Jimmie Johnson said it hit him after Kansas and Charlotte he wasn’t a title contender
While Jimmie Johnson was officially eliminated from the 2014 Chase of the Sprint Cup after last week’s race at Talladega, he said Friday at Martinsville that he came to grips with the realization he wasn’t a title contender after the two races before Talladega.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, we’re busy and using the rest of 2014 to get ready for 2015,” Johnson said. “I can say that leaving Kansas and Charlotte… that was when I came to grips with not being a championship contender. You get to Talladega and you’re rolling the dice there anyway with the restrictor plate racing and it’s an all-or-nothing thing, so it put me in an easy position to relax and enjoy the weekend.”
“But it wasn’t fun leaving Kansas or Charlotte. It was relatively dark and not a lot of sunlight floating around. You have that. I truly believe that those moments make you stronger and make you dig deeper. It’s great medicine for the 48. I don’t want to be in this position. But it’s great medicine to sit and watch this championship unfold. It’s going to motivate me, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and the team – all of us on the 48 team. We’ll come back next year and be ready to roll.”
At Kansas, Johnson spun in qualiifying and started 32nd. Before he had a chance to move up through the field, he was caught up in a crash on lap 86. He finished 40th. A week later at Charlotte, Johnson was never a true contender for the win and finished 17th. While Kansas dug a big points hole with a shovel, Charlotte simply followed up with a heavy-duty excavator.
So Johnson played Talladega like he had nothing to lose. While he was complimented on the way he drove the race — he led the most laps and was aggressive on the penultimate restart, though no one went with him for drafting help — Johnson said his driving style was a product of his points position.
“I think it’s mainly on me and the risks I was willing to take – the position I was in and the situation I was in,” Johnson said. “It’s so hard to look in your mirror for 95 percent of the lap and block people. It’s just not in my wiring and I don’t think it’s really in many. I was more aggressive in the car in blocking, defending and holding on to control of a lane more than I can remember. I certainly appreciate those remarks, and I saw a few myself”
Unfortunately in the end, it didn’t work out. I was in the position where Matt Kenseth ended up at the end having to push the [Brad Keselowski] and I needed to beat [Keselowski] and win. On what I thought was the last green-white-checker, I couldn’t see pushing [Keselowski] to the win and me running second. It wasn’t going to do me any good. I made my move to get to his outside and didn’t have any help. If I made a mistake, that was it. I should have pushed [Keselowski]. I didn’t know there would be another green-white-checker and that I’d have another shot at it.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
