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He’s done it coming from the back, and he’s done it hustling from the front.
So when it comes to Jimmie Johnson putting himself in position to win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, Johnson simply figures he’s in position all the time, until or unless someone tells him differently and backs it up with facts. That hasn’t happened for three years running now.
Ask him what it takes to get out front and stay out front in the 10-race Chase, which commences after 26 “regular-season” affairs, and Johnson says the key to it is simple. And that it’s best to keep it that way.
“There’s a clear way to do it – and that’s to win races and lead laps,” Johnson said. “But there is just no way of telling if that’s going to happen right off the bat.”
For Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and eight-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, the clear way to win the championship is provide the teams what they need, stay involved at every level, and play cheerleader for their efforts.
“I’m involved throughout the season and attend as many races as I can, and it’s the same way in the Chase,” he said. “It’s important to me to understand what’s going on with the teams and what they need to be successful. I want to make sure they always have the resources to stay competitive.”
“These guys are so hungry to win races and championships, they really don’t need any extra motivation,” Hendrick added. “I’m more of a cheerleader. I just want to make sure they know how much we appreciate all of their hard work and sacrifices. But at this level, these teams really don’t need anyone to motivate them.”
No matter how well Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s team prepares, sometimes there is just nothing anyone can do to avoid a cut tire or getting caught up in someone else’s wreck.
Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are well aware of that. And that’s why they are so careful to make certain they control every aspect of the race that they can, while not worrying too much about what they can’t. They also have established a routine from race to race, year to year, from which they do not deviate even when the going gets rough – or the pressure-packed Chase begins.
“I think for each driver, each team, there is a different set of circumstances,” Johnson said. “There is an argument for someone like Kyle Busch, where maybe pulling back (once the Chase begins) would be good for him. For us, pulling back takes us out of our rhythm and really affects how we all perform.”
“Doing what got you here is what is most important,” said Knaus. “And each team has their own little thing that makes them work. Some guys have to have that whip cracked on them. They need that pressure and they thrive on it. Others need a more relaxed environment. Everybody’s got their own thing.”
Owner Rick Hendrick has his own advice for Johnson and Knaus on staying out of trouble during the final 10 races.
“You have to know when to be patient and when to push,” said Hendrick, who has coached more than a few teams and drivers to championships. “But that’s not something I need to preach. Those guys have proven over and over that they can get the job done. Jimmie is a smart driver and Chad is a smart crew chief. The pit crew is extremely good. As a team, they keep mistakes to a minimum, and that’s what you have to do to win a championship.”
“The biggest thing is teamwork,” Hendrick noted. “If everyone in our organization is communicating, sharing information and pulling in the same direction, we should have a successful Chase.”
Knaus added that the strategy can become a moving target for the team as each Chase develops.
“It’s difficult to avoid trouble. You never know what is going to happen,” Knaus said. “We go to the racetrack with the same mindset every week and that is to run as fast as we possibly can and try and win the race. We’ve got 10 races at the end of the season where we have to try and make something happen in order for us to win the championship.
“As the Chase progresses you have to reassess weekly to what it is your goals are,” he noted. “If you have two bad weeks right out of the box, you have to ramp up and try and make some magic happen. If you go out and win the first two races, you might just try and get solid finishes later. Until you see what’s going on weekly, it’s difficult to know what you’re going to do.”
Regardless of the race strategy that is decided upon, the preparation always remains the same – down to the tiniest detail.
“Different aspects of it, yes, you can’t control. But if you talk to Chad and you talk to our crew guys, bad luck with a mechanical piece is something they don’t want to accept,” Johnson said. “It’s all been put together, built, designed. Electrical is a little different because some of that stuff we can’t even control. But from a mechanical standpoint, there is zero tolerance. You cannot have any failures.
“If you run over something or cut a tire, yeah, that’s bad luck,” Johnson added. “If someone spins out and collects you, yeah, there’s nothing you can do about that. So yes, there is that aspect of it. But we try to control as much of it as possible.”
That includes making certain mistakes are kept to a minimum during pit stops, according to pit crew coach Greg Morin.
“Our job is to control those 13 seconds when Chad calls Jimmie down pit road,” Morin said. “As long as we do that, we contributed our part. And we trust the rest of our teammates to shine in their respective areas as well.”
All parties agree that by controlling what they can and limiting mistakes by being prepared, the team collectively will put itself in position to challenge for a fourth consecutive championship this fall. No one has ever accomplished that before, but no one on the No. 48 team is ready yet to start thinking about making history just yet.
That might possibly interfere with their carefully laid plans for the Chase.
“We go to the track and we practice with the mentality that it’s still one pit stop at a time. It’s still one race at a time,” Morin said.
“If we look at Homestead now, we’re not going to have the focus we need for this next weekend’s race. If we look at the potential of winning another championship, we’re not going to have the focus we need for the next pit stop, or the one after that. Our mentality is that we continue to do the job that we do to the best of our ability, and take it one rep at a time, one pit stop at a time – both during practice and at the track.”
Knaus added that having a driver of Johnson’s ability makes his job easier. Plus crew chief and driver have matching mindsets when it comes to preparing for the Chase.
“We don’t approach Martinsville in the Chase any different than we do Daytona at the beginning of the season. The thing Jimmie does the best is if it’s a 15th to 20th place type of car, with his skill set he’s going to finish 15th to 20th. He’s not going to crash. That’s the difference,” Knaus said. “That’s the key to the way we’ve been. There are lots of guys out there with bad-handling race cars who try to do more with it then what the car is capable of. That’s when you put yourself in the danger zone.”
Johnson doesn’t like operating in the danger zone. And the success he has had three years running in the Chase give him the confidence and knowledge he needs to know how to avoid it.
He has a rare gift that enables him to focus in on each moment of each race with laser-like intensity.
“There is some confidence that comes from our experience of the last three Chase formats that we’ve been a part of,” Johnson said. “But at the same time, you really just live week to week – and you’ve kind of got to block out the entire year, block out everything, and just go into survival mode and just focus on those 10 weeks and on those other 11 guys. That’s your world, that’s all you care about.”