Johnson ready to bouce back from Daytona finish
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Marc Serota / Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, walks on the grid prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2008 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jimmie Johnson fans, don’t get too bummed about his disappointing finish in the Daytona 500. He rebounded nicely last year from an even worse finish, and this weekend’s race is at his home track, California Speedway.
Johnson finished 39th in the Daytona 500 in 2007, but then finished third, first, first, 16th and first in his next four races. The Hendrick
Motorsports driver was 27th in this year’s 500 after winning the pole.
“It was a disappointing finish, no doubt,” the reigning Cup champion said.
“When you start on the front row, you definitely want to try and finish there. We had a couple of setbacks, but as a team, we know it’s how we respond to those setbacks that will dictate where we are in points at the end of the year.
“Even with the problems, we managed to stay on the lead lap. I’m proud of the team for that.”
Johnson’s newly reorganized pit crew botched one stop, and he later spun after contact from Sam Hornish Jr. Still, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have a record of rebounding.
“We bounced back from a bad finish at Daytona last year, so last weekend didn’t shake our confidence at all,” Johnson said. “You’d definitely like to head to California in the top 10 [in points], but this early in the season, you just have to try and be consistent and get the best finishes you can. Everyone’s going to have a bad day at some point, so as long as we don’t have too many bad days ourselves, it will all shake out.”
Johnson scored his first Cup victory at California in 2002 and also went to victory lane there last September en route to defending his championship. California Speedway in Fontana is about two hours from Johnson’s hometown of El Cajon, Calif.
“You want to win every race, but you especially want to win in front of the home crowd,” Johnson said. “It can be a little bit of a challenge to try and visit with everyone, though. You can only do so much. I just try to spend as much time as I can with everyone, but when it comes time to get in the car, I set all that aside and focus on getting the job done.”
