NASCAR Johnson is riding high in restrictor plate races

After triggering a big wreck last year, he changed his style on the big tracks.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- When the dust cleared at two Talladega Superspeedway races last season, competitors blamed Jimmie Johnson for wrecking 39 cars.
His tactics were questioned, his restrictor-plate style criticized. Dale Earnhardt Jr. even called him an "idiot."
"I thought long and hard about it, and really made some adjustments to my restrictor-plate driving," said Johnson, one of NASCAR's most likable drivers. "So far, so good."
Johnson won the season-opening Daytona 500 and hopes to carry that momentum into today's race. He'll start 16th.
Qualifying
Elliott Sadler won the pole in Saturday's qualifying, with Tony Stewart second. Carl Edwards was third and Dale Jarrett, who won at Talladega last October, was fourth.
Defending race winner Jeff Gordon qualified 14th and Dale Earnhardt Jr., a five-time Talladega winner who will drive a car painted like the famed black Chevrolet his late father piloted, will start 27th.
Sadler hopes his time out front lasts awhile. He started first at this track in October, but his day ended just 20 laps into the race when Johnson ran into the back of him to start an eight-car accident.
"My car was so fast last year I thought leading the race, I was in the safest spot," Sadler said. "I never thought I'd get wrecked leading the race I did. Jimmie and I had a talk about it. I was frustrated at the moment on what happened and the way we raced each other that time.
"You forgive and forget. He might be my best friend tomorrow and maybe push me for a while."
That's the trust Johnson is hoping to earn with his rivals.
Change in driving style
Restrictor-plate racing is different from anything else the drivers do during the season, and skill and style are as important as knowing whom to avoid on the track. Because the plates sap the horsepower, cars are unable to separate and typically race in one large pack. One slight slip by a driver can trigger a massive accident
It happened to Johnson last April, when he was blamed for triggering a 25-car accident. Then he was faulted for a pair of October wrecks, including the one with Sadler that sent Michael Waltrip's car flipping down the speedway.
It was then that Johnson decided he had to change something about his style if he were ever going to master plate racing.
"The adjustments I've made are to try and have some friends out there on the track, and save the intense racing until the end," Johnson said. "It's so easy to get caught up in it early. You're afraid to be deep in the pack and be caught up in a wreck.
"That was my case. I was afraid to be caught up in a wreck and I was a little to aggressive and caused a big one here last year by trying to stay away from it. So that didn't work out and I've made some adjustments that have worked well for me."
He showed off his new strategy in Daytona, laying in wait until the closing laps of the race. Johnson made his move late, charging to the front and then holding on to score the biggest win of his career.
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