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Jimmie Johnson might be the most accomplished NASCAR racing champion of his era, but the six-time Sprint Cup champ has also had to be one of its most adaptive.
No one in the history of NASCAR has won titles in so many variations of the title Chase – from fluctuating numbers of championship-eligible drivers to navigating a new elimination-style format.
And this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford EcoBoost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Johnson will go for a record-tying seventh trophy in his first appearance in the three-year old version of the Championship 4. He’ll have to best the other three title-eligible drivers Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch in a one-race showdown.
It’s a championship scenario like no other for Johnson.
“It’s definitely different, there’s just no way around that,” Johnson said with a slight laugh. “The way I’ve won championships before, it was a 10-race, stressful environment.
“The way things unfolded for me this year, I had three stressful races worrying about points. I won Charlotte, had a couple weeks off, then I won Martinsville, had a couple weeks off, and then go back to the stress again.
“I think it’s different for every driver and every team every year just because you have these little three-race increments to fight through.”
Yet, listening to the tone of Johnson’s voice as he sizes up the newest championship situation, there is an unmistakeable confidence. It comes from owning six of the sport’s most coveted trophies already and having now earned a shot of reaching a historical milestone shared only by Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.
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After clinching the first of the four championship berths for the Homestead-Miami season finale, Johnson and his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team have had plenty of time to prepare – mechanically and mentally. And, he insists, there is something to that.
“I would have to say yes, there is some advantage to it, but every team works a little differently,” Johnson said. “Some teams operate better under pressure, from executing pit calls to driving the car, to pit stops, but this is giving us a bit of time to just focus on Homestead that we wouldn’t normally have.
“I know from my preparation side, I glanced at my Texas race notes, glanced at my Phoenix notes, but I’ve been all-in on Homestead for two weeks now. I’ve read my notes multiple times, watched videos over and over and over, and was doing it again last night so it has given me more time to prepare.
“There’s a little something in that. But who knows until it’s all said and done.”
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Of the four drivers who will be competing this week, only Edwards participated in NASCAR’s test at the site of the season finale last month. Although not behind the wheel, Johnson was on-site the second day of testing and got some valuable feedback from his teammate Chase Elliott, who represented the Hendrick Motorsports organization at track.
“If I was able to get in the car and test there, it would have helped me without a doubt,” Johnson said. “I watched Chase and was on the radio, studying lines and data and all the things I could do.
“So I’ve at least been there and picked up the South Florida vibes,” he added with a laugh.
The new “must win” format suits Johnson well, he says, even though he has never needed to pull out a victory at Homestead to hoist the big trophy. His runner-up showing to Edwards still produced the 2010 championship (a race he entered 15 points behind Denny Hamlin in the standings) and is his best finish there to date. He has three consecutive ninth-place showings entering Sunday’s race.
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Yet, in his unprecedented five consecutive championship years between 2006-2010, Johnson won the title by a combined 382 points. The slimmest margin was 39 points over Denny Hamlin in 2010. The greatest margin was 141 points over Mark Martin in 2009. He won again in 2013 by 19 points over Matt Kenseth.
Of his two near-misses, Johnson finished runner-up to Kenseth by 90 points in 2003 and a paltry eight-points to Kurt Busch in 2004. The oh-so-close loss to Busch in 2004 and a third-place finish in the standings (by one point to runner-up Clint Bowyer and 40 to champion Brad Keselowski) in 2012 were among the closest things have been in Homestead for Johnson.
Two of his competitors this week, Edwards and Kyle Busch, would appear more experienced with the pressure that exists in ultra-close championship situations. Edwards finished runner-up to Johnson in 2008 and again in 2011, losing a tiebreaker with champ Tony Stewart. And Busch won his title last season in this new format – winning at Homestead.
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But Johnson truly isn’t phased.
“I guess Carl’s year with Tony was a must-win situation,” Johnson recalled. “For myself, in 2012 with Brad, we were in a must-win. They were leading the race and we had a problem with an oil leak in the rear end. One of the lines was rubbing and it wore a hole in the line.
“So, I feel like the times we’ve had to go down and be aggressive, we’ve been in the mix. We had to go down there and beat Denny [Hamlin] once. I feel like we can answer the call. I really do. It is different than any championship environment I’ve had down there but I also feel like I have a big advantage mentally.
“I kind of joked about this on the TV broadcast over the weekend. Worse case scenario, I still have six championships.
“I really feel like I have the most open mind and the most pure approach out of the drivers to come in. … I’m all about the racing, I don’t have any additional pressure. The pressure I felt in ’03, and ’04 and failed both times and the pressure I felt in ’06 and ’07 to win again, each year the pressure has come down more and more. I really hope that’s an advantage I can carry with me through Homestead weekend.
And, he added, “The other thing about being calm and relaxed. … when you’re prepared you’re more at ease and relaxed. I’m going to be more prepared for Homestead than I’ve ever been. Getting ready for this Chase and the things I’ve done … I’ve never been this involved, this committed and this intense.
“Hopefully it will allow me to be even more relaxed and to operate from the right place at Homestead.”
