Auto notes: Pressure on Jimmie Johnson at Charlotte

Jimmie Johnson is treating Charlotte as a must-win race.

The alternative for the six-time Sprint Cup Series champion is leaving it all up to the chaotic, utterly unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway, where a driver’s fate can careen out of his hands in an instant.

“I’m not in the position I want to be in,” Johnson, who won the title last year, said Wednesday during a promotional appearance at UAB. Johnson is last in the 12-driver field, with four getting knocked out after next weekend’s Talladega race. The only way to control his fate is to pick up his second straight win at Charlotte, securing himself an automatic berth into the next round. Joey Logano claimed a spot by winning at Kansas, where Johnson didn’t help his own case.

He was involved in an early accident and finished 40th, his worst Chase finish since 2005.

The huge superspeedway and its ever-present threat of race-altering crashes can work for you or against you.

Johnson knows he could advance based on points with a strong performance.

“But I really feel like I have to go to Charlotte and win the race to control my own destiny,” he said.

Johnson is seeking a record-tying seventh series title, which would place him alongside Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.

Chief suggests closed cockpits

A Williams team executive said Formula One should consider introducing closed cockpits after Jules Bianchi’s crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Frenchman is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after suffering a head injury when his car hit a crane during Sunday’s rain-shortened race.