Jimmie Johnson Meets the Media 11/19/2009

We rejoin our blogging after a hiatus. This weekend, like on October 8-10, we will be at the Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Sprint Cup season finale, where Jimmie Johnson, pictured, above, needs to finish 25th or better to lock out Mark Martin to win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title--which has never been done by any driver in the 60 years of NASCAR.

Johnson, contrary to what some might believe, did not just fall from the sky into the seat of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Impala owned by Rick Hendrick. He came from a modest Southern California background, ran off road and ASA, and was discovered by Hendrick while running in the then Busch Series. He takes the racing seriously. As you saw from my Tweets from the news conference, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are going for a decisive performance.

You also saw the kind of respect that Mark Martin commands from his teammates in those Tweets as well.

We'll blog from the track, and Tweet as needed on Friday and Sunday.

BS Detector Alert

Something about the NASCAR admission on 10/2 that the Rick Hendrick #5 and #48 Dover cars were legal--but just barely--and that Hendrick's brain trust (crew chiefs Alan Gustafson and Chad Knaus were told to never run them again doesn't pass the smell test. On the face, it is the same thing as when the police radar indicates you are going 65.001 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone--legal, but within tolerance.

Where the "bovine scatology" comes in is this--NASCAR can, under its catch-all rule 12.A-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing), do what it pleases (and can also do so because it is a private organization). If the violation was egregious enough to evoke that verbal warning-- then why were penalties not assessed? Isn't legal legal? Do the words publicity, sagging ratings on TV and controversy ring a bell? They ought to.

In the continuing saga of Jeremy Mayfield--celebrity attorney Mark Geragos has been hired to assist in the conduct of Mayfield's case. Geragos has defended some misbehaving Hollywood types in some high profile cases.

Is it not interesting that this admission was also revealed when the series was in Kansas City Kansas--a good size, but not major media market?

Again, do the words publicity and controversy ring a bell?

The NASCAR beat media is getting played like a snare drum on both these issues...and needs to call "BS"--"bovine scatology"-- on stories like this so it can once again be the fan's eyes, ears and the sport's mirror.

"Sometimes History is NOT Made with a Bang"

Jimmie Johnson does not appear to be an "excitable boy" (the likes of Kevin "Happy" Harvick, Tony Stewart, et al). That does not mean that he is not competitive.

There can be no doubt that Johnson has cemented a place in NASCAR history with his championship winning season of 2008, which tied Cale Yarborough's feat of back to back to back wins in 1976, 77 and 78.

He wants more...and in the next couple of weeks on our off season Race-Talk programs...we'll let you hear from him...and crew chief Chad Knaus--before the big-post season doings in Manhattan.

We became extremely busy after the race...since CBS News, Radio thought the accomplishment important enough for me to explain it to their listeners on CBS News on the Hour Sunday night. I therefore ask your pardon that I didn't post a snapshot from the post-race news conference.

We'll try harder when we are in New York for the Post Race festivities to post some photos and other commentaries. Our advice for you is to enjoy family and friends as much as you are able...take some time away from the day to day routine and give thanks. We'll try to do this ourselves as we wind down from 2008.

JJ "Has Somethin' For 'em at the Tricky Trioval"

This result happened last weekend at Indianapolis...so for the second time in a week...Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin will start first and second for this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway--a/k/a the "Tricky Trioval". Maybe the race at Chicagoland Speedway (where Johnson was beaten by point leader Kyle Busch) served as a defining moment--where crewchief Chad Knaus and JJ said "enough". The Knaus crew had to replace some balky shifter mechanisms before Johnson went to qualify...Mark Martin was fast at 167.560 miles an hour. Johnson put his Lowe's Chevy Impala SS on the pole with a lap of 168.215 miles an hour. Johnson's key to this race is tire management--during qualifying, drivers want to beat the snot out of the tires, because this 2 1/2 mile trioval is very abrasive. During the race, drivers want to conserve tires, because the track is so abrasive. Kasey Kahne will start the race 7th in his Budmobile (Dodge Charger). The point leader, Kyle Busch, struggled in practice, and didn't find a lot more speed in qualifying, so he'll start 27th out of 43 cars.

ARCA Note: Scott Speed is making the transition to full fendered cars with style...he's on the pole for Saturday's ARCA race. I wonder what might have happened had he been allowed to get a couple of years testing for the main Red Bull team in F1--and then try his hand. Dieter Mateschitz is a good judge of talent, IMO.

New Recordholder Tames Darlington, Beats Old Qualifying Record by 5.7 Miles an Hour

Greg Biffle after putting down a monster lap at the "track too tough to tame" during qualifying for the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. Biffle put his Ford Fusion on the pole (first of 2008, 5th of his 197 race Sprint Cup career) with a speed of 179.442 miles an hour, beating the past record of Ward Burton, set in March 1996, 173.797 miles an hour. Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 2nd...and after wadding up two Chad Knaus prepared race cars...Jimmie Johnson, the defending Sprint Cup Champion, will start 3rd. The top forty-one qualifying times were faster than Ward's previous record.

Maybe the most important team members this weekend will be those who pound out the dents...followed closely by the shock and suspension guys...and of course the crew chiefs, who'll need to orchestrate changes over the 501 mile race distance.

"The Lash of NASCAR Justice--Car of Tomorrow Style"

• Both of Rick Hendrick's top teams (24--Jeff Gordon/Steve Letarte; 48--Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus) were whacked 100 owner/100 driver points...and hit up for a $100,000 fine. Mr. Letarte and Mr. Knaus won't have to fight traffic at a Nextel Cup event until August 15th when they return to work at Michigan.
• The rules that they violated are NASCAR rules, and not easily available for inspection by observers such as yourselves. Mike Helton, NASCAR President told me one time at Daytona at a public news conference, that the rule book was a proprietary document and wasn't made available (like the National Football League, Major League Baseball, NCAA Sports, etc. It makes John Darby's job (Nextel Cup series director) even more difficult--I give Darby style points for trying.
• This business fosters an attitude that the "rules are what we say they are", even though they are in print somewhere. Another famous "sporting" organization has a rule book, too.
• So I guess that the Car of Tomorrow rules are like "Wrestlemania" and the standard car rules are like "Friday Night Smackdown".
• Again, when you have an organization with some sporting elements and more entertainment elements, the entertainment elements will win out, because they bring in the most money and can be manipulated to produce drama. What would have been dramatic about Jeff Gordon winning at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point?

"Winged Wonder" Bombs at Sears Point

Gordon, Johnson and teams about to taste the lash of NASCAR Justice

Doubtless you've heard that the Nextel Cup series point leader, Jeff Gordon, and the defending series champ, Jimmie Johnson were not allowed to qualify their "Cars of Tomorrow" at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point because the cars didn't pass NASCAR pre-qualifying inspection. Seems the Hendrick braintrust of Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte interpreted rules on the right front fender dimensions differently than did NASCAR. This situation got me thinking:

• When they first introduced the cars, the NASCAR powers-that-be bragged about having RFID (radio frequency ID chips) on the chassis, and that there were nine (count 'em) laser measurements that would insure uniformity. Are Hendrick Motorsports lasers less accurate than NASCAR's?
• Or is this a return to a historical use of the inspection process, to try to level the playing field? Throughout NASCAR history, the "room of doom" has been used to keep big-mouthed drivers quiet, and negate advantages found by team engineers worthy of the name (the late Smokey Yunick would have sided with both Knaus and Letarte), which might have tilted the balance of competition to those teams. Just to remind you, the Hendrick Racing team has won all of the Car of Tomorrow races except for Dover, where Martin Truex won. It is not called the "Room of Doom" for nothing.
• Or is this a way to generate publicity, by handicapping the series' most successful active road course driver?
• If in fact it was a violation of such epic proportion, than why weren't the teams banned from the NASCAR garage area, and told to go home?

A "smackdown" moment, to be sure.