Johnson Hopeful Experience Helps with Race to 4th Championship
After 26 weeks of waiting, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will finally commence this weekend when the top 12 drivers take the green flag for Sunday’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Three-time champion Jimmie Johnson knows his Lowe’s team usually excels in the season’s final 10 races and hopes the same will be true this year as they vie for their fourth-consecutive championship.
"I feel good about it,” said Johnson. “We've been able to perform at tracks that weren't necessarily our best this year. We've been running as we had hoped at tracks that were good for us. I really think some of the best tracks over the course of the year are at the start and the end of the season, so with the Chase just showing up, I know we've got really good tracks ahead of us. And that helps to get on the roll that we've been able to do the last few years and we'll just see what happens. We've shown we've had a lot of speed in the cars and if we can just minimize mistakes we'll be in great shape."
Johnson is the only driver who has qualified for the Chase each year since the format’s inception in 2004. In addition, the four-consecutive wins scored by the No. 48 team in the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup ties a modern-era NASCAR record. Those statistics, couple with the fact that Johnson became only the second driver in NASCAR’s history to win three-consecutive titles with his win last year, makes him an early favorite.
"Experience is everything,” Johnson said, explaining that experience should be a factor. “The fact that we've been able to win championships will really help us deal with some of the pressures. It doesn't mean that a first time Chase contender can't come in and win this thing. Those things are still out there and can take place but I like where we're at. I think experience is very important. I think it'll help.”
"When things really get tough, the experience will hopefully help us make the right decisions and manage the stress that comes with the Chase,” added Johnson. “But I'm excited. I've never felt this good about starting the Chase in the past. Our cars are spot-on. Mentally and physically, I'm the best I've ever been. I feel that the team is the same and doing really well. The first few races we'll get a good sense of who is where and who is really going to be a contender in this thing and hopefully we are one of those guys and we can start grinding it out and wearing these guys down."
Race 1 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will be broadcast live Sunday on ABC beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
RACE NOTES
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- Johnson has made 15 Sprint Cup Series starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, earning two wins, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
- Johnson has completed 98.5% (4305 of 4372) of competition laps at the track and has led 274.
- He has an average start and finish of 8.5 and 9.9.
Chassis
- Johnson will pilot chassis number 540 in Sunday’s race. He last drove that car to a ninth-place finish in the rain-shortened spring event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- Backup chassis number 520 has been in Victory Lane four of the last five events in which it has been driven, most recently at Martinsville Speedway in March.