Johnson Gets Second 2011 Win, Third in Chase

Jimmie Johnson may not be as far from his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship as most have been predicting.

Jimmie Johnson seems not to be as far from his sixth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship as most have been predicting.

The 36-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver has had a miserable (for him) year, winning only a single race—his worst performance in a full season in any series since he started driving.

He came into the Chase (the final ten races which decide the Championship) in fifth place among twelve contenders, and didn’t fare well in his first three Chase races: 18th at New Hampshire after getting caught in a wreck, tenth at Chicago after running out of gas, and second at Dover, where he had perhaps the strongest car but spun his tires on the last two restarts which cost him a potential win.

Naysayers figured he had used up all his magic; no longer would the 48 car dominate the chase and win the Cup.

Jimmie Johnson doesn’t listen to the naysayers. Building on what were actually good races (despite the outcomes) Johnson and the 48 team ended their 21-race winless streak with a dominating performance in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, moving Johnson up two places in the points to lie in third, just four points behind the leader.

And the next race will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Johnson has already has six wins.

“I don’t pay attention to the media—I live in my own little world,” Johnson told the post-race press conference on Nascar.com. “I know what my team is capable of and we showed today what we are capable of when we are all performing at the top of game. Hopefully we can do that for six more weeks.”

For several seasons, the word has been that Johnson and crew Chief Chad Knaus use the season as a test session and turn it on for real during the Chase. Both deny it, but … once again, Jimmie Johnson is winning, and the other drivers have to be a little dismayed.

Best Car on the Track

Johnson showed his old form at Kansas. He took the lead early and maintained it; Chad Knaus called for the right adjustments at the right time to keep the car perfectly tuned to the track; his pit crew, a brand new group that had been seen as one of his weak points, performed flawlessly at every stop, under yellow or green.

Johnson led for 200 of the 272 laps, and even redeemed himself for Dover by winning the last two restarts.

The final pit stop showed Chad Knaus’s pitcraft. Knaus called the car in for two tires, while some took four. This got Johnson out in second place with good enough tires to finish the race. Had he taken four, Johnson would have lost too much track position. Had he not stopped, his tires would have been too old for the final restart.

On lap 265, almost the scheduled end of the race, Jeff Gordon’s engine blew, bringing out a yellow flag and setting up a Green-White-Checker finish.

From then on the race was in Johnson’s hands. He attacked early, and second-placed Kasey Kahne was caught off guard. He hit the gas too hard and spun his tires and costing him a shot at the win. Johnson won by .548 seconds.

“I was afraid to give up track position—Chad made a great call bringing me to pit road to get rights [right-side tires]” Johnson told Nascar.com. “We’re coming around and all I wanted to see was the [white flag signaling last lap] and I saw the yellow. At that point you’ve got to buckle down and figure out how to get a good restart and put in two good laps.

“Kasey was coming—he was on four tires, while we were on two. It was just one of those days when we had strength in all areas and capitalized on it.”

Perhaps the press, after hearing themselves say it was Jeff Gordon’s year, or Carl Edwards’ year or Greg Biffle’s or Kevin Harvick’s year, have forgotten that Jimmie Johnson always finds some late-Chase magic.

Last year Johnson didn’t seal the championship until the final race; this year could be even closer. But this is a driver with 55 career wins, tied for eighth with Rusty Wallace. This is a driver with 20 Chase wins, more than any other driver. This is a driver who already has five championships. Counting him out is not a good idea.