Johnson battling through new format
You may remember Jimmie Johnson.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion and one of the last men standing in contention to become the signature face of the sport after Dale Earnhardt Jr. retires at the end of this season.
Winning a record eighth Cup title and surpassing two giants of the sport — Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — would provide a nice push regarding the GOAT marketing plan.
If that title comes in 2017, Johnson’s eighth sip of the championship champagne will involve a story of grinding it out week by week. Those were the circumstances in Kansas last weekend when Johnson rallied for an 11thplace finish despite a pair of spins.
One of them included a slide into the front-stretch grass, a better place to be than the carnage all around him as Johnson avoided the “Big One” involving 14 cars on Lap 197 of the race.
And so, despite the lack of style points, Johnson moved into the Elite Eight, joining Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott in advancing to the third round of the playoffs, which begins at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Then it’s on to Texas and Phoenix to set the final four for the championship race on Nov. 19 near Miami.
“Spun out twice and thankfully didn’t hit anything too hard,” Johnson said.
Johnson isn’t the favourite (say hello to Mr. Truex) but there’s that X-factor of a champion. Johnson has been there and done that. And that counts for something. A lot, actually.
“Yeah, this year’s format definitely doesn’t fit my natural tendency in a car and kind of what our team has earned seven championships through,” Johnson said last month in New Hampshire. “So we felt like without a doubt this is going to challenge us more than any other format in our history in the sport. I think it’s kind of shown that to be true.”
The new format, with bonus points for stage victories during a race, doesn’t favour Johnson’s M.O. as a hard-knock grinder who runs with the pack leaders but isn’t necessarily up front all the time.
“That is just the reality of it and it’s forcing me to do things differently and the team,” Johnson said. “So we definitely have an effort in that direction, although it hasn’t yielded much yet.”
Johnson doesn’t take crazy chances, which contributes to the ho-hum dossier some of the NASCAR Nation hangs on him. Ask him if he cares. I did, back in February during Speedweeks.
“I don’t give a (bleep) anymore,” Johnson said, sitting pretty outside his motor coach at Daytona International Speedway.
That’s the thing. With or without a title in 2017, Johnson is etched among the greatest ever. He’s not going anywhere.
And Mr. Truex and the others had better be careful: Mr. SevenTime isn’t done counting championships just yet.