Second thoughts

Junior won on his own, Johnson says

Driver Jimmie Johnson, left, speaks to the media as crew chief Chad Knaus, right, listens during a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Tuesday, May 5, 2015.
Driver Jimmie Johnson, left, speaks to the media as crew chief Chad Knaus, right, listens during a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Tuesday, May 5, 2015.

Jimmie Johnson stood next to a million reasons he would do whatever it took to win the May 16 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

photo

AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recorded his first victory over the season Sunday at Talladega, but would he have won without help from his teammate?

Yet more than 48 hours after Sunday's race at Talladega, Ala., Johnson continued to find himself trying to offer a convincing one to some fans who believe he spent most of Sunday helping Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. win.

"It's the most ridiculous thing, ever," Johnson said to Jim Utter of The Charlotte Observer of the accusations that he didn't try to win the race himself. Johnson has been hounded by questions from fans, particularly on social media, in part because of how the final 20 laps of the race were run mostly single-file.

Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, took part in a news conference Tuesday surrounded by stacks of bills that represented the $1 million prize to the winner of the all-star event, something Johnson has won four times.

"If I didn't win, absolutely I'd want it to be the Nos. 88, 24 or 5," Johnson said of his teammates Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. "On that side, I'm stoked for him. But I was doing everything in my power to set up a pass for the win."

The problem, Johnson said, was the excellent strategy employed by Earnhardt in the final laps to run the high-line around the track.

"He did a great job. If enough cars had gone to the bottom, the bottom is a lot faster, but you can't do it alone and everybody was afraid to be the first to pull out of line."

Johnson's experience in similar situations left him satisfied to run second and hope for an opportunity on the final lap.

"I've pulled out [of line] running second running down the back straightaway and I've finished 15th every time, or worse, so I decided to be patient," he said.

Some fans have even theorized Johnson was paying back Earnhardt for some help Earnhardt provided in Johnson's April 2011 victory at Talladega.

"If that makes them happy, that's cool," he said, tongue-in-cheek. "I'm kind of afraid to have them on my side because they've hated me forever.

"I'm not sure I want all this."

Bad hire?

Isiah Thomas has been named the president and part-owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty. Rodger Sherman of SBNation.com said to expect the Liberty to crash and burn.

"During Thomas' time in charge of the [New York] Knicks, he took a playoff team and made them the league's most expensive team and its worst team -- a fascinating combination," Sherman wrote. "He also lost a sexual harassment suit that cost [Madison Square Garden] more than $10 million.

"His failure with the Knicks was not unique. Isiah Thomas has been an administrator, a coach, and a front office guy. He has worked in the NBA, in college, and in minor league basketball. He has failed at all of them. He has left burning piles of rubble in his wake everywhere he has been worked.

"He has now found a new level of basketball to ruin, women's."

Burger Bieber

Burger King reportedly paid more than $1 million to have the Burger King mascot walk in with Floyd Mayweather before his fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Ind.: "Mayweather was also accompanied by Justin Bieber, who represented a small fry."

Sports Quiz

Isiah Thomas became this college program's head coach in 2009.

Sports answer

Florida International

TIM COOPER

Sports on 05/06/2015

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