CONCORD, N.C. - Jimmie Johnson is focused on chasing victory at the Coca-Cola 600.
He says he isn’t thinking about his championship legacy.
A victory tonight would be Johnson’s fourth in NASCAR’s longest race, trailing only Darrell Waltrip’s five spring victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson also could strengthen his series points lead with his third victory this season as he chases his sixth Sprint Cup title, and a victory would be a record seventh at Charlotte.
It’s a resume already worthy of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame - perhaps even in the running for NASCAR’s greatest driver - but that isn’t something Johnson is ready to think about.
“I just don’t pay attention to it all,” Johnson said. “It’s very difficult to think about where I fit in while I’m still racing. I think of drivers’ careers ending mid-40s. I still have 10 years or so to even think about that.”
Johnson, 37, plenty of others thinking about it as his milestones pile up. He captured his fourth Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte last week, a record.
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, a four time Sprint Cup champion, called Johnson’s career phenomenal.
Johnson had won several off-road racing titles when Gordon backed him to team owner Rick Hendrick. Johnson drove his first Sprint Cup race for the team in 2001 and joined the series full time the next season.
Combine Johnson’s talent with Hendrick’s resources and the skill of crew chief Chad Knaus and it’s a recipe for success.
“The numbers that he has put up I think speak for themselves,” Gordon said.
Johnson’s numbers at Charlotte speak loudly, too. He won three consecutive Coca-Cola 600s from 2003 through 2005, a stretch that also included victories in the fall races in 2004 and 2005. Johnson won here in October 2009, tying Waltrip and Bobby Allison for the all-time mark of six Charlotte victories.
“How do I describe his career? Do we have that much time?” said Matt Kenseth, who leads the series with three victories this season.
Johnson believes his success in the non-points all-star race gives him confidence for today. His winning All-Star car is still in NASCAR’s technical section and the team couldn’t get it back in time to run in the 600.
“We have a lot to work from, but it’s still a new weekend,” Johnson said. “[The] race is much different than before. We feel like we have a good direction, and we’ll see where things stack up at the end of the night.”
Expect Johnson to be pressured on many fronts during the race.
Joe Gibbs Racing has three cars among the top eight starters, including pole sitter Denny Hamlin, who led qualifying with a track record of 195.624 mph Thursday night. Kenseth, who won at Darlington two weeks ago, will start third while Kyle Busch starts eighth. Busch has won 11 times at Charlotte in the Nationwide and Truck series but never on NASCAR’s biggest stage.
Defending champion Kasey Kahne, Johnson’s teammate, will start near the front in sixth.
Kurt Busch of Furniture Row Racing looked like he had taken his second consecutive pole after Darlington before Hamlin caught him by about five-hundreths of a second for the top spot. Kurt Busch led 69 of the first 73 laps at Darlington before fading to 14th. He’ll give it another go tonight.
“We know we’ve got some good things going right now,” he said.
Even with all of his success, Johnson still hasn’t convinced some critics. He jokingly took aim at them after his all-star victory, saying he was simply “lucky.”
“That’s what people say,” he said back May 17. “There’s no talent involved, we just got lucky tonight.”
If Johnson won’t tout his achievements, others in the garage are happy to do it.
“People can say whatever they want about him,” Kenseth said, “but I don’t know how you can’t say that he’s not the best ever.”Today’s lineup Lap length: 1.5 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 195.624 mph.
(78) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 195.221.
(20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 195.094.
(55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 194.595.
(15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 194.503.
(5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 194.349.
(16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 194.238.
(18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 193.952.
(1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 193.694.
(39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 193.639.
(88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 193.444.
(48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 193.292.
(99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 193.271.
(24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 192.961.
(29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 192.52.
(42) Juan Montoya, Chevrolet, 192.287.
(56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 192.191.
(43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 192.13.
(9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 192.123.
(2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 191.884.
(13) Casey Mears, Ford, 191.884.
(27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 191.727.
(36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 190.988.
(10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 190.826.
(14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 190.792.
(38) David Gilliland, Ford, 190.665.
(31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 190.49.
(93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 190.416.
(21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 190.409.
(17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 190.241.
(22) Joey Logano, Ford, 190.047.
(98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 189.967.
(7) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 189.793.
(47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 189.401.
(34) David Ragan, Ford, 189.049.
(51) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 188.725.
(83) David Reutimann, Toyota, Owner Pts.
(30) David Stremme, Toyota, Owner Pts.
(32) Timmy Hill, Ford, Owner Pts.
(87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Owner Pts.
(33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Owner Pts.
(35) Josh Wise, Ford, Owner Pts.
(95) Scott Speed, Ford, 188.659.
FAILED TO QUALIFY 44. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 188.219.
Sports, Pages 32 on 05/26/2013