www.MotorCityAutoParts.com
dale earnhardt jr - dale earnhardt - jimmie johnson - jeff gordon - kyle busch
Jimmie Johnson is an American idol on wheels.
The defending Nextel Cup Series champion with boy-next-door appeal drives for NASCAR's highest-profile team, Hendrick Motorsports, with one of the sport's most prominent sponsors, Lowe's.
He's married to former model Chandra Janway.
He's well-mannered, well-groomed and well-heeled, having pocketed some $50 million in purse money over the past six years.
It would appear the heavy-equipment operator's son who only wanted to race motorcycles as a kid in El Cajon, Calif., has reached the pinnacle of his sport.
But Johnson yearns to take the next step by becoming NASCAR's first repeat champion in nearly a decade.
Johnson's quest begins Sunday. NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup title run kicks off at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate, was the last Cup driver to accomplish the feat, in 1997-98, before the Chase format was created. Only one driver, Cale Yarborough (1976-78), has won three in a row.
Seven-time champions Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt and four-time titlist Gordon are the only drivers with more than three titles. Gordon, who helped convince team owner Rick Hendrick to hire Johnson and owns half of Johnson's team, is among the 11 drivers trying to spoil Johnson's title defense.
Because any momentum or lead built is erased when NASCAR resets the points for the final 10 races, Gordon believes it is harder to repeat under the Chase system.
"I'm excited for him as a teammate, as a friend and as the owner," Gordon says.
When the flag drops Sunday, Johnson, seeded first in the Chase based on his season-high six wins, will lead second seed Gordon by 20 points.
"Winning (the Cup) again, I would be so proud of that," Johnson says. "If I look at what defines the top drivers in our sport — race wins, multiple race wins, winning the big events — to be a repeat champion puts you in the top (echelon) of our sport. … I want to be in that elite status of guys."
Quiet intensity
In a sport where shoving, sweating and swearing are not always confined to the driver's cockpit, Johnson, 31, seldom creates chaos on the track, rarely utters a disparaging word and never seems to have a hair out of place.
"He's a cool dude," team owner Rick Hendrick says. "Sure, he gets excited sometimes in the middle of a race. You have to have that tenaciousness to be able to ratchet it up and get down to the finish with 10 (laps) to go."
Johnson also is gentlemanly and philanthropic away from the track. A portion of his money and some of his time go to charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Victory Junction Gang Camp via the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which Chandra helps manage.
"He's been more in demand, but that's what happens when you win a title," she says. "He's still the same old Jimmie. There just aren't enough hours in the day for him."
Not with testing and racing and sponsor obligations.
"He is a sponsor's dream," says Shari Hatch, director of brand communication for Levi Strauss Signature, watching Johnson provide tips to soap-box-derby builders earlier this year in Texas. "He really is that nice guy. Even being the champion, we still find that we — and the kids — get great attention from him."
The good looks, fortune and nature may be too much to believe, but teammate Casey Mears, who has known Johnson since both were teenage off-road racers, insists it's all true.
"He's probably one of the best guys in the world and one of the most talented guys in the garage," Mears says. "At the same time, he's probably more easy to approach and more human than most. Jimmie's just a good guy."
Always learning
At Hendrick Motorsports headquarters in Charlotte, Johnson occupies an office next to that of the boss.
Hendrick says success hasn't changed Johnson's demeanor but experience has made him a better driver.
"He studies what to do, not only from the driver's seat but from the perspective of what will make the organization better," Hendrick says. "Racing off-road as a youngster, Jimmie learned to dissect the car. At 200 mph he's breaking the corner down into four segments.
"Now he's matured as a driver. He's learned how to win — how to race when it's time and how to set up a car for the long haul."
Early in 2007, it looked like there would be no stopping Johnson and his teammates. Johnson won four of the season's first 10 Cup races, Gordon captured four of the first 14 and Kyle Busch and Mears also visited victory lane.
With 10 wins in 12 races, Hendrick was dominant, particularly when NASCAR unveiled its boxier Car of Tomorrow this year. Testing and development on the next-generation car in concert with driver talent were producing a melodious hum on the track.
Johnson won consecutive races on high-speed ovals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway and then displayed prowess with the Car of Tomorrow at Martinsville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.
But the music stopped.
He went 14 races without a win before back-to-back victories at California Speedway on Sept. 2 and Richmond on Sept. 8. As in 2006, when he won twice in the last 27 races, the driest spell came in midsummer. This year, part of the drought coincided with the suspension of crew chief Chad Knaus, banished by NASCAR for six weeks for illegal fender modifications before qualifying at Infineon Raceway in June.
After running 37th at Chicagoland Speedway, Johnson finished 39th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leaping from a car that caught fire after a crash. A faulty fender brace cut his tire, sending Johnson into the wall and dropping him to ninth in the standings.
Eyebrows singed, Johnson called for a team meeting in Charlotte.
"I went into the lunch trying to keep it casual and light so if there were any concerns or questions or if anybody was feeling the pressure that it would surface," Johnson says. "I came out of there feeling that everybody was rockin' and ready."
The team responded, posting three consecutive top-five finishes. The win at California came in the car he'd wrecked at Chicagoland and clinched his spot in the Chase.
"Jimmie is an incredible race car driver, definitely on top of his game and on top of his sport right now," Knaus says. "He's the best in the industry. He's got the confidence level, got the speed, got the desire."
Part of Johnson's drive comes from finishing fifth, second, second and fifth in his first four years.
"Our confidence in the team and the mind-set that we have is a little more relaxed than it was last year," says Johnson, who rallied from eighth place with six races left in 2006. "I think chasing that first championship (was harder).
"There was so much pressure on it. We were so close for so many years. We had obsessed over it."
This Article Is Sponsored By:
www.MotorCityOil.com
nascar news - tony stewart - nextel cup - kurt busch - kevin harvick
For More Information About This Article Please Email:
Trevor@MotorCityAutoParts.com
Article Number: 000114
No comments:
Post a Comment