Johnson started from the pole and won. Sound like last week at Dover? Think again. Try Kansas in 2008. It could be a sign of more trouble for the rest of the field. With Johnson’s win at Dover, the 48 team has come alive in the Chase's Victory Lane at the earliest point in the team's history. Now he focuses on making up the ten-point deficit to HMS teammate, Mark Martin.
“I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us.” Johnson commented after the AAA 400. It is his Chase record, rather than his Dover win, that should give other teams pause.
Since the first Chase in 2004, Johnson has posted a series-leading 15 Chase race wins.
Last year at Kansas, Johnson started on the pole and led 124 laps before taking the checkered flag. He has had seven starts at Kansas, finishing with one win, two top fives, five top 10s as well as three poles. The only time he has finished outside of the top-15 was in 2004, when a late race accident took the 48 out with less than 30 laps to go.
Johnson hinted about how winning Dover helps with the car at intermediate tracks, such as Kansas this weekend. “It also gives us some direction….[Dover] looks nothing like some of the other tracks we go to. [O]ddly enough, [at] the mile and a halves, when we go to this set up, [it] works at those tracks.” Given the team’s record at intermediate tracks, his comments prove that thinking outside the box is part of the team’s success.
Johnson’s recent performance seems to reflect the late-season form he has displayed in his three previous championship seasons, leaving many with a sinking feeling that it is yet another year where the trophy is Johnson's to lose. As the talk begins to shift towards downplaying Johnson’s dominance and even some trash talk, don’t think for a second that the talk will impact the driver. “I tried to play some of those games in 2005 with Tony Stewart. It didn't workout for me. Since that day I realized [that] I just need to run my race, put blinders on. Don't watch television. Don't watch or read any of the trade papers, magazines. Just ignore, ignore, ignore, and focus on my world and what's going on with my race car. That's what I'll do through the rest of the chase.”
Many have already narrowed the Chase down to a duel between Martin and Johnson, while keeping a hopeful eye out for dark horses such as Juan Pablo Montoya. The Chase, however, is still in its infancy, and plenty of twists and turns can still occur. Even with growing collective resignation, Johnson can count on some hard racing from his HMS teammate, at the very least.
“We're going to race our guts out no matter where he we wind up. And no matter how they are,” Martin stated in a post race interview at Dover, but he did pay Johnson a huge compliment. “That dude still is Superman in my book, you know.”
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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 and become a fan of the Southern California Motorsports Examiner Facebook page.
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