Foes
frustrated as Johnson takes shot at seventh title
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[November 02, 2016]
By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange
Known for his California cool, Jimmie
Johnson overcame banged fenders and left opponents frustrated by
winning the opening race of the Chase's Round of 8 at Martinsville
Speedway on Sunday.
The victory guarantees Johnson a shot at a record-tying seventh
Sprint Cup championship in the season finale.
After Johnson pulled away from the field over the final 92 laps at
the Martinsville Speedway and proved unbeatable, the drivers
finishing second and third had nothing but complaints. On a day when
Johnson became the first driver to advance to the final round of the
Chase at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and now has a record-tying
seventh Sprint Cup championship within his grasp, the complaints
were a sure sign of frustration.
Runner-up Brad Keselowski said if he'd had more green flag laps --
in place of a marathon 29-lap caution due to scoring issues -- he
might have caught Johnson. Given how Johnson was motoring away in
his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, that was a slightly preposterous
outlook for non-Chaser Keselowsli.
Chase contestant Denny Hamlin, who finished third, declared the
six-time champion to be an arrogant "king" for the way Johnson made
it difficult to pass midway in the race.
"It's hard racing those guys and (the) racing (is) very, very
tough," said Hamlin, citing Johnson's lack of success in the first
two years of the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup elimination
format and suggesting his opponent now has a new approach. "They're
doing what they think is successful, but upsetting me is not going
to make their job any easier."
Given that Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and fellow Toyota
running mate Martin Truex Jr. made it easy to pass one another for a
lap leader bonus point or on restarts at the tight half-mile
bullring, perhaps Hamlin's expectations for Johnson's driving were
slightly miscalculated. For his part, Johnson said he gave Hamlin
the preferred line and that the Toyota driver waited several laps
and then hit him on the way past.
"I'm puzzled that he had to move me like he did," said Johnson, who
won his circuit-leading ninth career race at Martinsville. "The
inside is a preferred lane. I gave him the inside. I had a little
something working on the top. There's a line of cars behind him. I
just can't roll over."
In other words, Hamlin was hoping to hang Johnson out to drop him
several positions and Johnson made sure that once Hamlin got by,
he'd have a spot to fall in behind him.
As it was, Hamlin hit Johnson's left front on the way past, a type
of move that has become increasingly in vogue during the Chase. That
created bent steering and a loose front fender that caused Johnson
to later run over A.J. Allmendinger and Aric Almirola.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/02/images/ads/current/american_legion_sda_2014.png)
Johnson's long pit stop to fix the fender dropped him to the rear of
the field. By the time he recovered from accidentally hitting his
kill switch under caution, he didn't catch leader Hamlin until 92
laps remained. But he quickly motored past.
"I prefer to race people cleanly," said Johnson, who has had
remarkably few feuds given his success. "I could have easily taken
the easy route and moved (Hamlin) when he came back to take over the
lead, and I didn't. I hope that showed him that, 'Look, man, I don't
have a beef.'"
The real beef was that once the tight, flat track became slick in
the afternoon sun, Johnson's set-up -- bent steering and all --
worked noticeably better. As a result, Hendrick and Chevy are
guaranteed a spot in the Championship Four and JGR will not be able
get all four of its drivers into the finale.
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Team owners Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick were once close allies when
the former NFL coach first entered NASCAR's premier series in 1992.
Gibbs team was, in many respects, the first affiliated team for
Hendrick in terms of sharing engines. Now that Gibbs has cast his
lot elsewhere with another manufacturer and last year gave Toyota
its first Sprint Cup, the teams have become heated rivals.
Gibbs drivers Hamlin, Matt Kenseth (who had a race-high179 laps
led) and Kyle Busch combined to lead 230 laps while finishing third
through fifth and remain strong candidates to advance to Homestead.
After a problem with a Goodyear tire, Carl Edwards hit the wall and
is a distant candidate to advance without a victory.
It was not a good day for Stewart-Haas Racing. Chase contenders
Kevin Harvick (20th) and Kurt Busch (22nd) were non-factors as were
teammates Danica Patrick (24th) and Tony Stewart (26th).
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/02/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_051513.png)
In effect, SHR is now the most recent former affiliate of Hendrick
Motorsports, which has supplied chassis and engines to the team.
Once the Chase began, the relationship between the two teams went
off-song due to SHR's planned move to Ford next year. At
Martinsville, the lack of the usual communication with Hendrick
appears to have hurt SHR's chances.
Given the team tactics that began at the Talladega Superspeedway a
week before the Martinsville event launched the Round of 8, will
Johnson get support from the Hendrick team's non-Chase teammates
Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Alex Bowman? The latter will run the
season's final three races as a substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
taking over from supersub Jeff Gordon, who finished sixth at
Martinsville.
Team owner Hendrick acknowledged that if JGR has adopted team
tactics, so will his team when the opportunity presents itself.
"You saw the Toyotas let each other in today, give each other a hole
when there was an opportunity," Hendrick said. "A teammate will let
you in if it's a restart. Those things kind of happen on the track."
Johnson says he has time until he has to race for a landmark seventh
championship at Homestead and will try to focus first on building
momentum in the upcoming races at the Texas Motor Speedway, where he
is a five-time winner, and the Phoenix International Raceway.
Homestead "is three weeks away," said Johnson in his post-race
interview, "but I feel like at least now, an hour into it, it's a
lot different than if I was sitting here with the old format. We're
going to have four drivers with the same points value starting that
race. It's going to be different. There's nothing to protect. We're
all in a tie.
"It's just go out there and lay down your best work. I think that
would be helpful from a stress management standpoint, thinking what
could possibly happen. Love to do it. Honestly, just thrilled to
have a shot at it. That's all you can hope for, is just have a shot
at it."
His team owner likes Johnson's chances.
"If you think back when it was three in a row, four in a row, five
in a row, going for six, I mean, he's been there," said Hendrick.
"It's not like somebody that's trying to get their first
championship, that's been so close and never won one."
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