NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
July 13, 2012
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET, met with media and discussed his experience of competing in a triathlon, the challenges of racing at New Hampshire, the recent drug-related issue, having his supplements approved, and more. FULL TRANSCRIPT:
TALK ABOUT GOING INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON AND BEING AT NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEKEND
“We’ve been real happy with the speed in our race cars. I can’t seem to sort things out on the plate tracks for whatever reason, but all of the other race tracks we’ve been very competitive; and even on days when we’re off, we’re still competing for top 5’s and top 3’s. So, I’m very proud of the team and this weekend is important with this being a Chase track later in the year. The race year has unfolded in some different ways in recent times and more so probably in a fuel mileage capacity. So, I definitely want to have speed in the car, but my driving habits usually consume more fuel than others. I’m going to cautiously work on that through practice and through the race to make sure that I can put our team in the right situation fuel-wise toward the end of the race.”
ON COMPETING IN A TRIATHLON AFTER TAKING A HARD HIT AT DAYTONA LAST WEEK
“I finished well. I finished 46th overall; seventh in my age group. I missed my goal by a couple of minutes. I struggled on the run which is usually one of my strongest suits. But the elevated heart rate I think, through the swim and the biking and then once I got in the run I started to cramp and unfortunately stopped a couple of times and had a pretty poor run-time, which affected my overall. But it was such an awesome experience. The training for the event itself, I had butterflies like I was getting ready to start a Cup race or something. That cut into my sleep, the little bit of sleep that we had, following the Daytona race. So all in all, it was an amazing experience. I’m very proud of everybody that jumped on board. I think we had a group of about 20 guys that attended, including a lot of my over-the-wall guys. And they literally pulled-up in the parking lot 30 minutes prior to the start. They flew home and jumped in a motorhome and tried to sleep in the back on the way down to Charleston. It was a really cool thing all around and I look forward to doing more in the future. But from the incident, I don’t think I slept or sat still long enough for any pain to set in. And the pain that I had was relative to the triathlon and not the crash. So, I think I worked out all the kinks in Charleston.”
WHAT WAS YOUR OVERALL TIME?
“I did a 1:11:57; and my run time I think was just under 24 minutes. So 8-minute miles in a 5K is no good. I should have been down around the 7-minute mile-mark, which is normally where I’m at. But my swim time I was very happy with and my bike time was near the top of my age gap each category. But when I got to the run, I had some problems.”
DID YOU GET BRAGGING RIGHTS LIKE YOU’D HOPED TO GET AMONG THE GROUP THAT YOU WENT WITH?
“Kasey (Kahne) got me by like 20 seconds. So, that’s the one I lost bragging rights to. He had an amazing run. His swim and bike time was strong, but his run is where it was at. But I did beat everybody else; and believe me; I’ve been wearing them all out over it (laughter).”
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE WHOLE A.J. ALLMENDINGER THING? DID YOU RESERVE JUDGMENT? DID YOU JUMP TO JUDGMENT? WHAT DID YOU THINK?
“I was certainly shocked to see that, especially the way that it unfolded so late in the day on Saturday prior to the start of the race. But I’ve reserved judgment. I’m not sure I’d get any answers if I talked to anyone, but in reading the articles and watching it unfold, really through all of your hands (media) and I just don’t know where the truth is or what’s really going on. But in time we’ll all find out.”
DO YOU TAKE SUPPLEMENTS? HAVE YOU CHECKED OR DOUBLE-CHECKED THOSE SINCE THAT HAPPENED?
“I haven’t double-checked them, but I did check my supplements prior to taking them. I just followed the protocol that’s laid out in the rule book and I’ve talked to Dr. Black myself and the staff that’s involved from the supplement side. And also, on the medical side, with NASCAR; which is a different group, on my prescription things that I take for allergies and all that kind of stuff. So I just follow the protocol and everything has been fine.”
THE WAY JEFF GORDON HAS HANDLED WHERE HE IS IN POINTS AND KEEPING THE TEAM PUMPED-UP, IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT HIM THAN OTHER GUYS THAT WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO THAT? A LOT OF DRIVERS MIGHT POINT FINGERS AND PUTTING BLAME THEN THE TEAM WOULD GO DOWNHILL. WHAT IS IT ABOUT JEFF THAT ALLOWS HIM TO DO THAT?
“Man, I don’t know what it is. But I have to say I sit back and admire the way he carries himself on and off the track and the way he leads his team and the way he leads all of us at Hendrick Motorsports. The position he’s been in has been tough. He’s handled it really, really well. I look at him and I feel like it’s probably weighing on him. But I feel it would be much more visible on my face than it is on his. So when I see him at team meetings and I see him around, his positive outlook and confidence he has in himself and his team, I sit there and admire that. He’s handling it as well as anybody could. I know he’s eager to get out of this situation. So hopefully that happens soon.”
ON ALLMENDINGER, WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT NASCAR WOULD PULL SOMEBODY OUT OF A CAR JUST A FEW HOURS BEFORE THE RACE? HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR ‘A’ SAMPLE QUESTIONED AND THEN HAD TO EXPLAIN AND THEN THEY SAID OKAY?
“No, I’ve never had a sample questioned. Again, prior to taking supplements I worked out the list that I wanted to take and submitted it and four or five days later I heard back that everything was approved. It’s just stuff you buy at GNC anyway, so I don’t think there’s a ton of concern. But on the medical side, again, at the start of each year when we get our physicals, I make sure I lay out anything. I think I’ve had some prescription changes mid-season, and I make sure that I file those as well. And that’s been it. I’m not all that familiar with the process. I learned a lot through how things unfolded. Initially I thought the issue was from the Daytona weekend. I didn’t realize that it was Kentucky, and it took that long to get the results back. So, I’ve just been trying to get up to speed on the whole process myself. I guess when you’re not in question; you just go about your day and don’t worry about it. But we’re all paying attention now and wondering.”
A LOT OF PEOPLE TALK ABOUT YOU WINNING FIVE STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS AND SAY THAT’S SOMETHING WE’LL PROBABLY NEVER SEE AGAIN. IN 2000 IN THE FALL RACE HERE, JEFF BURTON LED EVERY SINGLE LAP OF THE RACE. I THINK BEFORE THAT IT WAS 22 YEARS BEFORE SOMEBODY HAD DONE THAT AND NOBODY HAS DONE IT SINCE. GIVEN THE WAY THE RACING IS DONE THIS YEAR WITH PEOPLE WANTING TO STAY OUT FOR POINTS, DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE WE’LL EVER SEE SOMEONE LEAD ALL THE LAPS OF A RACE AGAIN?
“It is possible. It’s there. I remember watching that. I remember watching Earnhardt trying to get a lap back or something with Burton. But Burton knew he wanted to keep him down because Earnhardt was strong (laughs). So anything is possible. When you look at the three-straight that Cale (Yarborough) had and people thought it was impossible to break that and win from the mid-to-late ‘70’s all the way to 2010 when we had our five in a row. So, it is possible; long story short. I think it gets more difficult as time goes on. But it is possible. And I want to believe those things are possible because I’d love to win seven championships. So I still have a carrot out there in front of myself (laughs).”
SPEAKING OF WINS AND CHAMPIONSHIPS, LAST YEAR ONE POINT MADE A DIFFERENCE. WHEN YOU SPEAK TO CHAD KNAUS (CREW CHIEF) AND YOU HAVE POINTS POSSIBILITIES COMING UP, DO YOU TALK ABOUT HAIL MARY PLAYS IN THESE LAST RACES GOING INTO THE CHASE? OR, IS IT JUST BUSINESS AS USUAL?
‘You can build a lot of momentum within the team finishing top-3, top-5; so we, in the past, have just thrown things out the window and started testing and developing stuff ; and I think it was ’05 when it backfired on us because we had a nice, healthy lead and felt comfortable in the transfer in. So at the end of the day, for us, I want the pressure of winning races on our guys. If we do have a chance to Hail Mary, we’ll take it but to run top-3, race for the win, have the pressure on the driver, have the pressure on the crew chief and the calls that he makes that really apply to the Chase, not the Hail Mary thing, the pressure on the crew guys.
“When you get in the Chase, all the pressure you’ve felt for an individual race win magnifies so much in those 10 races because it’s everything you ever wanted in the championships we’re all here for. So our strategy has been more along those lines. There was one year when we kind of ventured out and it backfired on us pretty bad.”
WE TALKED TO KASEY KAHNE A FEW MINUTES AGO ABOUT THE TRIATHLON AND HE’S VERY PROUD OF HIMSELF BECAUSE HE BEAT YOU BY 27 SECONDS
“Oh, 20-something (laughter).”
IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE OUT HERE THAT YOU’RE GOING TO RECRUIT TO DRAG OUT THERE AND TRY TO BEAT IN A TRIATHLON ANYTIME SOON?
“I had such a good experience, I’d like for anyone and everyone to come do it. I saw a variety of fitness levels. I was on my bike portion and I saw a lady coming out of the transition station on a beach cruiser. And I thought man, she’s going to ride 12 miles on a beach cruiser? It was a powder blue beach cruiser. The only thing she was missing was a basket on the front (laughter). So I was like wow! It was such a cool accomplishment to train for one and to complete one and hang-out after and the camaraderie among all the competitors was really cool. I wish there were more during the week. I know there’s some different mountain bike leagues and things that take place on Wednesday evenings in our area at home, but I hope to encourage someone to start a Summer tri-series in our area on Wednesday nights or something would be the way to do it. And I think we’d get a lot of people out. A lot of drivers have been interested in it and asked a lot of questions as the process was going on. And our crew members today are so fit that I think a lot of people would want to do it if they could find the time.”
IN THE PAST 8 SEASONS OF THE CHASE ERA, IN FOUR OF THOSE SEASONS THE CHAMPION HAS WON ONE OF THE TWO RACES AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INCLUDING TONY STEWART LAST YEAR AND YOU IN 2010. IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT MAKES IT A BAROMETER FOR WHO THE STRONGEST DRIVER OF THE YEAR IS?
“It is a tough track, there’s no doubt about that. What we do here, and the type of race set-up and track, doesn’t really apply to anywhere else, though. So, maybe it falls into that Indy category. I know there’s a cool stat about Indy people that win at Indy it carries on. And I just think it’s a tough track. It falls in that category.”
ON YOUR RUN IN THE TRIATHLON, DID YOU HAVE ANYONE SIDE-DRAFTING YOU?
“No. No drafting. You couldn’t draft on the bike. And then in the swim, it’s amazing how people will try to find a way by you. I had a guy grabbing my leg and pulling me back during my swim and I’m like, dude (laughter), what’s going on? There are no marshals or anything to see you. You do accelerate and get by that guy pretty quick. So, I didn’t pull on anyone’s leg myself, but it caught me off guard. I wasn’t ready for that one.”
DID ANYBODY ASK YOU FOR AN AUTOGRAPH?
“Not in the middle. When I put my shoes on and left the transition station, I went a couple hundred yards and my calves started to cramp-up and I noticed a curb and I went to the curb and was stretching my calves real quick, and a guy in a No. 24 hat came running up with a Bud Light, and said, ‘Hey, this will help, this will help’ (laughter). Not yet man, I’ve got three miles and I’ll be back and then I’ll take you up on that (more laughter). And that got me laughing pretty good. And then he did find me after the event. I was thankful to see him then (laughter).”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
