the single file, play-it-safe strategy drivers used for the first two-thirds of the race. Johnson said he understands it may not be a good "show" but it's the new reality for a racer who wants to be around at the end to challenge for the checkered flag.

"The bottom line, somebody is going to be unhappy,'' Johnson said. "The fans that want to see the big wrecks and want to see the four and five-wide are going to be upset right now ... because we were responsible as drivers and tried not to wreck earlier in the race.

"Right now, because we're trying to be responsible, we have more people upset than we've ever had before.''


Johnson was one of those who successfully employed the strategy of patience. His top-10 finish Sunday was essentially an escape from what many considered the last true wild-card race. Had he succumbed to the Talladega odds and gotten caught up in one of the big wrecks, the points race would have tightened and the championship wouldn't be a runaway.

Instead, Johnson extended his lead -- but refused to write it off as "good luck."

The last big accident occurred literally just behind him, but even so, a late-race decision by his team to pit for fuel played a crucial role in his finishing when others did not.

"Some people may say Talladega was a lucky race for us, but I see how we earned this thing and made good decisions,'' Johnson said. "[Crew chief] Chad [Knaus] made a decision to pit for fuel and that decision put us in position for a good finish. ... it wasn't a lucky call. I feel from that race, the luckiest thing I had was not being back one more row and collected when that wreck started.

"It's hard for me to think too much about it [luck]. I guess I'm maybe trying to ignore it in some respects and focus on the things I can control and what the team does.''

And how do you argue with that. Clearly Johnson knows a thing or two -- or three, or four -- about winning championships in the most competitive era in NASCAR history.

And as a true sports fan, Johnson is genuinely humbled by the opportunity. As he will remind you, he only started driving stock cars about 10 years ago. He's only been in the Cup ranks for eight seasons and is on pace to claim championships in half of them.

Truly a remarkable statistic by any measure.

"No way I thought it was possible, let alone with my situation,'' Johnson said. "I'm not sure what I would compare it to, but I didn't think it was possible. I looked at what Jeff [Gordon] had accomplished, race wins and four championships and that was probably the last we'd see something like that with how competitive the sport is.

"I'm blown away and honored and enjoying every minute of what we're doing here. ... I've worked very, very hard to get to this point ans so has this team and we're enjoying every minute of it. What got us in this position was racing hard and going for every point and until it's mathematically locked up, we're going to keep the mindset and try to get every point that we can.''