Texas lesson of a year ago stuck with Johnson

Texas lesson of a year ago stuck with Johnson


The 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was shaping up as a bummer for the enemies of boring repetitiveness when the series showed up at Texas Motor Speedway last November. Jimmie Johnson was doing his annual autumn thing and appeared to have a full nelson on another championship.
But just three laps into the Dickies 500, Chase drama reared its beautiful head. Johnson crashed big-time and finished 38th.
He would recover from Texas and go on to win his fourth straight championship, but Johnson knows that a repeat of that backstretch incident this weekend could cost him a fifth straight title.
"As Kevin (Harvick, third in points and just 38 markers behind front-running Johnson) was saying earlier, you're going to have to run in the top five to stay in the game," Johnson said.
"The game" is as tight as it has ever been. When Sunday's AAA Texas 500 begins, three drivers will have legitimate Chase hopes. In addition to Johnson and Harvick, there is Denny Hamlin, who is in second place and a mere 14 points out of the lead.
Johnson not only cannot afford to crash out, he needs a good finish. Perhaps one that is better than his average finish of 10.1 at Texas .
"We need maximum points," Johnson said this week. "Of course, it's a little bit more forgiving or easy on your team and yourself with a big points lead. But we don't have that this year. We're going to have to race, and we're ready for it."
A year ago, Johnson had a 184-point cushion over Mark Martin leaving Talladega .
So comforting was that lead for the Hendrick Motorsports driver that he was in a semi-relaxed mode when he arrived in Fort Worth . He wasn't overconfident and he certainly wasn't counting chickens, but he knew how tough it would be for somebody to deprive him of the championship—unless trouble came calling.
The call came just minutes into the race when Sam Hornish Jr. and David Reutimann tangled and Johnson became an innocent victim.
He was sent into the wall and then to the garage for about an hour.
The relaxing was over for the year.
"You know," Johnson would say later, "the pressure of winning the fourth didn't really hit me until I hit the fence at Texas . And then it was like, man, you can't relax. You can't hope or think that things are going to be smooth."
The lesson of that was not just learned. It was driven into Johnson's skull with a sledgehammer.
Two weeks after the fact—and one week after posting a win at Phoenix which would restore his comfortable lead—Johnson was still obsessing about Lap 3 at TMS.
"My mind is still so stuck on Texas ," he said at the big, pre-race press conference in Homestead . "I'm just so focused on what happened at Texas and the 184" point lead that was trimmed to 73 points.
At least with no big points lead to lean on, the strategy on Sunday at TMS will be simple for the 48 team.
"All out," Johnson, whose lone victory at Texas came in the fall race three seasons ago, said. "We need to be as competitive and as fast as we can possibly be at this point. We're going to three tracks that are good for all three competitors.
"Obviously take advantage of things and win if you can. Ten extra points from first to second are going to be important. Leading laps, leading the most laps, you're going to have to be on your A-game from here on out."
By Jim Pedley

Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service