Q&A with Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. Full Transcript:

JIMMIE JOHNSON: You definitely have a plan. You want to be the last car in a big group, so whenever that group rolls, you want to be towards the end, and everybody knows that, so it's going to be very interesting, and I think we saw that at Talladega, where people were playing the waiting game and left pit road without enough time to even come back and take the green.

It's kind of down to a countdown now. You know what time you need to leave pit road and take that chance and roll, and at the same time, if you're worried about your car like we are, we don't want to race the backup car, we want the 500 car to be the car. We know we've got to race on Thursday, so if you're not in position to get the front row, you might choose to be a little smarter and not push the envelope and worry about going racing.

Q. If you wait for that last group, does it matter who's in that group to you or just the fact â€'â€'

JIMMIE JOHNSON: It's just numbers. It's just a numbers game, especially just getting up to speed and the way it works out, and at Talladega, I ended up qualifying second on a lap that I didn't run at speed. I mean, we had a huge moment where everybody checked up in 3 and 4 coming into the green, and when I got to the startâ€'finish line I wasn't even at full speed, and because of the whole catâ€'andâ€'mouse game that's going on with everybody positioning themselves, it still turned out to be second fastest.

Q. What's Jeff Gordon meant to the sport?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Gosh, he's done so much on so many levels, and I think now since we know it's his final year, we're all looking back and having some aha moments, like wow, he really was instrumental, in my opinion, in helping car owners and sponsors realize that there are drivers far and wide that can come in and be competitive, and he opened the door for Stewart, and Stewart opened the door further for myself and Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse. Now we have more drivers from the state of California than any other state, so it's wild to think in NASCAR that that's the case, and I think Jeff is responsible for that trend happening.

You look at when Jeff and Earnhardt and their competitive nature in our sport, kind of falling into mainstream media at that point, we needed a cleanâ€'cut, wellâ€'spoken person to kind of carry the sport. Jeff was that guy. His dominance helped our sport.

I look at my own arc in life and in motorsports, and the fact that he gave me my chance, created a team for me to go racing, and then what has happened from there. You won't see another competitor out there singing his praises, I don't think, like me.

Q. When was the first time you met him, do you remember?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]JIMMIE JOHNSON: I saw him a few times. I doubt he'll remember and we never had a chance to formally meet, but at test sessions I guess in '99 and even in 2000 when he was running some Nationwide stuff, we'd have a test session and every now and then the 24 car would be there, and I would always try to linger by his pit and try to introduce myself to him, and it never worked out, and truthfully the first time I met him formally was at the August race in Michigan in 2000, and I went to him with some questions that I needed answered. I needed some advice because the Herzogs were going to pull out. They lost their sponsorship, and the only opportunities I had involved switching manufacturers, as well, and I knew Jeff left Bill Davis and Ford and went to Rick Hendrick and Chevy and I thought he had like the magic answer, so I asked him for a few minutes of time, introduced myself at the drivers' meeting, asked him for a few minutes of time. He brought me back to the transporter, we talked briefly before the start of the race, and after I told him my situation, he gave me some advice, and then said, you're not going to believe this, but we're talking about starting a fourth team, and your name is the only name that's been brought up.

So just in a 30â€'minute window of time, what all went on, starting out trying to work up the nerve to introduce myself to him, looking for some advice, and then practically leaving with the job was just insane. It was the wildest 30 minutes of my life.

Q. As you know, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress have six championships together. Of course Dale and Richard Petty have seven together. Now you guys have six. Have you sat down and thought, wow, I've got six championships? Have you had the chance to sit down and think about how big that is?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I've tried to, and I think it sinks in more as the years go by and I'm sure at some point when you're out of the rat race of the racetrack and you're sitting at home removed, it goes in to levels it should, but I'm just as honored as I could ever describe or express to be at this position, in this position, and to have six, and to have six with Lowe's, with Rick, with Chad. Ron Malec has been there through it all, as well. That aspect really means a lot to me, too, that it's just been with one team and one sponsor.

Q. What do you think as you put your finger on why you and Chad just clicked like you did?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I can't tell you why, but that is the reason, and last year we didn't have our â€'â€' we weren't as connected and clicked like we needed to, and that's where our speed was, and that's what we've worked hard on all winter to identify and get back in that space, because when we won five in a row, all of the Hendrickâ€'provided engines and chassis, they're all the same. My teammates, we're all the same. The only difference was Chad and I, and the way we went about things and how we made decisions and the connection we had led to our success. And I said it then and it's kind of in my mind now, I wish we could have bottled it somehow and maintained it because it was magical, and there's just certain pairings of driverâ€'crew chief combinations that work, that have that magic.

Q. How do you know if it's fixed now?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: We don't. We'll find out as the year wears on. We proved to ourselves that we've made the right adjustments, and truthfully, it's just to keep it very simple, it's the decisionâ€'making process. It's not about putting in more time and effort, resources, equipment. We have all of that. We've just unfortunately been working in the wrong areas. So the way we make decisions and where we think speed is, we need to make better decisions and get to those little pockets of speed.

Q. Do you like the Chase now as much as you did then?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I said it last year, I wanted the stats to tell me that it was better, and the stats that NASCAR shared with the drivers a couple weeks ago definitely showed things going in the right direction. I feel with my talents as a driver, the team that I drive for, the commitment we all have for the sport, regardless of format we're going to be a threat and have a shot to win championships.

I'm for it. I want what's best for our sport. I want those grandstands full. I want the ad buys to be up. I want people craving our sport like they did in the '90s, so I have an open mind as to how we get there.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JIMMIE JOHNSON: It did better than '13, considerably better than '13, and the stats proved that. Give it another year or two, we keep seeing the bump up, we're going to be in good shape.

Q. Is it now harder for you to win a championship under this Chase? You mastered the old one, but with the changes is it harder?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I think there are a couple scenarios or one scenario that it's more forgiving. If you get off to a slow start and you're just collecting points and you can make it in that 16 and then to 12, it's a little bit more forgiving on the front side, and if you get hot and win, then I think it's more forgiving than a previous Chase. But in all the other scenarios I think it's harder, and I think that you've got to win the last two, to beat Kevin, that's where I put the weight in saying that it's harder.

You can sneak in in 16th, sneak in in 12th, sneak in in eighth, win at the right time and have it not be the most consistent year and then face criticism that you lucked your way into it and you just won a race and won the championship. There is that scenario and that is out there, but all the other scenarios it's much more difficult.

Q. It seems hard to believe anybody now in this system could do what you do and win five straight; is that fair?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Anything is possible. I don't know.

Q. Does the randomness take that out of the equation?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: It could, and I would say probably yeah, yes. I 80 percent believe in that. Just leaving a little room open because I know when Cale won his three, everybody felt like that would never be done again, and then we were able to get to three and kind of bring back some of those thoughts and then we got to four and five, so I just don't know.

Q. Going back to Chad, he's doing more TV this year, he's engaged now. Do you sense maybe he's got stuff going on where he's starting to see the end of the line for him as a crew chief or have you guys had that discussion?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: We haven't had the discussion. I know that his time is probably going to expire before mine, just the dog years that crew chiefs live in, and we've always talked about that, and it's been kind of open. I'm going to do everything in my power to get him to hang on as long as I can, and I keep joking with him trying to prime the pump early, like hey, buddy, we started this together, let's end it together. I don't know that I'll be lucky enough to get that. But I know that he enjoys TV. I know that he loves to work, as we all know. And some of these other outlets are fun for him.

And I'm also very happy that he's engaged, and I think that from my own experience, having the home life kind of anchored down and stable, it's just great for me, and I think it's going to be a very good thing for him, as well.

Q. What do you think of all the young kids out there? There's all these 19â€'year olds, 20â€'year olds?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, it's wild to have that. The thing that kind of hurts my feelings and is wild at the same time is when I meet a kid and he says, I've been a fan of yours my whole life, and I'm like, well, how old are you? Nine. I guess this is my 14th year. That one really stings. I'm like, man, I'm that guy. Getting old.

Q. What does that do for the future of the sport?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Our sport has got a great, bright future. Fantastic drivers that are going to carry on the torch.

Q. What are the chances you don't still have the magic? It was so special at that time. What's the likelihood of that just never coming back?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I guess probably the odds are high. Some may say lightning never strikes the same place twice, and I want to believe differently. I want to believe it can happen. You know, there's no telling. Winning five in a row never happened before, for a very good reason. It's just very difficult. The chances of it happening again I'd say are pretty low, but I'm going to believe. I'm going to keep trying.

Q. Have you found anything to fill the half marathon slot this weekend?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: No.

Q. A few hundred miles on the coast or â€'â€'

JIMMIE JOHNSON: There is a big ride on Friday morning that somebody has put together, so we'll definitely get a ride in, but I'm bummed the race isn't happening. I've been giving Chitwood a hard time about it. He says it'll be back next year.

Q. Joey Logano says it's easy when things are going really, really well for a team, and even somebody who won four races like you, as he says, a Jimmieâ€'esque type of season. Does that struggling just take more of a hit on a team than it normally would when everything is just going smoothly?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, kind of what happens, when you're struggling, you almost have a shotgun approach, and you're trying to hit a wide pattern and see what brings speed. When you unload off the truck and you're fast, you get much more into like a rifle scenario and you're very precise with the changes you make, and there's a lot of speed in the details. Sometimes you can recover if you unload slow and you get in the game and can be close and have a shot at winning, but in most cases you're an adjustment or two behind all weekend, and you just never get there, and then that's the hard part.

When things are going your way and you can have that very crisp approach and sharp approach to how you're going to handle a weekend, things flow so much easier than showing up, unloading, blowing all of the components off the car, springs, control arms, put it all back together, now you just lost 45 minutes, your practice is condensed, hit the track, make 10 laps, wow, that didn't work, blow it apart again. It's just tough to have that shotgun approach every weekend.

Q. With the new rules of engagement with the Chase, how challenging is it going to be to see repeat champions, whether it's you or anyone else?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think that it's going to be tougher. It definitely is more of a â€'â€' just give guys a chance, and good teams, good drivers, people that are all championshipâ€'worthy teams, you rerack and give four people an equal opportunity at Homestead, it's going to be tough to get it right. You'd better hope Homestead is your best track.

Q. Tiger Woods was as dominant in his sport as you were when you won five in a row. Do you look at what's happening with him and ever worry that that might happen to you two years down the road or five years, 15 years?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, it's tough to watch. I mean, he's got some other dynamics weighing on him that I don't think others have had before. But it is tough to watch. I mean, anybody in sports that dominates, everybody has a visual in their mind of them at their peak, and it's tough to watch somebody struggle along.

I read recently that he just doesn't consider himself in shape or in the place he needs to be at a professional level to play, and he's going to take some time off, I was happy to hear it because it's tough watching him suffer. It's tough watching all the media outlets picking it apart, and it's been going on for years. You're like, man, when is it ever going to end for the guy? So I'm glad he's going to take some time for himself. I would love to see him come back, being in my position. Maybe give a little incentive or a little something to hang a hat on and say, all right, you can come back from things.

Q. As a guy who's been there and done that, can you just describe what are the unique advantages of being on the pole here in terms of leading the field to the first turn?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]JIMMIE JOHNSON: It's a huge morale boost for the team. Everybody has been grinding all winter long, and to have the pole, man, it lifts the spirits in the shop because once those speedway cars leave, the guys got to worry about all the other races that are coming up, and with rule changes and validation process changing as it has, the electronic rule book, there's months and months and months of work to get us caught up and get our inventory of cars where they need to be. Any time you can send some positive mojo home, back to the shop, it's helpful, and that's what the pole does here.

Q. What about for the guy behind the wheel?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Hell, that doesn't have anything to do with it. With this format, it's a little different, but it's still a numbers game, it's still circumstantial. It's not like winning the pole at â€'â€' I was going to say Phoenix â€'â€' no, Atlanta is next. It's not like winning the pole at Atlanta.

Q. It comes with its own prestige, obviously?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Oh, there's tons of prestige. You're locked in. You don't got to worry about the performance in the duels. There's a lot of competitive advantages there.

The reason I guess I'm not speaking to those is a driver on a plate track, so much is out of your control that it's in others' hands.

Q. So it's not necessarily a huge competitive advantage for you?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I don't think so.

Q. As opposed to starting on the outside pole?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: No, no, there's no big â€'â€' well, the money is different, so that pays a little different from first to second, but from a driver's perspective you win the pole for the 500, awesome, thank you, team. It's really on that side. You win the pole at Atlanta, you're like, man, I got it done today. So just a little different mindset.

Q. With this format is there a little bit of concern that it's like five different ways to get into the race it seems like? Do you have any concern?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I mean, the only concern I have is the catâ€'andâ€'mouse game going on to get in position. It can get you tore up. We don't want to lose that car. So that's really the only concern I have. Outside of that, with the fact that you race through the duel and the 500 for so long, I'm not really worried about where I start. I'd love to get the front row to send the message back to the shop, hey, boys, thank you for the hard work all winter and get that mojo going, but true competitive mindset, it's not a big deal.

Q. Do you like that they went to group qualifying for this race, or would you have preferred to have kept it the way it always has been here?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I think this is a better use of time. Without having testing, without the practice sessions and singleâ€'car runs and all that stuff, I think it's a better use of time, and it's more entertaining. At the end of the day, we need to provide a good value to the fans.