Racing for the Nextel Cup title is an annual event for Jimmie Johnson, one of only two drivers who have participated in all four years of the Chase for the championship.
But he’s never had a view from the top, at least not at the start of the Chase.
The reigning Nextel Cup champion kicks off his title defense Sunday in New Hampshire as the top seed in the Chase, the first time he’s starting the 10-race showcase first in the standings.
This new positioning hasn’t changed his approach – Johnson didn’t even realize anything was different until his wife pointed it out.
“Channy reminded me of that the other night, and I couldn’t believe it,” Johnson said. “I guess that goes to show that I won’t be changing much, and you really can’t because we’re still learning a lot about the Chase. I just don’t know how important these bonus points are going to be.”
NASCAR changed the seeding format this season, awarding 10-point bonuses for every “regular-season” victory. Johnson won the past two races – giving him a series-best six – to break a tie with teammate Jeff Gordon and earn the top seed in the Chase.
He’s up 20 points on Gordon, 30 on Tony Stewart, and 60 on Clint Bowyer, the 12th driver in the Chase.
Although he’s been the most consistent regular-season driver since 2004, Johnson always coughed up his points lead before the start of the Chase. He dropped to second the inaugural year, fourth in 2005 and second last season.
Compounding the problem has been slow starts to the Chase that made Johnson play catch-up the rest of the way. None was as bad as last season, though, when he wrecked in New Hampshire to finish 39th and plummet to ninth in the standings. He recovered, though, to win his first Nextel Cup title.
But he can’t bank on last year’s model. Although one bad race didn’t cripple his chances, there’s no guarantee any driver will have that cushion again.
Johnson knows that from 2004, when Kurt Busch was flawless en route to his title and no one could catch him.
“Last year we got lucky in that after the tough start, everybody else had some bad luck as well,” he said. “But I look back at when Kurt Busch won it in ’04, there weren’t a lot of mulligans that year. He was so consistent that it became really difficult for anyone else to overcome a bad race.”
So how will Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team approach the Chase this year? “We’re just out to rack up as many top 10s as possible,” he said. “Top fives would obviously be better, and wins, of course we’d take them, too.”
Q: So you won Richmond on Saturday night, got back to Charlotte around 3:30 a.m. and had a 7 a.m. tee time. How did that work out for you?
JJ: Well, a friend of mine pulled into the driveway and was honking his horn, so that forced me to get up. It wasn’t pretty. I played terrible, too. But it was a fun day to get out with some friends, get on the golf course, have some beers and just relax. But I admit, it was way, way hard to get out of bed.
Q: What’s the deal with golf? Is this a new hobby for you?
JJ: I am about a year into it. I picked it up last year during the Chase, because I have a lot of friends who golf and (wife) Channy really pushed me to take a day and forget about racing. It’s not so much about the golf right now as it is letting our hair down, getting out on the course and having some fun. It worked, and now I have the bug.
Q: What do you shoot?
JJ: I didn’t say I was good! I’m in the mid-90s. That’s kind of where it lands.
Q: You were briefly on ABC’s “NASCAR in Primetime” last week, and I was on during your clip. I called you “the gentleman champion” and you gave me grief about it! What would you have preferred I said about you?
JJ: I was just messing with you. But, that is sort of what I expect people to say about me. That’s the impression and the vision that everyone has because my whole career, I’ve always been so careful about my image. I had to work my way up through the ranks and doing that required me to be polite, be on time, be well behaved. So I’ve developed this reputation of being a bit of a Mr. Nice Guy. But as of late, through the XM radio show I do and other outlets, people are learning there’s this other side of me and I’m not a total square.
Q: Did falling off the top of a moving golf cart – and breaking your wrist in the process – help that at all?
JJ: You know, coming out of the gates, if I would have been truthful with that thing, it would have been perfect. But it didn’t come off the way it should have. Looking back, I should have just said “Hey, I was having fun on the golf course with my friends, I was surfing on top of it and I fell off like an idiot.” It might have worked for me, made people see I’m a pretty regular guy who works hard and plays hard.
SPOTLIGHT: JEFF GORDON
Jump-start time
The three-time Nextel Cup champion is also a three-time winner at Loudon. He will have to recapture some of that magic after an indifferent end to the “regular season.” In his past four races, Gordon has finished fourth (Richmond), 22nd (California), 19th (Bristol) and 27th (Michigan).
THIS WEEK’S RACE: SYLVANIA 300
First race of the Chase
11 a.m. Sunday, KMGH-7
Where: New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
Track: 1.058-mile oval; banking: 12-degree turns; 2-degree straights; 300 laps
Qualifying: 1 p.m., Friday, ESPN2
