Jimmie Johnson gets set for his first test of 2007. Credit: AP

Johnson arrives for testing, says wrist is fine

Cup champ more concerned with finding a spotter than his splint

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson was at Daytona International Speedway for all of 15 minutes on Monday before the questions began.

Why did you get on top of a golf cart? Is it against your contract to ride on the top of golf carts? Does your wrist hurt? What was your score on the golf course that day?

OK, so the last question wasn't asked. But the first three -- and many more -- were.

Johnson broke his wrist Dec. 8 while participating in a charity golf event in Florida. At the time of the accident, he was riding op top of a golf cart when the driver of the cart hit a bump, sending Johnson sprawling.

Johnson said the injury will not affect his Speedweeks duties, but he did arrive for the first day of testing with a splint, which he will wear while driving.

Johnson won the Daytona 500 in 2006 to start the season, and he went on to win two of the four restrictor plate races last year.

"My wrist is good," Johnson said. "I'm going to wear a splint in the car just to be smart and to be sure, but the cast is off and the hand is working and everything is good."

The injury occurred just seven days after Johnson was honored in New York as the 2006 champion, and he wrote off the experience as "one of those bad decisions I've made in my life.

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"I work hard and I focus on my job and give it everything I've got," Johnson said. "But on the flip side of that is that I like to play hard.

"Unfortunately I broke my wrist in the process. I'm a normal guy and like to go out and have fun and do my thing and I broke my wrist in the process."

Johnson was adamant in saying he was pain-free upon his arrival at the track for the first of three days of Daytona testing. Johnson has problems other than his wrist that needs addressed.

For the second consecutive year, Johnson is facing the season opener with a new spotter. Earl Barban, his spotter last season, left unexpectedly in the offseason.

Johnson said finding a replacement this late in the offseason will be difficult.

"It's tough," Johnson said. "We have to operate under a head count and under certain restrictions that Hendrick Motorsports has for budgeting reasons and to try to fit someone in is really the hard part because what we really need him for is spotting.

"But they are all usually good mechanics or fabricators or whatever it may be. And our shop is full. We're at maximum head count. And it's hard to find someone to work in that position."