Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnsonis an American professional stock car racing driver and a six-time champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the No. 48 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDriver
Date of Birth17 September 1975
CountryUnited States of America
accepting cleared days few followed gone happy inspection last people time understanding week won
You know, there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm accepting it. I'm happy to see that as these last few days have gone by, a lot of people are understanding that it was a qualifying infraction, and there was a whole week that followed ... that we then cleared inspection and won the race. It's time to look ahead.
chase coming couple definitely far good happy last momentum months slow winning won year
Momentum is an important thing. We are happy to be winning in the Chase. Last year we won four, this year so far we have won two already. It is coming at a good time. We had a couple of slow months before the Chase started. We definitely have things going in the right direction.
excited experience last
Last year's experience showed me that so much can go on, ... There's no need to get too excited yet.
believe believes chase corner earlier eventually knew last late rather round team thankfully
I know my team believes that. I believe that. We knew we would round the corner eventually and thankfully we've done it earlier in the Chase rather than as late in the Chase as we did last year.
came great helped knew lap last run teammates
I knew I wanted me or one of my teammates to win. We helped each other all day, and then I got a great run on the last lap to get by Brian. I don't really know where it came from.
everybody four last races riding stake
There's too much riding on these races to do something stupid, ... Everybody will race hard, but we all know what's at stake in these last four races.
believe bottom bought catching hard knew last matt protecting race slowly stayed
I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution. I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow. I thought long and hard about what I would do if I was protecting the lead. I knew I wanted to be on the outside. I faked kind of to the bottom and he kind of bought it.
almost chase couple downhill fighting good hard hitting last sort starts weeks won work year
If you're hitting your stride, you're all about the Chase starting. If you're downhill fighting your way up, you'd want a couple of weeks before the Chase starts so you can sort out your own stuff. We didn't get off to a good start last year and almost won it so we'll just have to work hard and see what happens.
again anyone car certainly drivers exciting gets great headed last plane race vegas visit wants year
Anyone who gets on a plane headed to Vegas wants to win. Race car drivers are no different. It's an exciting place to visit and a great place to race and an even better place to win. We did that last year and would certainly like to do it again this weekend.
benefit chiefs compare crew engineers together
Our (Hendrick) engineers and crew chiefs all get together and compare notes. That's when you really see the benefit of a four-car team.
defended knew outside past soon tires
I thought if I could get to the outside of Matt, I had a shot. But as soon as I got outside him going into the first turn, the tires started chattering and I knew I could have a problem. Once I knew I couldn't get past him to the outside, I defended second.
bit chance finish force front gas maybe outside quarter soon stayed tires tried turn turned
I thought if I could get to his outside, I would have a chance to force maybe a three- or four-wide finish at the end. But when I tried to go to his outside in turn one, as soon as I turned ... the front tires started chattering. I stayed on the gas a little bit and tried to get to his (rear quarter panel) and I couldn't.
cars chance enjoy happy races victory winning
I'm happy for Chad, especially because he hasn't had a chance to enjoy Victory Lane. His cars have been winning races but he was, unfortunately, at home.
happen normal
Just not a normal thing to happen with our engines.