(AP Photo/Rick Havner)
Jimmie Johnson has dominated the Sprint Cup Chase in 2009. Though the two wild cards in the ten-race Chase are considered to be Martinsville and Talladega, Martinsville has been one of Johnson’s better tracks. This weekend’s visit to Alabama is nowhere near as friendly. The fall races at Talladega have been noticeably disappointing for the Lowe’s team with an average finish of 24.85 since 2002.
One mistake, big or small, can change the complexion of both the race and the Chase. “[T]here's a lot of danger out there and we've just got to be smart. Again, one flat tire, one mechanical [issue]…we all seem to know the risks at Talladega,” Johnson keeps his position in perspective, “[one problem and] that's just gone. That 90 points is just gone.”
In the last seven autumn visits to Talladega Superspeedway, Johnson has had only two races without a DNF. Though he started from the pole in the 2002 fall race at Dega, engine problems led to an early exit and a 37th place finish. In 2003, engine gremlins once again took hold, moving Johnson from a third position spot on the starting grid, to 34th with motor issues. The following year, 2004, again he succumb to an early race departure with an overheating problem that left the 48 in 37th place. In 2005, Johnson completed only 158 of 190 laps for a 31st place finish, and the fall race in 2006 left the Lowe’s Chevy in 24th because of an accident.
The last two years have appeared to turn things around for the team. A fall race best of runner up position came in 2007. The 2008 fall race yielded a ninth place finish after starting 20th.
Johnson conceded, "Talladega is the track where you don't have any control. So much can happen. We've got good tracks ahead for us, so from a team standpoint we're excited and optimistic.”
Many may be saying, “Oh great, he’s turning things around even at Talladega.” However, the spring race this year had Johnson starting in 36th and crashed out with a 30th place finish. Could it be that Talladega Track President, Rick Humphrey, was doing Johnson a favor last week when he called on a Creek Medicine Man, Robert Thrower, to perform a traditional Native American blessing ceremony on the start-finish line asking for balance to be restored to the land? Could the efforts to restore balance be in Johnson’s favor?
Humphrey noted, "It’s like Mr. Thrower said, sometimes things just need to be brought back into balance. With the controversy that surrounded Talladega when we first opened, it’s a possibility that there has always been some unbalance here. I’m confident in saying that after this ceremony however, we don’t have to worry about that anymore and we are looking forward to a great AMP Energy 500 race weekend. "
It remains to be seen if the efforts to restore balance at Talladega, specifically, will help restore balance to the 2009 Sprint Cup Chase. The consensus is that for the Chase to get rebalanced, Johnson has to have a catastrophic problem early in Sunday’s race. Will Sunday present a Talladega trick or a Sprint Cup Chase treat?
For more information on Southern California Motorsports, check out:
NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger arrested
Martinsville: A range of possible outcomes for California Cup drivers
Jimmie Johnson gets the job done without a trip to Victory Lane
Robby Gordon names Doug Richert crew chief
Janelle Jalbert is a fan of a variety of racing formats and equally enjoys the history of the sport. Janelle grew up in an auto mechanic’s family and swears that there is carb spray running through her veins. She can be reached via email for both comments and story ideas. You can follow Janelle as the Southern California Motorsports Examiner on Twitter as @SoCalMotorsport.
Janelle also serves as the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner. Feel free to join the discussion about the hard racing in the CWTS at the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner fan page on Facebook
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