BUY TICKETS: See the races in Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. – For Jimmie Johnson, it’s all about trust. Trust in his immense talent, trust in the other competitors he races against on a weekly basis and trust in his crew chief and team to give him a car that is capable of getting to Victory Lane.
It’s not exactly a work in progress for the 41-year-old Johnson.
Last year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship was his seventh, a plateau reached by only two others in the history of NASCAR – Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. His 80 career victories are seventh on the all-time list, and tops among current competitors.
Those marks didn’t come without trust in himself and his team, led by crew chief Chad Knaus.
Sunday, Johnson will be going after career win No. 81 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). The worn-out, abrasive and fast 1.54-mile track has been the site of five wins for the driver of the No 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — including the last two in Atlanta.
As impressive as his win total here might seem, it’s not even top five for Johnson, who has won more often at Dover (10), Martinsville (9), Charlotte (8), Auto Club (6) and Texas (6). (Auto Club and Atlanta are once-around-the-circuit stops nowadays, so multiple wins might be a bit more notable at those two stops.)
During Friday’s opening practice at AMS, Johnson’s best lap was very unlike a five-time winner at the track. He was 21st-fastest among the 39 drivers.
"We are eternally optimistic and always think that we have a shot at the pole," Johnson said during his media availability.
But he did admit that his opening practice runs didn’t inspire optimism and conceded that a pole might be stretch.
"But as a driver and with Chad Knaus as your crew chief, you’ve got to let that stuff roll off your shoulders and climb in the car and pull them tight and think you can hit it," he said.
"That is one thing that I have learned through experience. … Sure, you might be off in a session, but you let your team make adjustments and work on things. And then call on your teammates and the other notes that you can learn from.”
Stuff happens, he noted, citing his 35th career pole won last year at New Hampshire.
"We were nowhere near the pole in practice," he said, "and ended up getting the pole. It can happen. The odds are low, but I’m going to get in there hoping that I nail the perfect lap."
While he did advance out of the first round of qualifying, Johnson was unable to crack the top 12 and earn a shot at the pole. As a result, he will start 18th in Sunday’s race.
"To be honest, this is a lot better than we qualified the last two years and we won the races the last two years," Johnson said. His 2015 win came from the 37th-starting position and he qualified 19th last year.
"Of course, we want to qualify well here, those stage points are important but not necessarily in the cards for us in the first stage, it looks like," he said. "And now we’ll go to work and do what we need to do to get ready for the race."
Hendrick drivers have won the last three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta – teammate Kasey Kahne won here in 2014 – and the organization has won here 14 times overall.
"It’s been a great track for me, really, when I look back over my career," Johnson said, "and when I think of Hendrick-related race cars and success from (Jerry) Nadeau running well here; Jeff (Gordon) has obviously always been amazing here; (Kasey) Kahne; it has been a good track for (Dale Earnhardt) Junior over the years. It is a good track for all of us."
So a slow Friday isn’t necessarily a sign of a troublesome weekend.
"I can say the last two races we have won here we didn’t really get our stuff situated until late in the going and (were) able to come out on top," he said. "Just because you might have a slow Friday or a slow start to the race I don’t think you can count anybody out.
"We have a lot of chances to work on the car and can make stuff happen here, which is really neat."
