A road-course win is about all that eludes Johnson
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
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Jimmie Johnson has won NASCAR's most prestigious races - the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Brickyard 400.
He’s claimed two NASCAR Cup titles.
He’s won on short tracks, intermediate tracks and superspeedways.
One notable absence from Johnson’s resume?
A win at a road course.
“With every corner there's a different rhythm to it, even on an oval, but it's repetitive,” Johnson said. “Indy might be one of the hardest ovals because each corner is so different. I'd put Pocono maybe second most intense, mentally.
"But when you get to a road course, you've got to turn left, turn right, hard-braking zones and intermediate braking zones, downshifts, and up-shifts. There is a lot of stuff going on over the course of a lap on a road course."
On Sunday, when the Sprint Cup Series convenes at Watkins Glen International for the Centurion Boats at The Glen, Johnson may have his best shot yet to win on a road course. That's at least if momentum has anything to do with it.
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He enters the event riding the momentum of three straight top-three finishes, including a win in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. And he’ll get some extra seat time on Saturday at the 2.45-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen facility as he makes a rare Nationwide Series start in the No. 48 entry for JR Motorsports.
"We feel like we're doing the right things,” Johnson said. “The tracks that we've been at here recently are pretty unique and tracks that we won't see in the Chase. So I'm very proud about where we're at. I'd still like to be a little nervous and concerned and think our team does a better job of being hungry and not sitting back and feeling like we're there.
“So we're telling ourselves we've still got a lot of work ahead. We've still got a lot of testing planned for the season."
Johnson has typically faired better at Watkins Glen than its road course counterpart on the Cup schedule, Infineon Raceway in California. In seven starts at Infineon, Johnson has just two top-10 finishes. In six starts at the Glen, he has placed in the top five three times.
A win may be next.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jimmie Johnson
Comments
1 response to "A road-course win is about all that eludes Johnson"
Ashley said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 11:11 PMYou forgot a personality. I know he's got one-- and apparently a quite fun one too... Just wish he'd show it off-- cause right now it eludes Jimmy as much as a road course win.
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