Jimmie Johnson has won four out of the last five Nextel Cup Series races. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Jimmie Johnson

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Jimmie Johnson's recent dominance is baffling.

Four wins in five races, at the highest level of competition with the grandest possible prize at stake and a palpable cloud of pressure surrounding him like none he's ever experienced?

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Come on.

"It's definitely impressive," points leader Kurt Busch said following Johnson's victory in the Mountain Dew Southern 500. "It's something that is a feat within itself. He's got eight wins now and compare it to my career wins, 11, it's phenomenal just to do that in one year."

On Saturday afternoon, prior to Johnson's second consecutive Darlington victory -- which, for the record, marks the fifth time the third-year star has swept both races at the same venue, in the same season -- Johnson hung out with NASCAR.COM's Marty Smith to break down his improbable rebound in the Chase standings, packed calendars and the aftermath of the Hendrick plane crash tragedy.

Q: A month ago you were ninth in points, 247 point out. At that time you'd had a couple of bad weeks. Were your championship hopes over right then?

Jimmie Johnson: I didn't feel that they were over, but I'm a realist and I knew it was out of our control. We were going to need mistakes made by everybody ahead of us to catch up. And everybody did make those mistakes.

And I have to admit, I'm pretty shocked about that. I know some mistakes were made and other things were just racing incidents. I didn't expect the 24 (Jeff Gordon) to have any trouble and they broke a gear, so it's nothing anybody can control, but I'm shocked those guys have had bad races.

I thought somebody would make it clean. I'm pretty shocked with that.

Q: Then you come out and get three-straight wins to get back in the hunt. Have you ever won three-straight times, ever, in your career before this?

Johnson: I think I have in the off road days, but not since I've been on asphalt.

Q: With what you guys are going through with the plane tragedy, what did those three wins mean for Hendrick Motorsports?

Johnson: I haven't looked back and thought on it, and I don't think many people, if any, at the shop have. Winning Martinsville... it doesn't even seem like we won Martinsville.

Johnson (left) with crew chief Chad Knaus Credit: Autostock

I don't even remember the Martinsville race because of everything that took place. And then Atlanta, it was fitting. It put a smile on Rick's face and the families involved and throughout Hendrick Motorsports.

So I look at those races and can't really clump them together and think of what we accomplished. I know that we won three in a row and that sounds good and feels good, but with what took place it just doesn't have the same feel that you'd expect.

Q: Obviously this is very tough time, and I heard you say earlier that you didn't know if Mr. Hendrick would ever be the same, and be able to come back to the racetrack and have the same feel he did.

Johnson: Yeah. It's got to be tough for him. I'm not sure how long that healing process is going to take. Everybody deals with it in different ways, and it takes everybody a different amount of time to deal with it.

I'm not sure what his plans are to come back. I know that no one's pressuring him. We'd love to see him and I'm sure there are so many people throughout the garage area, and even fans, that would love to see him and shake his hand and express their condolences to him.

But it's tough for him. I'm not sure what his time frame's going to be. But when he comes back I know it's not going to be easy for him.

Q: You seem pretty relaxed, like you're taking a "Let's just go out and race and try to win" attitude. Is there any nervousness at all, now that you're only 40 points out?

Johnson: I'm trying not to think about it (laughing). At this point I haven't let it creep into my mind, and I'm going to really try not to. That's when our team performs the best, when we're playing offense and not thinking and worrying about what we need to protect.

So with that in mind I'm just trying to have fun, keep the guys smiling, keep it lighthearted and just go out and do what we can. I'm taking the point of view that if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and just take it from there.

Q: Mark Martin all but said this morning that he's made the decision to retire because of the entertainment aspects of this sport now. Obviously you guys are quite blessed to do what you do, but can you give us an idea of how you have no time. Most of your time is taken.

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Johnson: Oh yeah. All of your time is taken. You have to wear so many hats and you're pulled in so many directions to make things work in our sport -- from sponsor obligations, team obligations, fan obligations -- and when you're in all those moments there's an expectation of who you are and what you should be.

You don't really have any personal time, if something's bothering you, to address that and work through it. You're constantly being pushed to not pay attention to what makes you feel good inside, what makes you a better person, but what makes you a better racecar driver, a better spokesperson, a better driver to the fans and to be liked out there.

It's really a weird thing, and I try to separate myself as much as I can to look in the mirror and see myself and try to be that person instead of what the demands make me into being. It's a tough battle.

As soon as you say no to one fan or say no to one sponsor, there's terrible last back that comes from all that. You've just got to take it in stride and try to do what makes you feel right so that you can climb in the racecar and do your job every week.

Q: So you kind of have to maximize now, right? Because careers are going to get shorter and shorter as those obligations outside the racecar mount.

Johnson: I think so. I think the careers will definitely be shorter than what we've seen in the past. I also think that maybe this new point system will help in some respects.

Talking to Jeff (Gordon) and understanding other championship battles he's been a part of, it was a long, miserable year worrying about a championship. And this year, once he was solid inside the top 10 and knew he was going to make the cut, he didn't have to worry himself like he did in years past.

So I think that'll help a little bit. And also drivers, like Mark, standing up and telling the truth, saying "Hey, this is what this does to us." Making the world understand our position may help out and buy us all a little slack.

Q: Now that we're eight races into this thing, is there anything you can look at and say "This should change for 2005," as far as the format is concerned?

Johnson: The only thing that I see, and you can debate the points, you can debate a few other scenarios, but I think we need a break before the final 10 starts.

Take a week off, let's have a bunch of hype, pump it up going into the final 10, and give the crewmembers, the teams, everybody in the sport a break. Twenty or 18 in a row like we've had? That's tough.

And this final 10, especially. Whether you're in the Chase or not, you're beat. You're worn out. You look through the garage there's not many smiles. We need some more breaks later in the schedule, and I really think right before the final 10 starts would be the good thing to do.