Jimmie Johnson rips NASCAR and tracks, showing a bit of an edge these days
Jeff Owens
Jeff Owens has been covering NASCAR since 1991 and began covering the circuit full time in 1993. He has been with Street & Smith's Sports Group since 1998.
LAS VEGAS – You still think Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is boring and bland and as vanilla as they come?
Think again.
That might have been Johnson’s reputation the past few years, but the four-time champion is trying hard to change that.
He’s even getting a bit of an edge to him. He’s not hesitating to speak his mind and has even made some controversial statements recently, something he used to never do.
At Media Day at Daytona, he ripped Sam Hornish Jr., saying, “He hits way too much stuff, including me, at important times of the year. And then he's never said a word.”
On Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Johnson ripped NASCAR’s Winner’s Circle program, which requires drivers to make appearances at tracks, and the tracks for making drivers do stupid publicity stunts to help drive ticket sales.
"They are crazy,” Johnson said. “I'm not sure that the whole Winner's Circle program is working as it needs to. There are some tracks that are a pleasure to work with and other tracks that are not.
“I think the goal of the Winner's Circle program is to sell tickets. And if somebody can show me how a paint ball fight is going to sell tickets and fill the grandstands, I'll gladly be a part of that paint ball fight. I don't believe that's the case though. Do [drivers pretending to sell] hot dogs really sell tickets? There are a lot of questions out there that don't make sense.”
Pressed to elaborate, Johnson added, “I'm trying to keep from making a complete ass of myself in slamming people … [but] there is a lot of stuff that doesn't drive grandstand sales. … What happens over here in filling those stands, that responsibility needs to go back on the tracks and the promoters and they need to understand what it takes to sell tickets and put people in the stands."
Johnson also took a shot at competitors and fans that claim he was lucky to win last week’s race at California.
“The hell with them,” he said. “They know the 48 team is the real deal.”
Johnson appears to be sending the same message to fans and critics who still claim that he is a boring, vanilla driver.
And that is good to see from the sport’s best driver and top star.
