Johnson plans seven consecutive days of testing, practicing and racing
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR
Jimmie Johnson (left) and crew chief Chad Knaus have spent a lot of time testing this season.
Jimmie Johnson hasn’t exactly been laying back and enjoying the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series off week. Instead, he’s been busy testing with his Hendrick Motorsports team.
Johnson originally planned to test at Kentucky Speedway this week, but bad weather forced a change in plans and the team went to Rockingham for some laps at North Carolina Speedway Tuesday. Now, his team is getting ready to head to Kentucky next week to test for four days, then head to Martinsville Speedway on Friday for the race weekend.
“Our goal was to go to Kentucky to work on the big track stuff, but the weather messed us up there,” Johnson said. “We had the tires and the cars ready, and going to a track, period, we felt would be helpful, so we went [to Rockingham] to work through some things. We don’t race on a track like that and that track’s so old and rough, we’re not sure what’s really going to apply [to other tracks], but we have a good direction.”
He said the team felt like it learned a lot at Rockingham and it hopes to do the same at Kentucky, if it doesn’t rain. His team is a bit behind the competition compared to where it was last season. With NASCAR’s new car being used at all tracks this year, Johnson has found himself struggling with the handling of his car this season. He’s 13th in the standings with one top-five finish, a slow start for the two-time defending championship group.
Johnson says that he’s not concerned about spending seven straight days working with his Chevrolet, not just five races into the Cup season.
“We just came off the offseason,” he said. “I know we only have three of these [scheduled off weekends] a year, so it would be great to take advantage of it and do something else, but we haven’t had the runs like we want, so there’s only one way to correct that and that’s to get out there and start testing and get to work. I’m eager to do it.”
Still, he recognizes it might be tough on his team.
“The one component that’s difficult is on the crew guys,” he said. “I feel for them. They’ve been working their tails off, and then the added testing is even more for them. It’s really difficult on them, and I really appreciate their desire and willingness to test and make everything come together.”
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