I was about 15 years old when I learned a life-long lesson about luck. No, I didn't say that's when I first got lucky, I said that's when I learned about luck.

My dad and I were playing basketball in the backyard and he needed one more point to win an epic father-son game. He drove the lane, I fouled him as hard as I could, and as he was falling to the ground, he threw the ball in the air. It hit the backboard, rolled around the rim and fell through. I went into a rage about luck: "You are soooo lucky. That is nothing but luck."

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This weekend, maybe I can convince Jimmie to come along with me to the casinos and we will test Kevin Harvick's "golden horseshoe" theory.

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He quickly corrected me: "When I threw that ball in the air, I intended for it to go through that orange hole. Did it go through?" he asked. "Yes," I replied. "Then, that's not luck. That's skill."

I have looked at luck differently ever since.

And I look at Jimmie Johnson differently, also.

Yes, Jimmie and Chad Knaus are two of the more fortunate men I know. But more undeniable is their skill, savvy and preparation. Jimmie was on pit road when a critical late-race caution came out Sunday in California. He finished his pit stop and eased off pit road, beating leader Jeff Burton by inches. This kept him on the lead lap. And when all the guys who had not pitted yet came to pit road, he leapfrogged to the lead.

Every two-way radio in the garage immediately filled with a derivative of luck, lucky, and luckiest, followed by a few expletives.

But let's not forget, there were 22 laps left when the green flag fell and Jimmie, as fortunate as he was to have the lead, never gave it up. That, my friends, isn't luck. That's skill and he deserved the win as much as anyone.

What Jimmie's competitors lament about is the fact that he is blessed with good luck. What we really mean is he seemingly never has any bad luck.

Every week I read a press release from one driver or another that says, "Man, we just need a little luck." Or, "If we get a little racing luck this weekend, we're going to be fine."

It's amazing that the best teams always have the best "racing luck." Maybe there is a correlation here. Just sayin'.

So, we roll this weekend into a city where its skyline is built because of luck ... or at least on the hope that luck actually exists. The last time I was in this less-than-fair city was for the championship banquet in December. On the night Jimmie picked up his checks for more than $7 million (lucky #$@@!%*), I attended his post-event party.

On my way back to the room, I tried my own luck. When I woke up the next morning, someone had taken every $100 bill I had in my pocket. Some guy named Craps and a friend of his named Black Jack took all the money I had with me that night. Man, if I just had some gambling luck, I would have been rich.

This weekend, maybe I can convince Jimmie to come along with me to the casinos and we will test Kevin Harvick's "golden horseshoe" theory. Must be hard to sit on that thing for 500 miles but, as luck would have it, Jimmie keeps it in his pocket.

Ty Norris is vice president and general manager of Michael Waltrip Racing. He has worked within the NASCAR industry with MWR, Speedway Motorsports Inc., Dale Earnhardt Inc. and RJ Reynolds since 1990. He will share his opinions each Thursday on NASCAR.COM.

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