Johnson won’t change race ways
Rules change not a bother to reigning champ
Another year, another title to defend, another set of rules.
No big deal, said Jimmie Johnson, who will attempt to win a record eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title this season under a recalibrated points system for the third time. Johnson tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. with his seventh title in November.
Johnson won five consecutive championships beginning in 2006, and in 2011 the postseason scoring scheme was adjusted and wild cards added.
Johnson won another title in 2013, the year before NASCAR tweaked its playoff system again, dividing it into four rounds with elimination races. Johnson was undone by various factors in en- suing seasons — including when a part broke during a cutoff race at Dover International Speedway in 2015 — but rallied to win his seventh championship last season.
Now he heads into another title defense with another change. NASCAR announced Monday that races will be broken into stages and bonus points awarded throughout the regular and postseason.
“As a competitor, it’s tough to say that’s going to change much of what I do,” said Johnson, who moved with his family to Aspen, Colo., for the offseason.
“But I know there will be opportunities where that point matters for someone. We’re at 100% in those cars, and then we try to articulate that all the time. Some get it and some don’t. It might take people from being at that 100% mark to making them a little bit more desperate in given situations and create more story lines.
“So I feel that there has been a lot of time and effort and serious thought put into this and it touches a lot of areas that needed to be addressed in our sport right now and the way things are evolving.”