Johnson ponders recent Sprint Cup slump
Jimmie Johnson has gone from dominating NASCAR to watching others do it.
Johnson won the last of his unprecedented five consecutive Sprint Cup championships in 2010. But he hasn’t won in his last 11 races and has visited Victory Lane just once in his last 39 starts. That from a guy who has won once for every 6.7 career starts.
Johnson even went winless last year at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he won six times in 10 races from 2004-09. But the drought isn’t really what bothers him.
“What messes with my head is when I miss a chance to win,” he said, noting five or six missed opportunities. “When you run 15th all day long and finish second, you leave the track knowing you got more than you should have. The days that you lead the most laps, and dominate a race and come home second, those sting. I think back to Dover last year (when he was beaten by Kurt Busch on the final two restarts). That one stings.”
Mistakes he and his team have made have been especially difficult to reconcile.
“I didn’t make those in years past, or the team didn’t make them,” he said. “There are some things that boiled down to strategy and others down to restarts that have been on me; and some other issues in between.”
The words of Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion and Hendrick Motorsports teammate, resonate with Johnson.
“When he won 13 races or something like that in a year, he said he won every race he should have, and then some that he shouldn’t have,” Johnson said. “We need to win the races we should be able to win and that we have a shot to win.”
Johnson’s best finish this year is second to Tony Stewart at Las Vegas. And there, he said, no excuse is required.
“I felt like I had a great car. Nobody had anything for that No. 14 car (Stewart) on restarts,” he said.
Johnson said his racing career has taught him to weather a dry spell.
“Growing up in racing, I didn’t have this kind of success until I got to the Cup level. It’s not that I was ever happy with not winning, but you just learn how to deal with your emotions and you learn how to learn from experiences and get better and stronger at it,” he said. “But nothing is eating at me. Right now I’m very optimistic about our season.”
Barrichello challenges status
Rubens Barrichello wants IndyCar to classify him as a rookie.
The IndyCar Series has said no. The Brazilian driver has a record 322 Formula One starts, including 11 wins and 1.5 million Twitter followers.
None of that matters to Barrichello.
He said piloting a still-unfamiliar car at venues where he’s never raced makes him every bit the neophyte these days and deserving of the extra practice session granted to rookies and drivers ranked outside the top 10.
“I’m definitely a rookie,” Barrichello said. “I can see the likes of (Josef) Newgarden as a rookie. He’s done Indy Lights. He knows the track, but he’s a rookie because he’s so young. (Simon) Pagenaud is a rookie but he has done races before. People are saying that I have 19 years of experience and I’m not a rookie.
“I don’t want to run for the championship as a rookie. But when I go to Long Beach – let’s say I finish Top 10 here (in Birmingham, Ala.) – I don’t know the track. I don’t know the car very well, and maybe I only have an hour and a half on the track. I think this is not right, because I am a rookie. I need that half-hour to learn the track.”
He didn’t need it quite so badly this weekend. Barrichello, in his debut season in KV Racing Technology’s No. 8 car, will compete Sunday in his second IndyCar event, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in Birmingham.
At least he spent two days testing at Barber Motorsports Park a couple of weeks ago, even if one was in the rain.
IndyCar rules merely state that the series decides who receives rookie status.
Mexico cheers for Perez
Sergio Perez is Mexico’s first Formula One driver to reach the podium in 40 years, which means in Latin America he is being compared to Brazilian great Ayrton Senna.
Perez, speaking in his hometown of Guadalajara in western Mexico, shrugged off the comparisons and suggested fans should revisit the subject in two or three seasons when he might be ready to challenge for the Formula One season title.
The 22-year-old Sauber driver finished second in last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix behind winner Fernando Alonso of Spain.