Jimmie Johnson: "We don’t want to be in the position we’re in"

It’s hard to envision a year when Jimmie Johnson hasn’t been a champion contender.

Even before the Chase for the Sprint Cup was created, J.J. and the No. 48 Lowe’s team were in the hunt. In 2003, his second season on NASCAR’s top tour, Johnson finished second in the standings.

If we were being outrun by our teammates week in and week out and we weren’t the lead car at Hendrick, we’d probably have to look real hard at the relationship between me and Chad (Knaus). 

Jimmie Johnson

Thirteen years later, Johnson, who turns 41 on Saturday, is still in the mix. He’s the only driver since the Chase was created in 2004 to qualify for the playoffs each year. After winning twice this season, Johnson is seeded fourth in the Chase. But as mediocre as his team has been this season by No. 48 standards, how deep realistically is Johnson expected to go in the final 10 races?

“Hell, I’d rather be dominating and be on top,” Johnson said. “I don’t like where we’re at. We’re working hard and there’s a lot of optimism and a lot of great things happening. We just need to deliver consistently and execute at the track.

“The way the Chase works, if we can run in the top five and stay alive and make it to Homestead, we do have some time to sort things out and get back to where we need to be.”

Jimmie proof?

Under the new Chase format, Johnson has not advanced beyond the second round in the last two years. That’s curious. Although Johnson hasn’t won at Chicagoland Speedway — where the Chase kicks off this weekend — between New Hampshire and Dover, he’s amassed 13 victories. The second round is equally solid for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports crew. Johnson has seven wins at Charlotte, three at Kansas and two at Talladega.

Pity the competition should Johnson move on to Round 3, which starts at Martinsville Speedway where Johnson’s eight victories is the most among active drivers on the tour. If Johnson should fail to pick up another grandfather clock (awarded to the winning driver at Martinsville), he has an excellent shot at Texas and Phoenix. Johnson has won five of the last eight Texas races. And although Kevin Harvick has been the dominant driver at Phoenix lately, Johnson has four wins at the track and led 44 laps last fall.

“Everyone makes a big deal out of not winning a championship in a while,” Johnson said. “I guess it’s been 10 years since my first championship — there’s only four years I’ve missed. I don’t think that’s too bad of a stat...

“Yes, the fans think it’s shocking that we haven’t made it past the second round. I feel like last year we had a very real chance of advancing to the final four at Homestead and a mechanical got us which is always frustrating.”

New blood at the top?

The 2016 season began as another typical Johnson year. He won two of the first five races and appeared to be rolling towards a seventh title. Twenty-one races later, Johnson has finished third three times but led laps in just six races. If he doubles his laps led (266) in the final 10 races, Johnson still won’t match the fewest laps he has previously led (547 in 2005). Johnson would have to finish in the top 10 in the final 10 races to equal his career low of 20 top 10s earned in 2003 and 2014.

Since Johnson graduated to Cup full-time in 2002, Chad Knaus has been the only crew chief Johnson has known. Could it be time for a change to shake the No. 48 team up?

Johnson hesitates, then replies, “I really don’t (think so). At times, the frustration builds up and there’s aspects there where it’s like, ‘Wow, this isn’t fun and we can do without that.’ But the crew chief’s job has changed so much any more. We do have lots of new blood coming in. We have two young engineers that are growing in their positions, just under Chad and very responsible for what the car is doing and they serve up the ideas to Chad.

“When we were at Michigan, and we unloaded — top of the board and plenty of speed in the car — it was like, “Wow, we all remember how to do this.’ It’s a frustrating journey when you’re off and when you’re on, it’s easy, practically. If we were being outrun by our teammates week in and week out and we weren’t the lead car at Hendrick, we’d probably have to look real hard at the relationship between me and Chad. But with that not being the case, we’re just frustrated.

“The things that are seen and hear and the unhappiness is due to the competitive spirit and the fire in both of us. We don’t want to roll over. We don’t want to be in the position we’re in and that’s where that frustration comes from.”