Q. Three weeks ago at Charlotte, there was a lot of talk about the perfect weekend for you and Chad. Knowing the drive you have, how important would it be for you personally to be the first driver since the Chase was implemented to clinch it before the series got to Homestead?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: It would be really nice to do that. I’m not mentally planning for that. I’m still trying to race this weekend and next weekend as if we’re behind in points, you need maximum points, because you just never know. I know you guys get tired of hearing this, but anything can happen. I feel if we start focusing on an average position where we need to finish, do some things that are different than what the 48 car does, we will set ourselves up for a problem.
So if things go right over the next two weeks, right now we’re in a position where we would be clinched. If we can go out and outrun the 24 and the 5 the next two weeks, we’ll let that into our minds then.
Right now I’m just trying to keep the blinders on and stay focused on maximum points. I’m certainly not going to do stupid things on track, take a lot of unneeded risk. But I’ve always been a believer of playing offense. Whenever we have played defense, we’ve done a miserable job. I’m going to keep playing offense, being aggressive, have the momentum going forward instead of trying to hang on wherever I’m at on track, whatever the points situation may be.
Q. When you look back at this season, how closely your teammate Jeff Gordon has been in the championship hunt, he’s had more second-place finishes than I can count. Do you find it surprising the only race he won so far this season was here at a place where he had never won before?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: I guess I haven’t thought of it, but I am surprised to hear that. He’s only won one race this year? Heck, I would have never guessed that. Yeah, he’s had a great year, been up front so much, I assumed that he’d won more races.
JIMMIE JOHNSON: I wouldn’t have thought that. I know it meant a lot to him here to break his streak, to win at this track. As we know, this track has been pretty tough on him over the years. I’m sure he’s drooling at this opportunity.
Q. A lot of the guys you compete with for this championship, they’re heavily invested in the Nationwide Series or they have ownership interests in national series, the Nationwide or Truck side. You don’t have any of that. Does that give you an edge of some sort? Does that allow you just to sharpen your focus on the big prize in this series because you don’t have all these other things going on that maybe a lot of your competitors do?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: At times I felt like I may have been missing some opportunities. I think there was a period of time where running a Nationwide car did help the Cup car. Obviously, since we’ve been on the COT, it’s not that world anymore.
There was a period of time where I thought I was missing something, an opportunity there, a chance to be on track more, things like that.
But for one, I’m not very good in a Nationwide car. So it’s no fun to go run in the car, run 15th all day long, beat up my confidence, then hop in the Cup car and do great with all the extra horsepower. That’s one aspect to it. Then the other side of it is, I’ve never been too interested in being a car owner. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities from Nationwide, Truck, motocross, rally car, off-road teams. Especially as time goes on, there’s more and more opportunities there. I don’t want to do something, I don’t want to enter into a business relationship or into another part of my professional career in an area that I don’t have a lot of knowledge in.
I’m finally good at something. Why dilute that? Why start doing a lot of other things, do it half-assed? I’m not saying in the future those opportunities would be more appealing if I wasn’t driving a car. But just right now, man, I’m finally good at something. It’s taken me 34 years to get to this point.
I don’t want to dilute it.
I like having a little extra free time, spending time with my family, my wife, traveling a little bit, keeping some available kind of mental space so that when I get in the Cup car, I’m not irritated, whatever it may be. I think it kind of helps with the whole mindset I have, as well. I have plenty to do, but I’m not so overworked that I just have a short fuse and things frustrate me, that kind of thing.
So I do also have three, hopefully four years of proving to myself that this formula’s working really well and to not change anything. So all those things kind of add up.
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