Jimmie Johnson can be a bit of a klutz outside his race car, but the three-time defending NASCAR champion is typically flawless when he’s in it.
So it was a bit bizarre to see a series of errors derail his run in Las Vegas on Sunday. Although he led a race-high 92 laps, he nearly crashed into Bobby Labonte on pit road and also overshot his stall, forcing his team to push him back into the box for his service call. Coupled with an ill-timed caution, Johnson fell down a lap and had to drive his wheels off to get back into contention.
But that’s so uncharacteristic of Johnson, particularly at Las Vegas, where he won three consecutive races from 2005-07.
“You’re just trying to go, just trying to win the race, and other times I’ve been able to dirt track the car around and just have a cool slide that makes the highlight reel, and this one I lost it,” he said. “We certainly walked a tightrope out there in trying to hustle the car and get all that you can out of it, and I just asked for a little too much this time.”
Then came the Vegas disaster, and Johnson heads into Atlanta this weekend ranked 19th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
“I’m not worried. I’m not stressed. I’m actually really optimistic and excited about the next few races.”
A three-time Atlanta winner, Johnson has finished inside the top-10 in 10 of his 15 career starts there. And it was there in the fall that he delivered the final blow to Carl Edwards’ pursuit of him in the Chase for the championship.
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