Jimmie Johnson says his wrist will be strong enough for the 24 Hours of Daytona. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Q&A: Johnson

Q: Can you tell us exactly what happened on the golf cart, and how are you now?

Johnson: Yeah, I'm good. As you guys know, I'm screwing around at the golf course having some fun after a long season of racing, just having fun with the boys, and I was up on top of the golf cart and came off and popped my wrist in the process. I've had that offseason to heal up. The timing could not have been better.

HEADLINES •   Johnson arrives at Daytona wearing splint, says wrist is OK •   Johnson says 'horsing around' led to fall, broken wrist

I got the cast cut off last week, [and am] wearing a splint here at the racetrack just to be smart and make sure that I don't injure it or do any damage. But when I get back Friday, I should go right into strengthening my wrist and all of the things I need to do to get ready for the 24 Hours at Daytona, and I think we go to Vegas and we're just right back in the middle of it.

Q: Did we make a big deal about this wrist thing?

Johnson: Yes, certainly. If it impacted the season, if it impacted my duties as a driver, then of course, there's a huge story there. But [it didn't] impact anything. It is a funny story. I'm happy to see the humor in it is coming out.

Q: How is the testing going so far, and did the rainout [Monday] mess your team up?

Johnson: If we look at the hours, we might end up getting more on-track time due to the rain. [Tuesday,] the weather conditions have been very predictable and we've been able to go out and repeat and [Monday] the wind was really changing and messing with us as the storm moved in.

[Tuesday] is going to be a solid day for the teams doing their single-car stuff and we'll just see how the week unfolds. My team, we're hopeful that we work through all of our test matrix and we can leave maybe midday Wednesday or the end of Wednesday, if that's the case. But we'll just see. The track is starting to fill and everybody has their A and B cars on the track, so you're sitting in line with 10 or 15 cars in front of you, so the progress is kind of slowing down now.

Q: At one point people wanted you to loosen up and when you loosened up and had fun on the golf cart, it's like has he just gone crazy. The question is, is that kind of you, just now having more fun?

Johnson: As you know I have the show on XM; you learn a lot about yourself and drivers in general. We all do things that are quite humorous. Maybe things that are not the safest within our profession isn't the safest thing, so it's normal to us.

I grew up racing motorcycles and one of the cool moves was to jump the bike through the air and hang on the handlebars and put your feet behind you like Superman, and that was a cool trick and that's what I grew up doing. We're a little skewed that way as drivers and competitors.

And I can guarantee you that all of the men especially in this room have been on a golf cart and have done something that's quite humorous or have could flipped it over possibly, right? I hear a laugh.

Q: Do you think the team will change at all as you head into defending the championship?

Johnson: We really just want to go out and fall back on the confidence that this race team now has. I mean, we've always been confident. But winning the championship I feel will really change the way we approach the year.

So I think we learned more about ourselves through all of that and we're excited to get into '07. We feel like the Car of Tomorrow, what it brings and challenges for that car, it's going to help the 48 team and help Hendrick Motorsports and the current car that we have.

Q: You had some fun with the golf cart before you fell, did you do any other things during your break that were fun?

Johnson: Nothing on top of vehicles by any means. I did go over to Paris and watch Travis Pastrana in the Race of Champions, and I have to give him a ton of credit for the job he did over there. It was really, really amazing to watch him -- a guy that really has a background on two wheels -- to go out and race against the best drivers in the world and beat some of these guys in their own cars was amazing.

So I spent some time in Paris and enjoyed that with my wife and we went down to the islands -- where we got married -- through Christmas and New Year's and just relaxed, reflecting on the season. Some friends came on their own vacations and spent time with friends and relaxed and recharged the batteries really ... and now we're back to it.

Q: Since Jeff won back-to-back championships in '97 and '98, the highest a champion has finished the following year is fourth.

Johnson: Thanks for the bad news.

Q: Any time. Obviously that's a pattern that you would like to break, but have you had the conversation with Chad and the guys with the team yet?

Johnson: I wouldn't say that we've had that conversation yet. I just think we don't assume it. Last year looking at who was in the Chase, the dynamics in the space and the points varied and everything going on, I think we are aware of the fact that that was last year's championship, and this year, it's a matter of getting into the Chase and you have to cover that base before you look any further.

We know it's time to get back to work. [Monday] night at dinner with the guys, we talked about it, 'Hey, this is it, Daytona is here, we're testing.' It's time to look forward to 2007, fall back on the confidence of 2006, but we have a whole new set of circumstances to deal with and a whole new year to worry about.

Q: How did you keep your team focused on winning the championship?

Johnson: Our guys really do a good job of staying focused on the job at hand. I think we do a good job of looking after every practice session, qualifying session, every race, at not looking at too many outside influences. It's easy for us, in some respects, to stay focused. We just have that ability and that's what our team is about. We all wanted a championship so bad and we've all been close. That motivation, it just kept us focused, I guess.

This year going through the celebration and the highs of winning the championship, I want to do it again, and that's the thing all the guys are saying. It's like, 'Man, one was great, but I want to sit at the table again in New York, I want to go through the photos, the different places, I want to go through the celebration again' and that's the motivation for 2007.

Q: Talk about your experiences from last year and how they will carry over personally for you in racing this year and getting back to the championship?

Johnson: I think something I needed to work on has been the restrictor-plate program and then last year with the victories we had, I feel confident that I know what to do on the plate tracks. I still think that I need to work on Bristol and the road courses. Those are great tracks that if you're having trouble at the start of the season, there are tracks where you can make up some points and that's something I want to focus on.

I've run well and I can finish in and around the top five, but I just hate the fact that I can't race for the win. It drives me crazy that I'm a distant third, fourth, fifth or whatever it may be.

So those are the areas I'm really going to focus on and really the way I look at it, try to bring up the low spots and our low finishes. I think those tracks probably are our low spots.

Q: Do you think based on last year maybe you'll start getting a little more credit individually?

Johnson: It's kind of a double-edged sword because if you succeed, first response is, 'Well, he's driving for Gibbs or he's driving for RCR or he's driving for Hendrick' and if you don't make it, it's like, 'Wow, we're not touching, you didn't make it at Gibbs, you didn't make it at Hendrick.' It's a double-edged sword.

I'm glad to be on the side of it I am. Without a doubt, if you're coming into the cars I did or the equipment, if Jeff just came off a championship year, I was given a lot of his cars that he won a championship with and that's the way I started my rookie season. It's a great problem to have, and I'm happy to be in these shoes.

Q: [Talk] about your wife and the role she played in keeping you together during the Chase.

Johnson: Yeah, she really did an amazing job. She always does, but through the Chase, I just needed to get away from myself in a sense and just stop thinking about racing. And she would encourage me to go places, do things, kept me busy, kept me occupied.

And on the other side, she was just as nervous as I was, and she wouldn't let me see it. She would put it on in a convincing manner, put on a smile and encourage me and help me and when I would be a little bummed out about a practice session or didn't think we had the speed. So she was rock solid through the Chase and I just can't thank her enough for the support she's given me.

Q: This is the first time we're seeing Toyotas out there, do you see them as a curiosity or a threat?

Johnson: I think over time they will become a threat without a doubt. I think NASCAR does a great job in creating the sandbox that we all need to play in and they do a great job regulating the rules. I think it's going to take those teams some time. A lot of them are start-up teams.

To build up the resources, to get the right personnel in place, to really succeed and compete against the big teams in the sport, it takes time. Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, all of these teams have been in the sport for a long, long time. They all have money. We know Toyota wants to succeed and they will spend the dollars to do it, but it takes time to get the people, equipment, the staff put together and the momentum going.

I definitely feel that they are going to be up there fighting for wins and a championship, but it just might take them a little time is all.