They aren't always perfect but are as close as it gets

When he arrived in the infield media center Sunday following his stirring victory in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson was informed that he had just posted "a perfect Driver Rating of 150."

Proving that no one really understands NASCAR's Driver Rating, including the drivers themselves, Johnson had to ask what it took to earn a perfect score.

How to be perfect

Jimmie Johnson was tops at Dover in Laps Led (298), Average Running Position (2.0) and Fastest Laps Run (127). He spent all but five of the laps in the top 15 (98.8 percent).

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Let's just say you've got to be flawless behind the wheel, or at least so close to it that the guys at NASCAR who figure out the Driver Rating don't notice when you aren't. Johnson was that on Sunday, once again proving that he and his No. 48 Chevrolet team are arguably the best in the business.

They are so good that when they're merely good, no one gives them a second thought. When they're great, which they frequently are, they beat everyone and celebrate in Victory Lane -- quickly reminding anyone who might have made the mistake of forgetting for a fleeting moment why Johnson is the first three-time defending points champion to grace NASCAR's tracks in three decades.

Capping a week in which virtually all the news revolved around another Hendrick Motorsports team that made a crew-chief change you may have heard about, Johnson's driving may have been perfect -- and so, it seemed, was his car -- but his team really wasn't.

Overcoming a 'hiccup'

On the final pit stop of the day, Johnson went in as the race leader and came out in eighth. He and crew chief Chad Knaus didn't quibble about the decision to take on four fresh tires that they knew would leave them behind some others who had little choice but to gamble and take only two.

Why would they? Johnson's car had been the class of the field all day -- and every adjustment ordered up by Knaus had been right on the mark, merely making a great car even better every step of the way.

But then that last pit stop wasn't clean, a rarity for the No. 48 guys. And instead of only having to pass two or three to regain the lead, suddenly seven cars loomed between Johnson and career win No. 42 on Lap 374 of the scheduled 400-lap event.

"It was really a good day, and obviously Jimmie did a fantastic job there at the end. Unfortunately we had a little hiccup on the last pit stop," Knaus said. "We felt like we were going to come down pit road leading and be able to leave third or fourth with four fresh tires and make quick work of the guys ahead of us.

"Unfortunately, we came out eighth and really had to lean on Jimmie a little bit to carry us out, and he did a great job."

He was, well, perfect when the rest of his team wasn't quite, eventually passing the final car left in front of him, Tony Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet, with just three laps remaining. Even though the final pit stop ended up being slow for Knaus' high standards, the crew chief admitted it all happened so fast that he wasn't quite sure what had gone wrong.

"As far as the pit stop goes, we have to go back home and really take a look at it and break down film to see exactly what happened," Knaus told reporters after the race. "It's difficult to say.

"Everything goes on in a short 14-second sprint, so it's hard to pinpoint anything while you're at the race track. But when we get home we'll analyze it and see what it is and we'll make the proper adjustments to get that better."

Think about that. The driver earns a perfect rating and the team wins the race -- and their crew chief vows that they will be better next time. That's scary stuff for the rest of the guys trying to prevent Johnson from becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive championships in its top series.

Watch and learn

If that other Hendrick team that garnered even more than the usual lopsided Junior's share of the publicity in the Sprint Cup garage this past weekend truly wants to get better, here is a novel idea: watch the 48 team.

Watch it closely. Study it. Imitate it. When there is an unexpected setback late in a race, overcome it. Then learn from it.

That is how setbacks late in races remain unexpected. Otherwise, the setbacks become routine, expected -- and drivers who experience one setback after another late in races tend to lose confidence in themselves and those around them, no matter what they may say to others publicly or even to themselves privately.

Johnson and his No. 48 guys weren't immune to the circus surrounding that other Hendrick team last weekend. They were well aware of all that was going on.

New role for Eury

Tony Eury Jr. will go testing this week with Jimmie Johnson in Chad Knaus' absence.

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But then, isn't there something potentially distracting going on just about every weekend in NASCAR? The good teams block out most of the distractions; the great ones block out all of them.

"For us, teammates are family -- and we want our teammates to be successful and win races and championships and all those things," Johnson said. "So in one respect it is difficult. But at the same time, we have to worry about what the 48 team is doing and how our performance is.

"Once we get into the motions of the weekend, we're just really worried about our setup of the car and our strategy and our shocks, our tires -- and really, we're into our world. ... Once you get in the garage area and get to work, that's the easiest part of the job."

Well, Mr. Perfect sure makes it look easy sometimes, even when he's not quite sure what perfect is or his teammates uncharacteristically bobble a lug nut.

There is no doubt Knaus is in nearly perfect tune with Johnson as well, providing the best example everyone else at Hendrick Motorsports needs for a base line of how to earn repeated trips to Victory Lane that, in turn, translate into repeated championships. All one has to do is look at their track record.

It now encompasses 42 race wins before their eighth season together is even at the halfway point, along with the aforementioned back-to-back-to-back titles. That includes two victories this season -- the same number earned in total by the recently dismissed crew chief from the other team in his entire tenure with the somehow more famous Hendrick teammate.

"You know, we come to the race track every single event with the hope and the desire to try to win. That's been our mind-set since we started together in 2002," Knaus said.

It sounds like it should be a company-wide mandate.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.