Business as usual for Johnson, rest of 48 team

LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson is going to make a great dad -- and for all we know, Chad Knaus would make the perfect godfather to Johnson and wife Chandra's child.

The two of them are just that smooth.

Whether it's debriefing in their Hendrick Motorsports transporter, communicating via radio between the race car and pit box or executing a stand-up comedy routine in a media briefing -- all while establishing NASCAR history -- these guys just mesh, flowing as effortlessly as a clear, cool mountain stream.

This weekend at New Hampshire was the first time the anticipation of the child -- whose tentative due date was announced last February -- truly met reality.

And Johnson, who has a far, far sharper wit than most narrow-minded people who follow NASCAR racing give him credit for, just joked about it.

Of course, Johnson dryly going on for 51 seconds about using this weekend to practice the routine and how good his sub, Aric Almirola is -- blah, blah, blah -- might have something to do with his reputation. That's a fairly lengthy sound bite.

But mostly it just makes you cherish the extra moments you might be lucky enough to spend around him. Like those little snippets of life when he uncorks one of his gems.

Stay tuned for that, because the bottom line is some time between now -- with "now" actually being Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301, which Johnson had just won before unveiling his impromptu comedy act -- and the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway next month, Johnson's racing life might be extremely disrupted.

Or maybe it won't be.

"It just all depends on when the little baby decides to make her move and when she wants to come into the world," Johnson said.

Boom! Just like that. You want low-key? That's Johnson.

Right there he slyly slipped-in the fact his child would be a girl, which very few people seemed to know about.

Johnson was just getting started.

"If she's anything like her mother," Johnson said with a straight face, "she'll be late, so I should be fine -- which puts us into the off weekend, nice and deep."

The packed room where Johnson and Knaus were doing their post-race briefing erupted in laughter. It was 20 seconds worth and no one's laugh stood out more than Knaus'.

The four-time champion crew chief was momentarily speechless, which is another rare occurrence, before he muttered "that was awesome -- what a comedian."

And Johnson -- who when he exited his car in Victory Lane had spoken from the heart, saying "I want to say 'hi' to my wife at home. Hopefully she didn't go into labor. Wait for me; I want to be home to be a part of this" -- just kept pouring it on in the media center.

"I might not have a place to sleep tonight," Johnson said, sitting five feet from Knaus, "just for the record." (Continued)