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 The driver seeking a record-tying seventh championship scored his
second victory in five races, including the tail end of the 2014
season, which overall was off-key for Johnson. He went 18 races
without a victory last year - the third longest streak in his career
- and recorded his lowest finish in the championship points of 11th.
After just two rounds in 2015, Johnson has very likely qualified for
this year's Chase with the victory. "It's pretty much a lock," he
said. "If we win a second one it's definitely a lock. This one takes
the pressure off."
It would be inaccurate to say Johnson "is back." His record for
consistency continues to be remarkable despite the occasional bad
streak in a highly competitive series. His longest losing streak was
21-race stretch in 2011, but Johnson, now in his 14th full season,
has scored at least two victories each year since his first season
with crew chief Chad Knaus in 2002.
Starting 37th due to problems getting through the qualifying line,
Johnson once again overcame adversity after he and Knaus agreed he
should just go for it at the start. "To fly through the field like
that, to feel those sensations in the car with that much grip, to be
able to work traffic from my standpoint was surprising," said
Johnson. "I'm sure from Chad's standpoint, sitting on the box and
watching me pass two three cars a lap, was impressive as well."
By the end, Johnson was unchallenged at the finish by runner-up
Kevin Harvick and won by 1.802 seconds.
Although he's not predicting a banner season, Knaus believes the new
lower downforce rules for all the speedways except the restrictor
plate tracks are good for his driver.
"I do think this type of package will help," he said. "Low grip will
help Jimmie."
--- --- --- --- ---
The Atlanta race was a classic example of the appeal of the
high-speed, high-banked oval. Drivers bounced off walls and
continued, they got their cars sideways and recovered. They ran four
different lines in the corners, occasionally hugging the wall at the
top.
There were 15 Sprint Cup championships at the back of the pack for
the start after qualifying snafus. In addition to Johnson and
Harvick, Jeff Gordon quickly made their way to the front due to the
passing opportunities afforded by the open banking and absence of
restrictor plates. Overall, there were 28 lead changes among 12
drivers. Nine of those lead changes took place on the track under
green.
--- --- --- --- ---
The schedule, if not the weather, was the hot topic in Atlanta. The
track, which opened in 1960, initially was nicknamed the Atlanta
International Rainway due to so many rainouts. The record in early
March has never been good, but that's where the track landed on the
schedule this year.
Track president Ed Clark gave up the Labor Day weekend date to
Darlington Raceway - which originally held the date from 1950
through 2004 - due to increasing competition from Atlanta area
college football, the Falcons and the Braves. Clark tried to get a
date in early April. But NASCAR officials, in partnership with Fox
Sports, wanted an East Coast event to follow the Daytona 500.
The weather in Atlanta may have been dicey, but TV ratings are
likely to be higher due to the storms in the Northeast. Although the
race start was delayed by rain and skies were overcast all day, the
crowd was estimated at 50,000 in a week following snowfall in much
of northern Georgia. According to sources close to NASCAR, as long
as the racing is good on the 1.54-mile track, there is no danger of
Atlanta losing its lone Sprint Cup date.
--- --- --- --- ---
Jeff Gordon's record of hitting walls unprotected by a SAFER barrier
took another hit in Atlanta. Collected in a four-car incident on the
back straight, Gordon rammed the inside wall at Turn 3 - just past
where the SAFER barrier ended.
"I didn't expect it to be that hard," said Gordon of the impact that
destroyed the front end of his Chevy. "Then I got out and I looked.
'Oh wow, what a big surprise. I found the one wall here on the back
straightaway that doesn't have a SAFER barrier.'"
Gordon issued another call for complete coverage by SAFER barriers
at all tracks. "Everybody knows we have to do something and it
should have been done a long time ago," he said. "All we can do now
is hope they do it as fast as they possibly can."
Before the race, tire barriers borrowed from the Charlotte Motor
Speedway were placed at the exits of Turns 2 and 4, a move that
followed the accident of Kyle Busch in Daytona that left him with a
broken leg in a collision with an unprotected wall in Daytona.
...Busch's replacement, David Ragan, started 17th and finished 18th
in Atlanta.
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Two drivers plan to make their season debut in Las Vegas for very
different reasons. Brian Vickers, a three-time career Sprint Cup
winner, is entered in the Toyota of Michael Waltrip Racing. His late
start results from a second surgery for a hole in his heart, first
operated on in 2011.
Travis Kvapil, meanwhile, will try to make his first Sprint Cup
start this year after his Team Xtreme race car was stolen from a
motel near the track in the wee hours Friday morning. A truck and a
van with the car inside and a back-up engine worth $100,000
disappeared in the hands of thieves. Although the race car was found
within 24 hours in a wooded area three counties away, and the truck
was later recovered, it was too late for Kvapil. The van was still
missing as of Sunday night.
Kvapil has committed to running the three-race western swing with
Team Xtreme. Team owner John Cohen said the team expects to race in
Las Vegas with the recovered car and will use its regular 18-wheel
truck to haul the car out West. For Atlanta, the 18-wheeler was sent
ahead due to the threat of snow, but the car was put in a separate
hauling van for the trip in order to spend more time on preparation.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
The low downforce aerodynamics package and reduced horsepower for
all the speedways other than the restrictor plate tracks at Daytona
and Talladega, have been the major focus of pre-race speculation,
because they're designed to put the driving back into the hands of
drivers. The cars are faster on the straightaway due to less
downforce, but must rely more on mechanical grip and tires in the
corners - along with driver input - to achieve similar lap times as
last year.
The Atlanta race looked to be a success, although the track has
always been one where drives can make adjustments in the wheelhouse
to get faster on corner entry or by taking different lines.
A third major change - the cockpit adjustable track bar - was a
washout. In the past, the track bar, which helps adjust chassis
performance, has been changed during pit stops with a ratchet
wrench. This year, drivers have an electronic adjustment.
Theoretically, it can help drivers "tune" their chassis midway in
longer stints. But several drivers think it will maybe help cars
handling poorly and little else.
"I don't think that thing is going to be a big deal," said Dale
Earnhardt Jr., who finished third in Atlanta. "I haven't found it to
be anything that will set the world on fire. It can be a help when
the car is very, very out to lunch. I don't think it's going to be
much of a story after five races."
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The Furniture Row Chevy team has struggled since the loss of driver
Kurt Busch, who departed for Stewart Haas Racing after 2013, and the
loss of technical director Mark McCardle, who departed after 2012.
By bringing a high standard of engineering and racecraft, former
IndyCar engine builder McCardle helped bring Furniture Row its first
victory by Regan Smith Darlington in 2011. He then moved to Richard
Childress Racing and this year McCardle has been hired to help
direct a turnaround at Roush Fenway Racing.
It appears Furniture Row has recovered after Busch's aggressive
talent helped mask some problems during the 2013 season. The 2014
season with Truex Jr. at the wheel was underwhelming. But his
sixth-place finish in Atlanta put him into fifth in the points.
That's the highest the Furniture Row team owned by Barney Visser has
been in the standings. Busch was as high as sixth during the 2013
season.
"It's nice to start off the year with momentum," said Truex Jr. Last
year, he finished in the Top Ten only four times - including a
second place at Daytona to start the season. "We worked very hard in
the off season to get back to where we need to be." That work began
by using the one Chevy chassis that was consistent for Truex Jr.
during the 2014 season as the foundation.
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