NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 24, 2016
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the strategy and approach to road racing at Sonoma, the fact there is not a road course race in the Chase, the upcoming plate race at Daytona, and more. Full Transcript:
YOU ARE ONE OF 10 WINNERS HERE OVER THE LAST 11 RACES. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YEAR YOU WON?
“Not the year.”
2010
“Way too long ago, I know that much.”
TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A WILDCARD RACE. WHAT MAKES IT THAT WAY? WHAT MAKES IT CHALLENGING? HOW HAS IT SHAPED-UP OVER THE LAST DECADE?
“It is a wildcard race, but I feel like, quickly going through my memory, whichever driver has won has had a dominating day and a strong performance throughout the day. It’s hard to repeat that; for whatever reason, I don’t exactly know. But, I think we’ve seen a real interesting shift in the last 10 years where the road course ringers have come in and they aren’t taking the trophies home; it’s really the NASCAR regulars. I think it shows the versatility we have as drivers and the teams as well, that set-up the car and make the car get around here. Strategy does play a role and I think that cost us the win last year. So, occasionally you have maybe a fuel mileage race that might mix it up a little bit, or strategy; and I think we just had a handful of laps left and decided to stay out and new tires got to us quickly last year.
But, its fun racing, I really enjoy it. I wish we did more. To have two road course races a year, you just kind of get into the swing of things and we leave the Glen and you put it on the shelf and wait eight months or something and then do it again.”
YOU MENTIONED ROAD COURSE RINGERS. THERE’S HARDLY NONE ANYMORE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT’S GONE AWAY?
“I think the team owners feel confident in their regular drivers. It’s obviously expensive for a team to put up a topnotch effort to bring one Boris (Said) or one of the ringers out here, Scott Pruett or something. If you look at Ganassi, they have room to bring in a couple of cars if they wanted to, but I guess maybe expense has something to do with it? I’m not really sure. And then, the regulars are doing such a good job they don’t have that need I don’t think, as much, as in the past.”
YOU HAVE KNOWN FOR A WHILE THAT YOU’RE PRETTY MUCH LOCKED INTO THE CHASE WITH A COUPLE WINS FAIRLY EARLY IN THE SEASON. OVER THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS YOU’VE HAD SOME NOT-SO-GOOD DAYS. HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR TEAM RIGHT NOW? ARE YOU TRYING THINGS? WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?
“Yeah, we definitely have been trying some things. You need to advance. I wouldn’t say that we’re trying things because we’re locked-in; it’s just kind of the natural progression of the sport. And looking around the garage area and making some beliefs and thoughts about where you might be getting beat and what that might be. Yeah, we’ve been strong. I don’t think our results are representative of the strength of the team, especially the last two weeks. We had strong cars and crashes late that affected our finish. But we’re doing good. Obviously we have high expectations. So, we need to get back to our winning ways of leading laps and finishing in the top two or three because that momentum brings so much confidence within the race team with the decisions I make and that Chad (Knaus, crew chief) makes, the pit stops, and all of that. So, we need to get back into that. And I’m not happy with especially the way the last two races went and the results we had with strong days.”
GIVEN THAT THE FINAL 11 RACES OF THE REGULAR SEASON, WITH ONLY ONE TRACK THAT’S ALSO IN THE CHASE (NEW HAMPSHIRE), IF YOU’RE A CASUAL FAN, HOW MUCH DO YOU RELATE TO IN WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN NOW AND THE START OF THE CHASE? IS IT EASIER TO WRITE IT OFF THIS TIME OF YEAR?
“Yeah, I think so. I think our track record, especially in the Chase era, shows that a slow summer doesn’t prevent you from winning a championship. I guess there’s some stats to prove that. It’s not fun going through that. If you’re winning, it’s not hard to find the silver lining in all that, but if you’re off, you can find some silver lining and they’re not Chase tracks and so forth, and so on. We’ll make-up any angle we need to, to believe that, for starters (laughs). And then there are just unique tracks that are coming up. The Brickyard is exciting. I think everybody gets fired-up for that. So, I don’t know how much people should read into it. And then the other thing that makes me believe more in that is the elimination process and how it’s not over 10 races, essentially. We were knocked down in Dover with a part failure. So, it’s really hard to form an opinion of a champion in this format in general.”
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE RESTRICTOR PLATE PACKAGE YOU’RE USING AND HAVE YOU TALKED TO NASCAR AT ALL SINCE TALLADEGA ABOUT ANY POTENTIAL CHANGES?
“Yeah, I think we had one Driver Council meeting since. I don’t remember spending a ton of time talking on it. I know following Talladega there were a lot of suggestions made. I certainly had some opinions of why passing was as difficult as it was and the energy that it created in the pack and the need to kind of bump-draft and slam-draft and then crash, like that whole process that took place. I know that they don’t want to over-react and we’re going to a different track in Daytona that works a little bit differently than Talladega does. So, I feel comfortable with it. I think, ideally, we would love to have the side draft be less impactful. We’d love to have a push from another car be more beneficial. And with the gear and horsepower reduction, I think that took away some of that offensive opportunity that existed. But, we’ll see how Daytona races and take it from there. I know that there’s another Driver Council meeting down in Daytona. It will probably be top of mind for everybody then.”
THE PAST 7 SONOMA RACES YOU’VE HAD TOP 10 FINISHES. DO YOU AND YOUR TEAM LOOK AT NUMBERS LIKE THIS WHEN APPROACHING THIS WEEKEND?
“The results, yes; but (they are) maybe not as important as where we were running and how the car was performing. The pit strategy and fuel strategy are kind of the things that lead to a poor finish, which unfortunately are fresh in my mind from last year and dominating the race and then having new tires catch us with only a lap or two to go. And that’s what I’m hanging onto is how strong our car was. I know in the set-up and bringing the car here we are very focused on staying close to where we were just because we had such a good race car. So, a little bit; but mainly performance and kind of where you stood up against the field is more representative of the number in the finish column.”
BECAUSE THERE ARE NO ROAD COURSE RACES IN THE CHASE, WHEN YOU COME TO THESE TWO TRACKS IS THERE A LOT MORE OF THAT ‘ALL-IN’ TYPE FEELING BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT EXPERIMENTING OR LOOKING AT ANYTHING THAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN AT ONE OF THE OVAL TRACK WHERE YOU MIGHT WANT TO PREPARE FOR IT?
“Yeah, I think that’s our strategy for sure. We’re all in. We have two races to fall back on for the Chase qualification, so that makes it easy. I’m trying to think throughout the years when we weren’t locked at this point. It’s such a unique track and raised an opportunity that we were all in. And I think in order to have a good result here, and especially a shot to win, you’ve got to push fuel strategy to the ninth degree; and now it seems like tires and restarts are far more important than in the past. So, we’re all in. But, I think if you do need to come here and be aware of points, it is a track that a lot can happen. And if you are smart and stay out of trouble and you’re around that 16th cutoff, you might be able to jump three or four spots. I’m fortunately not in that mindset, but from where I’m sitting it’s all about progression and trying to win.”
WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF THE ROAD COURSES, WE TEND TO FOCUS ON ALL THE LEFT-RIGHT TURNS WITH GOOD REASON. BUT ARE THE ELEVATION CHANGES A BIG FACTOR AS WELL? IF SO, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT THEY CREATE?
“Yeah, the elevation changes are a key component here. As you’re coming around Turn 1, that long sweeping left-hander, you really don’t have to use the brakes much and that’s something different than the majority of the tracks we run at. You let the car kind of slide into the track, into the banking, into the hill; and it drags speed out and puts grip in the car so it’s a totally different sensation and technique. Turns 3 and 3A, especially being right out of 3A, if you get too much curb, or not enough, and end-up four or five inches wide on exit, you can’t see where the road is until you’re in the dirt and then it’s way too late. You’re in big trouble. Coming out of (Turn) 8 is a very similar sensation like that where you’re sliding up over the road and you can see where the track turns for Turn 9 way out in front of you, but where that edge is and where the dirt is, is pretty blind and it takes a couple of laps to get a feel for it. So, I enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun to have those kinds of off-camber nodulation of the track. It’s a lot of fun.”
WOULD IT MEAN ANYTHING EXTRA TO WIN AGAIN IN CALIFORNIA AND MAYBE GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO TALK TRASH ABOUT WITH THE OTHER CALIFORNIA DRIVERS?
“Absolutely. First of all, there’s nothing quite like winning. Winning is very special and unique in our sport. And the road courses, I felt like coming into my Cup career, that with my off-road background I would just excel and takeoff on road courses. But coming in, I was good for a couple of laps and I’d melt the tires off the car and I really had to learn discipline and where to make time and where to save the tires. It’s a tough balance. I still have kind of a personal thing for me, coming here, The Glen, and Bristol. Those three tracks. With my driving style and my background, those should be my best tracks and they’re not. And it drives me crazy that they’re not. So, I come to Sonoma and Watkins Glen and Bristol with high expectations on myself and a win would be a big party.”
NASCAR, YEAR OVER YEAR, HAS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE THE FAN EXPERIENCE. ONE THING I’VE ENJOYED IS THE RADIO-ACTIVE SERIES THAT’S ONLINE. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHT ABOUT THAT SINCE IT GIVES THE AUDIENCE A SIDE OF YOU THAT NORMALLY THEY DON’T SEE IN TALKING WITH YOUR PIT CREW AND SOMETIMES SOME QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE? HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT REFLECTS ON YOU AS A DRIVER?
“For me, it’s always been part of our sport since fans have had scanners. I guess now it’s being broadcasted and reaching far more ears and eyes than before. So, there is that element. It’s amazing though, when you’re in the car and you’re mad, you forget that children are listening or maybe even your own children. My wife has shared with me that she’ll never let our kids listen to me in a race. I said, ‘Really? I’m that bad?’ And she said, ‘When you are bad, you are that bad’. So, it’s just something you lose touch with and I guess we’re kind of familiar with it because there have always been public channels and stuff. I do understand why it’s entertaining and I cringe every once in a while when I hear the term radio-active and wonder what I did the week before and what people were thinking.”
HOW DOES THAT RELATE HERE IN SONOMA? (INAUDIBLE)
“Yeah, I think (Turns) 7 and 11 definitely will provide plenty of opportunity for radio-active this week. I just hope I’m not one of the guys (laughs).”
REGARDING DAYTONA NEXT WEEK, AS THESE PACKAGES CHANGE, DOES ANYTHING CARRY OVER OR DO YOU HAVE TO JUST GO OUT THERE AND RE-LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PASS AND TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THESE RESTRICTOR PLATE RACES?
“They don’t change a ton. There’s some sensitivity change to the dynamics and how it works, but the package is still very similar. You just notice or feel like last time you could clear a car more easily, or I could get up and push somebody a little bit harder and give them a run around a car. So, it’s more subtle things that we notice. Certainly, when you’re in the car after 300 or 400 miles, you can’t complete a pass, the little bump turns into a nudge and into a slam and then we have chaos like we did at Talladega. So, I guess it if gets off to a slow start, you can probably bank on a wild finish.”
WITH THIS BEING SUCH A PHYSICALLY DEMANDING RACE, HOW MUCH DOES AN OFF-WEEK AFFECT AS A DRIVER AND THE TEAM OVERALL?
“The off-week definitely takes away some of the sensitivity in the car. I think most of us probably don’t train and just checkout and try to charge the batteries; and hang out with your family and you’re out of the racing space. Certainly walking into the garage today and seeing my guys and the fans, there have been a few moments like okay, we’ve been away for 10 days and you have to zero back in and remember what this is all about. So, you lose a little bit, but within10 or 15 minutes in that first practice session, it all comes back.”
HOW WILL THE SMALLER SPOILERS AND THE LOWER DOWNFORCE AFFECT THE CARS ON A ROAD COURSE AND THE WAY YOU DRIVE THEM? OR, DO YOU EVEN KNOW YET?
“I don’t know exactly. Outside of the obvious stuff, I think there will be more movement in the car. I think the grip level is just going to be down from braking to lateral. I don’t think the acceleration is going to change a ton because you’re coming from such a slow speed out of these corners. I don’t think drive-off will be a ton different. But, the high-speed corners you’ll notice more of an impact than anything; the high-speed braking zones. So, aero-related, I guess the first thing you just go through are the fastest points on the track for braking and turning will be where you’ll notice it the most. It will be least noticed in the slow corners.”
DRIVERS TRAIN AT TRACKS LIKE NEW SMYRNA FOR THE CIRCLE TRACKS, BUT HOW DO YOU ALL TRAIN FOR A ROAD COURSE?
“We really don’t have an opportunity to anymore. The testing rules; the fact that we can’t go to test places. Teams would go to VIR, Kershaw, Road Atlanta prior to this race certain teams were all over those three tracks on multiple days just getting time in the car. But now we don’t. So, I’m assuming some of the young guys are probably playing video games. There are a few simulators out there. GM has one. Ford has one. Toyota has one. So there’s a little bit of simulator time. That’s really it. I’m glad I’m a veteran and have been here quite a few times and not a young guy coming in and trying to figure this place out.”
THE TRACK TEMPERATURE WILL PROBABLY BE ONE OF THE HOTTEST IT’S BEEN IN MANY RACES. YOU ALREADY HAVE A SLICK TRACK WITHOUT A LOT OF TRACTION. AND NOW IT’S GOING TO GET SLICKER. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THAT?
“I think that’s awesome. More slipping and sliding to preserve your tires hopefully will take the fuel strategy play out of it and really let us really focus on speed and put tires on the car; and don’t worry about charging. I’m not very good with fuel mileage savings, so anything that leads into putting tires on the car and pitting more often fits my style. I’m not sure it will be the same for everybody, but hot and slick sounds good to me.”
YESTERDAY THERE WAS CONVERSATION AT THE MEDIA LUNCHEON THAT DRIVERS START OUT REALLY CALM HERE AND THEN AT SOME POINT, LOSE THEIR HEADS. AT THE POINT THAT YOU DO LOSE IT, WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE A WIN, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE. SO AT WHAT POINT DO YOU KIND OF LOSE YOUR MIND AND JUST GO FOR IT?
“I think nothing to lose means different things to different drivers, even if all things are equal and guys have a couple of wins and could lock-in. My approach is probably more on the conservative side. Others just dump you and go on about their way and worry about the consequences later. So, I think it means different things to different people. When I think of this race, the first thing that comes to mind is fuel strategy and saving every ounce of fuel and finding a nice slot to run on the track in the green flag runs and try to build a lap or two in so that we can two-stop the race. It doesn’t come to mind of knocking somebody out of the way down here. We’re just all wired differently. So, we’ll see which form plays out. And then I think the majority of the field is really focused on this unique track and this unique place. And the frustration does build. And as soon as you can just see energy in the field kind of build, I guess that’s what was being discussed yesterday. Once there’s a block or two and somebody gets knocked out of the way, the whole group notices and the slamming starts and it just gets wild.”
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