Lengthy Coca-Cola 600 suits Jimmie Johnson just fine
Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson has won the Coca-Cola 600 three times during his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. // Jeff Robinson, NASCAR Scene
Jimmie Johnson looks forward to Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway partly because of his history of strong performances at the 1.5-mile track. But there’s at least another big reason the Hendrick Motorsports driver anticipates NASCAR’s longest race: It suits his driving style.
“You know, during my career I've had to work harder on qualifying and harder on sprints than anything,” he said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “I feel that where I am now, I can do both [shorter and longer races] really well. But in the early years of my Cup career, definitely the longer races worked better. I think we showed that. Our stats would also reflect that as well.”
Indeed they do.
Over seven starts in the 600-mile, 400-lap race set for its 50th running on Sunday, Johnson has three wins, four top-fives and only one finish outside the top 10.
The defending three-time Cup series champion has been nearly as impressive in the annual fall race at LMS, notching two wins and finishing worse than sixth just twice.
That event is 100 miles shorter, however, than the 600 – the kind of endurance-style affair that Johnson seems to especially shine in.
“I still think the 600 race is a good race for us,” he said. “That's what we're known for, for the long, grinding races and always staying on top of the adjustments for the car.
“Hopefully, we can do that again and make it happen this weekend.”
A top finish in the annual Memorial Day Weekend classic would be sweet redemption for Johnson after last Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte.
Starting from the pole, the El Cajon, Calif., native dominated the exhibition race’s initial 50-lap segment, leading every lap. But after losing track position on a four-tire pit stop between segments two and three, Johnson never recovered.
His shot at victory ended with a spin from contact with Denny Hamlin on the opening lap of the final 10-lap segment, and he went on to finish 13th.
That race – 100 laps broken into four segments – doesn’t play to Johnson’s strengths like the 600, which is a greater test of a driver’s stamina and concentration as well as a team’s ability to make the right adjustments on the car as day turns to night and track temperatures change.
“[It] definitely takes more out of you,” said Johnson, whose last win at Lowe’s came in the fall 2005 race. “It's a longer event. You've got to focus a lot on hydration. You need to eat during the course of the race to make sure you have energy for the end of it when it really matters. … But in general, we all prepare for it, and it's not really that big of a deal.
“I think it's more of a mental thing that our minds are programmed for 500 miles, and when you hear halfway and you look up at the scoreboard and you realize you've gone 300 and you've got 300 to go, it's kind of a mental thing that you have to focus on.”
Just as a driver must adjust his mindset to be successful in a longer race, Johnson says crews must also alter their strategy for an extra 100 miles.
“There's certainly going to be more pit stops with the longer event,” the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet said. “I think with the old track [before a repaving of LMS in 2006], it was much more difficult for the crew members because whenever the pits were open we took tires. It was a lot like Atlanta.
“ ... From what I saw the other night, some guys went two or three stops on the left-side tires at the all-star race. I think the repetition may be down because of the tire and the surface combination, but it's a long race.”
So long that it might be time to trim the race distance by at least 100 miles, as some have suggested?
Not unless circumstances demand such action, in Johnson’s opinion.
“Especially with the old track, when you finish 600 miles at the old Lowe's Motor Speedway you knew you accomplished something,” he said. “In that respect, I like it. At the end of the day we need to make sure we have the audience captured for a period of time and keep their interest.
“If it was shortened because we needed to do that to help with the fan base, I would understand that. But I'd like to keep it at 600, if we could.”
