CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lost in the drama of the late-race showdown between Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya was another very strong run for Jimmie Johnson.
With little fanfare, the three-time defending Sprint Cup champion finished fourth at New Hampshire. It was just another day at the office for Johnson, who is vying for a NASCAR record fourth consecutive title this season.
“I’m obviously pleased with the performance from New Hampshire, and very happy to be where we are in the points,” said Johnson, who is tied with Denny Hamlin for second in the Chase for the championship standings. They trail Martin, the leader, by 35 points.
If Johnson’s run Sunday in the Chase opener went unnoticed — he started 16th and led just 14 laps — it’s only because of the show Hendrick Motorsports teammate Martin put on while grabbing his series-best fifth win of the year. Martin used pit strategy to charge to the front, then held off Montoya over a frantic three-lap final sprint to the finish.
But Johnson won’t stay quiet for long. It’s likely he’ll be front and center this weekend during Round 2 of the Chase at Dover International Speedway.
Johnson has four wins on the 1-mile concrete oval, including a dominating victory in June when he led 298 of 400 laps. Johnson was good from the start at Dover, sweeping its two races during his 2002 rookie season, and he has an impressive 10 top-10s in 15 career starts.
That success has Johnson feeling good about this weekend’s prospects. More important, he’s feeling confident about his shot at a fourth championship in what could be his most difficult title defense. This 12-driver field is one of the toughest since the Chase’s 2004 inception, and Martin set the tone right off the bat.
Johnson is conceding that the 50-year-old veteran is going to be tough to beat — “Mark is doing an awesome job, and there are some very good tracks for him in the Chase,” he said — but Johnson is trying not to focus on the competition and worry instead about the performance of the No. 48 team.
“I’m really just trying to focus on what I need to do and what my team needs to do,” he said. “I feel like if we go out and do our job, we’ll be in the hunt and that’s all you can ask for. I’m just really trying to focus on our stuff, and not pay attention to what the other guys are doing.”
Of course, experience from three championships — and the 2004 and 2005 titles he challenged for, but lost before his run — has made his approach a lot easier this season. There’s no pressure to prove he’s a champion, and Johnson can worry solely about himself in his bid for history.
“I would say (I’m) more comfortable because of experience and being there in the past. It just helps,” he sad. “I feel that I’ve really been able to experience it over the last two years. I built on what we did in 2006 and just keep getting smarter and better through 2007 and 2008.
“I’m excited for that and hopefully I can slow things down in a way, in my mind, because of experience and make the right decisions. It doesn’t make the job any easier, it doesn’t guarantee a championship by any means, but hopefully it will help us see things more clearly and make better decisions.”
What’s interesting is that Johnson knows there are many fans rooting against him in this Chase. Tired of seeing Johnson run away from the competition, some are hoping for another outcome. Martin is the sentimental favorite, and many are pulling for Tony Stewart in his bid to become the first driver-owner to win a championship since Alan Kulwicki in 1992.
Others are backing Jeff Gordon, who has been seeking his fifth title since his 2001 championship. There’s also Montoya’s bid to become the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR title, as well as Dodge’s resurgence behind Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, who are both embroiled in team drama with their respective organizations.
Johnson is hoping to spoil it for all of them.
“There are a lot of good story lines throughout the Chase, and I know it would be extremely important to every guy that’s in the Chase to win the championship,” he said. “Being a Mark Martin fan since I was younger, if he was to win it, I would be so happy for him. But I would also be pretty bummed out if I couldn’t win a fourth, for all of my own selfish reasons. …
“But at the end of the day, I would try not to really go into that place and think of what it would mean to someone else because I just worry about myself and I want to make my own mark in history.”
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