NASCAR CUP SERIES
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
QUAKER STATE 400
PRESENTED BY WALMART
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 10, 2020
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE, met with media via teleconference to discuss being cleared to return to the track after previously testing positive for COVID-19, his emotional and mental outlook on the journey, his outlook going into this weekend’s race at Kentucky Speedway, and more. Transcript:
JIMMIE JOHNSON’S GOING TO BE BACK IN THE NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE CAR ON SUNDAY AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY. AS EVERYONE KNOWS THIS WEEK, HE HAD TWO CONSECUTIVE NEGATIVE TESTS FOR COVID-19 AND WAS CLEARED BY HIS DOCTOR AND NASCAR TO RETURN. JIMMMIE, IT’S GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK. JUST TO GET STARTED, CAN YOU GIVE EVERYONE JUST A QUICK SNAPSHOT OF WHAT THE LAST WEEK HAS BEEN LIKE AND HOW YOU’RE FEELING GOING INTO THE RACE THIS WEEKEND?
“Obviously, an interesting week or so. To have the positive test and then the two negative tests, just the emotional journey you go through in worrying about your safety, your family’s safety, watching a race with someone else in your race car and the emotions that go with that. To come to grips with all those with the reality of all that has been challenging, but I’ve really subscribed to growing through these tough moments and I feel like I’m a smarter, stronger person today from experiencing all this. I’m extremely happy to be reinstated and I’m ready to be back with my race team and in that race car.”
DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAD A FALSE POSITIVE OR DO THEY THINK YOU WERE AT THE END OF THE RUN OF THE VIRUS? HAVE YOU HAD ANY SORT OF FATIGUE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT?
“I’ve had no symptoms through this journey. There are a lot of scenarios that can play out – probably three or four scenarios that could play out – and to go through them and try to form an opinion would just be speculating. And at this point, I just don’t think that’s very intelligent or smart to do. I followed the protocol that NASCAR has in place. It’s the same protocol, from what I’ve seen watching ESPN, it seems like all the other major sports have as well. I’ve been watching the numerous cases of positive tests take place. I’ve also seen many examples of a double negative in more than a 24-hour period of time take place and those athletes have been reinstated. It’s a science-based reinstatement process. I don’t know a lot, but I do know that I’ve had two negative tests and I’ve followed protocol. I’ve also had a release from my physician to put me back in the car. I feel great, I’m excited and I’m ready to go.”
ON MONDAY, YOU TWEETED THE STYLIZED LOGO OF THE NO. 43 TEAM, ALONG WITH THE #ISTANDWITHBUBBA. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THAT?
“With the current events, just letting it known that I stood with Bubba (Wallace) in the beginning of this journey and I continue to stand with Bubba.”
WAS IT IN RESPONSE TO ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR?
“Yeah – the tweet that the President put out.”
YOU MISSED A RACE AND YOU’RE SITTING THERE WATCHING THE RACE. HOW DID THAT FEEL? AND THEN YOUR CAR OBVIOUSLY GOT CAUGHT UP IN THAT ACCIDENT. MAYBE YOU LEARNED THE WORLD CONTINUES TO TURN, MAYBE IT KILLED YOU INSIDE – I DON’T KNOW.
“It was just such a weird set of events. I would say that Saturday night trying to go to sleep was probably the most difficult time for me, knowing that I wasn’t going to be in the car. Sunday morning was still pretty tough, but I felt like Saturday night was probably the peak of the emotions that go with missing a race and the consecutive start streak coming to an end. Not being in the car, my final year – all the things that you would naturally think of, Saturday night was the peak. Sunday morning wasn’t great, but I joined the team call that we do an hour or hour and a half before the race and I was able to just hear the voices of my crew guys, pump them up and just be involved in that team moment. It’s crazy how it just relaxed me because I was convinced that I wasn’t going to watch the race. I was like I can’t do it. But having that moment to talk to Cliff (Daniels, crew chief), all the guys, Justin (Allgaier) was clearly on the call and to hear the words he had to say to the team – it let a lot of that go and I actually watched the race. Sadly, it didn’t last long for the 48 team with the issue on pit road. Thankful that the crew member that was struck, that his injuries aren’t any worse. It was crazy to run through that peak and to be able to sit down and actually watch the race.”
YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE ASYMPTOMATIC, YOU HAVEN’T HAD A SYMTPOM. THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE, OUTSIDE OF THE CASUAL OBSERVERS, THAT SEE OTHER ATHLETES TEST POSITIVE AND THEY ARE QUARANTINED FOR 10 DAYS OR 14 DAYS. YOURS WAS UNDER A WEEK THAT YOU TESTED POSITIVE AND WAS REINSTATED. DO YOU THINK THIS IS TOO QUICK FOR YOU TO COME BACK? AND AS A FOLLOW UP, HOW IS CHANDRA (WIFE) DOING?
“Chandra is great. She’s been asymptomatic as well. In the very beginning, she had some allergies. But it’s allergy season here in Colorado, so everybody has allergies. So, I’m not sure if that’s truly a symptom and I believe that she’s really asymptomatic as well. First and foremost, we’re very thankful that we’re not dealing with the illness like many others are and having the complications that come with this virus. To follow up to your question, sports – many if not all the major sports leagues out there – have the exact same reinstatement program. I’ve seen a player in the PGA be reinstated in a short period of time with two negative tests in more than a 24-hour period of time. And there were others that I watched on Sports Center the last couple of nights falling asleep. I’ve followed the protocol. It brings a lot of questions as to where I was in the journey of being positive and all of that. There’s a lot of speculation there. I don’t know those answers and believe me, I’m the most frustrated person out there, especially living in a world of facts that we do. To not have the facts drives me bananas, but I have followed protocol and I’ve been reinstated. That’s about all I can speak to at this point.”
HOW HAS THIS BEEN FOR YOUR CHILDREN? I KNOW YOUR FIRST COMMENT YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW TOUGH THIS WAS FOR YOU, YOUR WIFE AND YOUR KIDS. HOW HAS THAT EMOTIONAL ROLLARCOASTER BEEN FOR YOU GUYS THIS WEEK WITH YOUR CHILDREN?
“The first kind of six or eight hours were very emotional, them trying to process it and figure it out. But I think as we got into the second day, because we found out in the afternoon and made it through dinner that night – the next morning when they realized mom and dad were OK, and thankfully again we’ve been asymptomatic, the emotions and the fear really started to subside. The kids are in a good place with it all, I think as good as they can be for their ages. But it is tough – they quickly forget how diligent they need to be. I guess ultimately, I know this is a point in time that their little minds will never forget what their parents went through.”
YOU TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE POLICIES THE OTHER SPORTS LEAGUES HAVE. THEY ARE TESTING THEIR ATHLETES ON A REGULAR BASIS. NASCAR IS NOT TESTING ITS DRIVERS. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN?
“I really feel like that’s a question for NASCAR to answer. I have to be so careful in this world to not speculate at this point in time and the situation I’m in. I do know I’ve had my two negative tests and I’m happy to be reinstated.”
HAVE YOU HAD ANY CONVERSATIONS WITH GANASSI ABOUT THE INDYCAR TEST AND HOW DOES THAT WORK MOVING FORWARD WITH THEM?
“Yeah, there’s been a couple of conversations and I think Ganassi and IndyCar are eager to have that experience to get me in a car and get me tested. But everybody is giving everything a little time to breath right now and maybe identify the next possible date that works for IndyCar and works for Ganassi. And I’m clearly hopeful to get a test with McLaren as I was trying to work on back in April that went away because of the lockdown. So, I think that’s all to come. It’s hard to say anything’s really taking place just yet, but I know I’m eager and I know everybody involved is eager for that to take place.”
HOW FRUSTRATING HAS THIS FINAL RETIREMENT SEASON BEEN FOR YOU WITH THE PANDEMIC AND THEN YOU ACTUALLY MISSING A RACE LAST WEEK? ALSO, WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND COMPARED TO LAST SATURDAY NIGHT KNOWING YOU WEREN’T GOING TO RACE NOW THAT YOU’RE RACING?
“Yeah, it’s been an interesting year and at times wonder why it’s happened in my final full-time season in Cup. When you turn on the news and look around and see how many people are really ill from this, the seriousness and the severity of the pandemic, it quickly fades out of my mind. This is a big problem – it’s a pandemic. So, I’ve really kept my emotions in check. I’m just trying to figure out how to keep my family safe and how I can ultimately learn from everything that’s going on. We’ve dealt with a lot in the last four months as a nation and a world, so trying to learn and grow. Trying to teach and educate my children. Try to lead by example. I’ve been able to learn that my challenges are watched closely by my kids and how I deal with that adversity is ultimately teaching them. And with having a tough couple of years professionally and then now it’s ramped up to this level. Again, I just try to find the right spin on it. It’s easy to get into a dark headspace on all this. My wife and I are trying so hard to not let that happen and try to teach our children the best that we can.”
AND HOW EXCITED ARE YOU FOR SUNDAY’S RACE?
“Yeah, I’m super excited and in my head of optimism, I’m like what a comeback story. The COVID comeback if you will (laughs). It could really be a special moment. I’ve always been highly motivated, but it would be really cool to have great success on Sunday.”
I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE YOUR SENSE OF RELIEF IF THAT WAS THE EMOTION WAS WHEN YOU GOT THAT FIRST NEGATIVE TEST AND THEN TO GET ANOTHER ONE AFTER THAT, KNOWING THAT YOU’RE STILL GOING TO COME BACK INSIDE THE PLAYOFF CONTENTION AND ONLY MISS ONE RACE.
“Yeah, I would say my first response though was just anger. I mean I started cussing and used every cuss word that I knew of and then I think I invented a few new ones. It was just so weird, the anger, because I’ve been asymptomatic. So, the anger hits, the speculation in my mind. And then it’s like wait a second, there’s nothing good to come of this. No one knows, I don’t know, so it’s just time to move on. And then I got very excited, started looking at the facts that I’ve only missed one race, I still have a good gap above the cutline and then the optimism about I hope I get that second negative and then I did. So, I feel like I’m more on the optimistic side of things and really out of the dark headspace that I was in, and just moving in the right direction and looking forward in all this.”
ANGER BECAUSE YOU FELT LIKE YOU GOT SORT OF SCREWED BY THIS WHOLE SITUATION? THAT YOU WENT THROUGH THIS AND YOU NEVER HAD SYMPTOMS? OR WHAT WAS THE ANGER COMING FROM?
“Yes to all and then more. Again, being in a fact-based world and then being so early in a pandemic where we don’t have many answers as a country and for the globe, there’s just anger everywhere. Anger related to the pandemic, from being positive, for me missing a race, for me not being with my team, the fear in my children’s eyes – I just had anger everywhere.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL WORDS FOR JUSTIN ALLGAIER BEFORE HE TOOK OVER THE NO. 48 ON SUNDAY? HOW DO YOU THINK HE HANDLED ALL THE PRESSURE TO TAKING OVER SUCH A CAR?
“I’ve known Justin (Allgaier) a long time, have been able to race against him and watch him do so many great things behind the wheel. Thankfully, with the relationship with JRM, my team had time with him and have been around him. So, I felt like he was in a fortunate situation to move past a lot of that relational stuff on the front side and really just get in the car and go. So, my advice for him was just to drive the wheels off of it. It’s just a race car – don’t let the pressure of it being my car, the 48 and all that other stuff that I think would be very easy for somebody stepping in to let bother them. I just tried to keep it simple for him and just remind him it’s a race car, stand on the gas and go. I truly believe he was in that headspace. He wanted to be smart, understand that package and was methodical about working his way up through traffic. And then the unfortunate situation that happened on pit road took him out. I sent him a text maybe a day or two ago that I really felt bad that he didn’t have a chance to shine as I hoped he could have in the 48 car.”
HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE YOUR APPROACH AT ALL GOING INTO THIS WEEKEND, GIVEN WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH, OR IS IT JUST A REGULAR WEEKEND? SECONDLY, LOOKING TO NEXT YEAR, IF YOU DO GO THE INDYCAR ROUTE, IS THERE ANY TRACK THAT YOU PARTICULARLY WANT TO RACE ON?
“I feel like where I sit above the cutline, I can still apply the mentality of worrying about stage points, points and also wanting to win. If we were below the cutline, I think it would probably change and the focus would be much more on trying to win a race. Luckily, we’ve had a good start to the season. There are a few races that I wish I could have back to even have myself higher in the points right now and more of a cushion on the cutline, but that’s just not the case. I think my focus stays the same.”
“And then tracks for IndyCar, there are a lot of cool circuits that I haven’t had a chance to drive and that’s part of my desire in doing something different and looking towards 2021 and beyond. But IndyCar specific, growing up in San Diego and going to the Long Beach Grand Prix, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hung on the fence to watch the IndyCar’s go by. And I also went there to have meetings with the Chevrolet folks and a lot of stuff took place in motorhomes there that really guided and cemented my career in NASCAR. Long Beach is really high on my hit list from that standpoint. The Monterey track, I’m trying to think of the exact and current name of it – just as a kid watching all those and seeing passes at the corkscrew, that’s probably in equal footing with Long Beach.”
YOU’VE HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS AND CONSIDERING ALL THE EMOTIONS YOU’VE TALK ABOUT, I’M WONDERING, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BROAD SCOPE TAKEAWAY FROM THIS EXPERIENCE THAT DEVELOPS ALL THAT EMOTION? ALSO, THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF ATHLETES THAT END UP IN YOUR POSITION AS WE MOVE THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC. WHAT’S YOUR MESSAGE TO THEM?
“Just watching how fast the virus is spreading, things staying open and us pushing forward as a country and as a world, I just fear we’re all going to have this at some point. I just don’t see how we avoid that. So, I’m worried about that. I know that I’ve been very fortunate to be asymptomatic and have been able to have the range of emotions from anger to concern. And some people only have concerns, so I feel like I’ve been fortunate to be in my position, be asymptomatic and I know many aren’t in that position. As athletes deal with this and even individuals, this thing shows no mercy and it moves so quickly as we all know, that once it’s in your bubble or your community, I don’t know how you slow it down. So, take care of yourself, take care of your loved ones, be smart. My hands are so dry and cracking from washing my hands consistently. We know the ways to help it not spread and I think we just need to get more serious about that and really protect ourselves and our loved ones.”
YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU’VE BEEN WATCHING THESE OTHER SPORTS RETURN AND I’M CURIOUS, AFTER THIS POINT AND GETTING THROUGH SO MANY RACES, WHAT DO YOU THINK NASCAR IS DOING WELL IN TERMS OF TESING AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE DIFFERENT?
“I don’t know enough to really give advice or have perspective. I just know the course that I’ve been on. I know that I’ve been asymptomatic. I know that I’ve tested negative twice. My physician has reinstated me. So, in my situation, I’ve dealt with a lot of emotions that I’ve spoken about already and I’m happy to be reinstated. I feel great. I’ve been at altitude this entire time. Yesterday or the day before, I rode up to 10,500 feet on a bicycle and felt perfectly fine. I don’t know how to add clarity or advice in what changes need to take place. I unfortunately feel that there’s a lot to still be learned in the professional and medical field on this and I, like everyone else, are eagerly awaiting on that instruction and that knowledge, a vaccine, better testing, better screening. There’s just more questions than answers for a lot of us. I certainly don’t have the answers for everybody.”
YOU’RE HEADING TO KENTUCKY FOR THE LAST TIME IN YOUR CAREER, A PLACE YOU HAVEN’T WON YET. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS GOING INTO THE WEEKEND?
“Kentucky has been probably one of my top two or three most difficult tracks to compete at. I have mixed feelings for the place because when I first started at Hendrick Motorsports, I feel like I lived at the race track doing testing for the team and just getting my laps as a rookie coming into the sport. So, I have positive vibes from that, but my racing experiences there from the Busch Series days and even in the Cup car has just been demanding and tough. I hope to conquer the track from that personal standpoint. And then clearly what I’ve been through, what my friends and family have been through, what my fan base has been through in the last week – it would be nice to leave there with a trophy.”
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