Johnson's victory celebration comes with a price
Send a link to a friend
[April 22, 2017]
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
Distributed by The Sports Xchange
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- After his victory two
weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson was late for his
post-race press conference -- and with good reason.
Because of a malfunction with his fluid delivery system, Johnson was
dehydrated by the end of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Consequently, a trip to the infield care center for IV fluids
delayed his appearance in the media center.
During the NASCAR off week over Easter, Johnson took on very
different sorts of fluids, in Mexico no less. After all, what good
is a well-earned vacation if you can't celebrate your most recent
victory?
"Yeah, the three IV bags did wonders," Johnson said in a press
conference prior to Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor
Speedway. "After leaving the media center, I started my off weekend
quickly that night and proceeded to chase out the pain with as many
margaritas and beers as I could down in Mexico.
"I recovered well, but unfortunately came back sick from Mexico, and
I'm just on the tail end of that now. If you are going to play you
are going to pay, I guess, at the end of the day."
What made the trip worth playing -- and paying -- was a victory that
reversed a sluggish start to the season for the No. 48 team.
Uncharacteristically, Johnson had posted just one top-10 finish in
six races before the Texas win.
"We would have been drowning sorrows instead of celebrating and
enjoying it (if the team hadn't won)," Johnson said. "There's no
better way to go into an off weekend than with a win or a strong
run, strong performance.
"We all sit inside of our heads and think about where we're at,
what's going on. A tricky start to our season, to say the least, and
to punch our ticket to the playoffs and get that win made for a
great off weekend."
Changing track has made Bristol tougher on Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch is tied with his brother Kyle for most victories among
active drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Only one problem: that's ancient history. Busch earned four of his
five Bristol victories during a five-race stretch from spring 2002
through spring 2004. His last win at the .533-mile high-banked short
track came in the spring of 2006, his first season with team owner
Roger Penske.
Since then, the feast has turned to famine, and Busch knows why. It
has everything to do with changes to the track that have opened up
the outside lane -- and simultaneously opened the path to victory
for a much broader group of drivers. Busch ran third at BMS in last
year's spring race, matching his best finish since his most recent
victory.
"It's definitely gotten tougher, with the amount of options there
are with the low lane, the high lane, the way that the tires have
changed," Busch said on Friday before opening practice at Bristol.
"The races that I won had a nice, consistent pattern. It was to be a
bulldog on the bottom lane, move guys out of the way, and let the
rough edges drag.
"The new Bristol and where we are now, it's a little bit more
finesse, and you have to find the lane that works the best to be
able to get by the guy that's already in the best lane, and you
can't necessarily just move him because we're all on that ragged
edge. That high lane, we're all up there running that 15-second lap
time, and you're right on the edge of slipping already, so you're
trying to get to the guy and move him, and yet if you do one little
extra step, you're gonna slide up into the fence.
[to top of second column] |
"It's such a large consequence when that happens, so
it's just a different way of going about it, and I haven't quite
mastered it like I did before, and, again, third last spring here
and just trying to build off of that."
Absence of Cup veterans doesn't hurt Dash 4 Cash
competition
A difference in format and a ban on five-year Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series veterans may have changed the tenor of the Dash 4 Cash
races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but it hasn't diminished the
quality of competition in the eyes of the drivers.
This year, eligibility for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonuses is
determined during the first two stages of a race, rather than
through separate heat races. And though Cup drivers with five-year
full-time tenures aren't allowed to compete, there are plenty of
talented drivers with less than five years of Cup experience eager
to fill the top-quality rides.
"You put Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Austin
Dillon, Ty Dillon -- they're still equally as good, in my opinion,"
said JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, one of the top Xfinity
regulars competing for the Dash 4 Cash bonus. "Anybody that gets in
the 18, 19 or 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas) has been great. They've
kind of been able to plug-and-play drivers.
"The 42 car has been lights-out, with Tyler (Reddick) in it or Kyle
(Larson) in it. I think the caliber of drivers in the Xfinity Series
right now is as good as I've ever seen it in a long time. For me
personally, yeah, it does change the feel of the weekend, but I
think you're not changing the competitiveness of it."
Michael Annett, Allgaier's teammate, agreed wholeheartedly.
"I think the parity this year is closer than it's ever been between
the guys racing on Sunday and racing on Saturday as well," Annett
said. "We've already seen it -- Ryan (Reed) winning Daytona, Justin
winning Phoenix, five top 10s for Bubba (Darrell Wallace Jr.)."
Allgaier won both the Phoenix race and the first Dash 4 Cash bonus
in March. He'll try for two in a row in Saturday's Fitzgerald Glider
Kits 300 at Bristol. Should any driver win all four Dash 4 Cash
bonuses, he would also get an additional $600,000 to bring the total
bonus money to $1 million.
Short strokes
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Erik Jones was fastest in
opening Monster Energy Cup Series practice with a lap at 127.843
mph. ... Series leader Kyle Larson, who will start from the pole
because of a qualifying rainout, ran 72 laps in the session, more
than any other driver. ... Both Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano scraped
the outside wall during practice, but the damage to their respective
cars was cosmetic. ... Chase Elliott spun off Turn 4 and slid
sideways down the frontstretch but avoided contact with the walls.
----------------------------------------------- [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed. |