Question Quest Story and photos by Dwight Drum Web work by Larsen & Drum
Champion Moves Jimmie Johnson Q&A Focus: Early Season
Questions from reporter Dwight Drum to two-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson occurred during four NASCAR and Team Lowe's teleconferences during the early 2008 season.
Jimmie Johnson is coming off back-to-back championships. One NASCAR championship is a huge accomplishment. Two championships or more are a study in triumph. Back-to-back championships are rarer still.
Drum's questions are geared to uncover some of the best reasons for great team results in a highly competitive sport.
April 15
Chad Knaus told Jimmie that the second place driver seven seconds behind him had pitted for gas when he really hadn't. Knaus was emphasizing to Jimmie that keeping off the gas pedal was crucial to his win.Probably it's a huge task to get a race car drivers to pull back on a gas pedal. Are you OK with how Chad (Knaus) kind of bent the truth a little bit at Phoenix to help you at the end of the race? Is that a good tool for a crew chief's tool box?
"I really feel that there are things that go on on the track that he has a better point of view on and can see. I thought I was slowing down but, we really needed to save fuel at that point because leading up to those final seven laps, I didn't save a drop of fuel. I was driving as hard as I could to catch the leaders, I restarted in 14th. To save fuel with seven to go is impossible, so in my heart, I really feel that not only were we good to make it on fuel but so were some of the other cars. I look at the 99 (Carl Edwards) pit stop, I don't even think they got plugged in to get fuel in the car (Laughs), he was mentally blasting and thought that was enough fuel. I saw an interview with the 8 (Mark Martin) car where he felt like he could have made it. I don't think I did a good job of saving fuel, but when Chad was telling me to slow down, I did what I could and I had cars virtually running me over trying to go by and get their laps back and keep up the pace. The little white lies that were told there were certainly useful and helpful and got me to slow down enough to make it to the end."
Is it as important for the crew chief to know about the driver and the psychological part of it as he does about mechanics?
"There is a relationship. It is a team sport and when you don't have data and you don't have modern tools to understand to what the car is doing, it boils down to the driver and the crew chief. To understand each other on many levels is important. When you see crew chiefs and drivers that have been together for a long time, you can see some really cool take things take place. The belief and trust and things, even when a guy is probably lying to you, he is still believes him because that relationship is so strong."
April 1
Just when others seem to doubt you the most, you and your team find ways to step up. Do you see that coming? Do you feel that about to happen?
"We are realists. We know we have been off on the big tracks. We had high expectations for the short tracks where we ran the cot last year and Bristol was our best Bristol performance by far. I was excited about that and feel we've improved. Martinsville was really strong for us if we didn't get turned around late in the race and have to come back from deep in the field, I feel I would have been a factor in the finish, or in the victory. We are just kind of plugging along and taking it as it comes. We might be in a position we don't want to be in now, but, one it could be a hell of a lot worse. I look at Casey Mears and the bad luck he has had plus some bad runs and thank God I am not there. The flip side of that is I know we can be a lot better, so we will just take what we can get week after week.
"We are all realists. We know that there are times when we are not performing where we should. We know there are times when things are coming easily. You just take it as you can. If you try to fool yourself too long, and make up excuses for too long, this sport will eat you up and spit you out the other side. All my teammates, myself included, we just have to be realists. We know when we have been beat. We know when we have had some luck work for us. We know when we have had luck work against us and we just kind of roll with it."
Did you know how you developed the skills to cope or did you just bring that with you and let what happens -- happens?
"Throughout my career, definitely I have had to learn. It is tough when you run well and you start to struggle. It is such a humbling experience, it doesn't matter who you are in the sport, you go through it. You have to find ways to be happy and not tear apart the team. That is where I feel so fortunate driving for Rick (Hendrick). Rick really spends a lot of time working in those areas, working with people and keeping spirits up and holding the team together. I have learned a lot of great lessons from Rick. Chad (Knaus) with his intense personality sometimes, it is harder on him than other guys. We have learned through our years together how to deal with those things. This start of the season hasn't been fun, but it has been the best experience we have had going through a rough spot. We are all learning and growing together and I give a lot of credit to Rick and how he shapes his team."
March 11
It's been said that your team can't find the magic this year. How far from magic are the reasons for your team's dominance and resiliency in the past few years?
"We've looked back through the notes and our concerns for the bigger tracks. Coming into this season we didn't spend any time testing on any of the big tracks. We've been on track. We've been learning. We've been making improvements if you look at Vegas and Atlanta. We still have a very loose race car but we made up a lot of ground. We finished on the lead lap in 13th. It wasn't the day that we wanted, but we're definitely going down the right road. We're excited to get on the short tracks. Bristol isn't my best short track; we all know that. But when we get to Martinsville and Richmond and some of the other tracks where we've been strong with the COT, we hope to be right back where we were. We're just learning the 1.5-mile stuff. My teammates have shown well. I ran well at California. But even with those runs, we weren't the best car. And that's what we're trying to find as a company, and what we're trying to find in the No. 48 car is how we can be the best car.
"The No. 99 (Carl Edwards) has shown the strength, I think, is the best car week in and week out. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) ran awfully good last week and has been strong in the past, but I think we need to give the award to the No. 99 right now as being the strongest car. We've got a little bit of learning to do. So it's just part of the game. It's so tough when you're riding a wave and winning all the races and doing well, you know you're just an adjustment or two away from not having that magic. And we've made those comments in the past. And where we are right now, we know we're not that far off from being back in that position. It's just finding the right things. We're just working hard at it and I'm sure we'll be where we want to. If we keep our goals in perspective and look at the Chase and making the Chase, we'll get stuff together and be a threat toward the middle part of the season."
Are there times when being the championship team has little bearing on the task at hand?
"We always want to run well. We want to win races. You don't know when you're going to need those points. So we're not sitting back, relaxed, and saying oh that's okay. We'll get it sorted out two months from now. We have urgency. We want to get it sorted out now. We want to win races now. We have no clue how good luck or bad luck is going to come and go throughout the season for us. But every point counts. Every spot counts. And we're trying as hard as we can and we're racing as hard as we can to get every spot."
February 26
Unlike many drivers who aren't champions, you don't have to ask yourself what would a champion do. But are there times on and off the track when you recognize that you really drove like a champion or in public you really spoke like a champion?
"You know, driving-wise, I'm out there doing what I can each week. There's certainly better performances than others, especially fighting back through the Chase, winning the four races we did, that stretch there certainly felt that way.
As far as speaking like a champion, man, I don't know (laughter). Sometimes you feel like - especially in hospitality tents - I feel like I'm saying and doing the right things. Other times, the crowd is still asleep and I feel like a fool out there. I can't say on a speaking note I could say one way or another."
About following behind in the points. You and your team have done this before in the past. It seems like you and your team find a reservoir of ability always. Do you ever worry you might not find that reservoir?
"Yeah, I like to keep myself on edge and worry about a lot of things. I feel that worrying about stuff keeps me focused and keeps me paying attention to the right things.
"Daytona is such a tough event, even Talladega, it's not what the bulk of the season is built on. Experience has taught me not to get too emotionally involved in those events. If you win, fantastic. If you come out of there with a good finish, the points are needed for everyone. Everyone is worried about the top 35. Then you get into the Chase, worrying about being in the top 12.
"Those concerns are there, and they're there early. But we build a lot of confidence knowing that the season's based on other races. There's short tracks, they're intermediate tracks, a lot of other events that take place. So we try not to panic too much.
"But I'd be lying to you if I said that we weren't worried when we left Daytona. I mean, that's just our mindset. We're worried about every point. You never know what's gonna happen in Richmond. We want to have ourselves in a safe position going into Richmond."
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