Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
There was something different about Jimmie Johnson this year.
The five-time defending champion had a clear understanding that his record-setting run couldn’t last forever.
That’s not to say he had any intention of rolling over for the competition. If Johnson is to be dethroned this year, he’s going to go down swinging. His 18th-place finish at New Hampshire on Sunday dropped Johnson to 10th in the 12-driver Chase field. It’s the lowest Johnson has ever been ranked in the 12-driver format, and he trails leader Tony Stewart by 29 points.
He knows he needs to be pretty close to perfect from here on out to hold onto his title.
“We need eight great ones from here,” Johnson said. “We can’t run 10th anymore. We need a bunch of Ws.”
Only Johnson doesn’t seem to have a bunch of victories in him. He’s got only one this season, at Talladega in April, and that’s actually his only victory over the last year.
Maybe it seems too long ago, but Johnson prepared for this Chase with seven top-10 finishes in nine races. During a five-race span over the last month, he finished second twice and fourth twice.
Sure, Johnson is in a hole right now. But nobody is immune from a bad race or two, Stewart isn’t going to win all 10 Chase races, and Johnson has some very good tracks looming.
Johnson has a combined 26 career victories at the eight remaining Chase tracks. In 129 starts, he’s got 94 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 9.8.
First up is Round 3 of the Chase, at Dover, where Johnson has six career victories. His lowest finish is 16th.
“My optimism is still high,” Johnson said. “These first two races did not start as we had hoped that they would, but eight to go, there’s still a lot that can happen. Past experience really helps with the mental side of it going into the next event and for my guys.
“Not the day that we wanted, but we’ll come back strong next week.”
Only a fool would doubt that.