Johnson ‘hard to ignore’
Six-time champ 2nd in points
Jimmie Johnson is back! What’s that you say? He never left?
Speculation that Mr. Six-Time is losing his grip as a front-packer has been greatly exaggerated. His No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy team won five races last year, not too shabby.
But that effort blew up in a hurry during the Chase when hewas eliminated in the first round.
“Five wins are hard to ignore,” Johnson said. “It’s a great year. Again, the weirdness of being eliminated in that first bracket was tough for us. We had some trouble late thatwe didn’t anticipate on having.
“But itwas still a good year. Statistically not our best year by anymeans, but we still found away to get to victory lane, and that made us proud as a team.”
Johnson has much to be proud of this season as well. He travels to Martinsville this weekend No. 2 in the standings behind Kevin Harvick with a series-high two victories in five starts.
As a six-time Cup champion, Johnson has set the bar incredibly high. Anything short of a championship may be labeled a failure. But the elimination rounds of the Chase have changed the dynamics of the game.
“Theway I look at it today, it’s such a different way to crown a champion than itwas when I won my six,” Johnson said. “And that’s my goal, to be one of the four in Homestead. And then it’s every man for himself.”
The 2014 season wasn’t a good one. “Itwas on us,” Johnson noted. But the 2015 season fell under the “stuff happens” file.
A $5 part in Dover took Johnson out of the Chase. The problem involved a rear-axle seal that popped up on Lap 104. Johnson would finish 41st, an odd spot for a driver who had dominated at Dover, winning a record 10 times.
The followingweek at Charlotte, a second consecutive mechanical failure ruined his day. Johnson was running in the top five until that point.
“We would have been one of the four ifwe didn’t have Dover and ifwe didn’t have the Charlotte thing,” Johnson said. “But ifs, ands and buts— or however that saying goes.”
Onward to 2016. Life is good.
At 40, Johnson is in a competitive groove as he pursues a record-tying seventh Cup title. He isn’t on a downward trajectory.
“I feel like physically and mentally I’m the best that I’ve ever been inmy career,” he said after winning in Fontana, his 77th Cup victory. “I’m in a great space and really enjoying going to the race shop, going to the racetrack, working withmy team.
“It makes me want to stick around and do this for a lot of years. There’s no guarantees about when you’re going to win and have success. I’ve been very fortunate to win 77 of these things, which blows my mind on its own.”
But what if Cup title No. 7 never happens?
“My life sucks,” he said. “Thatwould be terrible.” He said it with a smile. Mr. Six-Time is in a good place. Don’t count him out for another title, ormaybe even a few more.