Johnson sped after all but still wants speeds displayed

Johnson sped after all but still wants speeds displayed


Jimmie Johnson did a major mea culpa for questioning the legitimacy of his pit-road speeding penalty in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, but that didn’t change the five-time champion’s stance on public display of pit-road speeds.
It turns out Johnson wasn’t speeding where he thought NASCAR had busted him—the timed segment of pit road that contained his pit stall. Johnson was correct in stating he couldn’t have been speeding in that segment.
Rather, he was clocked at 35.53 mph in the segment before his pit box, and Johnson admitted in a Tuesday teleconference with reporters that NASCAR’s call was correct.
“At the end of the day, I called out NASCAR's credibility and judgment and I apologize for that,” Johnson said. “I was wrong. I guess I was right about the segment I thought I was speeding in. The report I got on Monday showed I was only going 8 mph (an average speed lowered by a stop in the pit box). The problem is, we were talking about the wrong box.”
Johnson nevertheless would like to see pit-road speeds displayed in real time. So would crew chief Chad Knaus, who indicated Monday night on Speed’s “NASCAR Race Hub” that seeing pit-road speeds would help teams understand where they’re pushing the envelope a little too far and might help to reduce the number of penalties.
Johnson said it also would lessen instances of drivers questioning the legitimacy of penalties.
“I’ve made this point before--and still think it’s a very valid point—that, if the pit-road segment times were broadcast live for everyone to review, it would eliminate this finger-pointing,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s probably not good for me to climb out of the car and call NASCAR’s credibility into judgment, and I apologize to NASCAR for that.”
By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(April 4, 2011)