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FORT WORTH, Texas — For a fellow who has won a record seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races on the Texas Motor Speedway high banks — his most recent just this April — Jimmie Johnson still somehow remains a bit of a wild-card pick for many heading into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500.
As Johnson says, “I always smile when I see Texas coming up on the schedule.”
And it’s a little puzzling how the seven-time and reigning champion can’t be considered the odds-on favorite here, but even Johnson acknowledges his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team needs to pick up the pace if he is to defend his title in the Nov. 19 Homestead-Miami season finale and make history as the first eight-time Monster Energy Series champion.
“I do feel good about getting in [to NASCAR’s playoff round of four],” Johnson said Friday morning at Texas. “I think we are all just so used to momentum and we haven’t had that extremely high, positive momentum, race-winning momentum on our side just yet.
“One thing I know about our team is when we get hot — and we can get hot quick — great things can happen. As we all know, the summer wasn’t fun for us and as the playoffs started we have been able to ratchet it up some and clean up some areas, but we are still searching a little bit and looking for more speed.”
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Johnson needs to find that speed in his car this weekend. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports crew had to repair a fuel pressure issue just as the first practice opened at Texas on Friday. He was only able to turn three laps in the session, but was still 19th fastest of the 40 drivers.
He qualified ninth, however, Friday evening. And that gives him a much better start than in April when he won the race despite starting from the rear of the field for an unapproved tire change.
Much attention this weekend may be focused elsewhere – on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final Texas Cup start and on the verbal tussle between playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin a week ago at Martinsville – but Johnson acknowledged that whenever he shows up at Texas, he thinks he can win. And it’s hard to imagine an eighth cowboy hat could somehow be won “under the radar.”
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“I mean, we are a victim of our own success in some regards, the expectations are high,” Johnson said. “A 20-race winless streak is considered a big thing when it’s hard to win just a [single] race.
“So, there are expectations put on us and I will accept them, that is fine; I have high expectations for myself, but the sport isn’t easy. It really isn’t and I think it speaks to how when a team or an organization is on like we see right now with a couple of teams how special that is.
“When I reflect back on what the No. 48 has been able to accomplish just how special that is. It is not easy to do. But, we are not done, no one on this team is and we are ready to get back on top and whatever work that needs to go into it we are ready. We have been trying extremely hard to get there.
“We just haven’t got there yet, but we will get there.”