Johnson looking for momentum as season winds down
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) – Jimmie Johnson is looking to regain his lost momentum as NASCAR begins its season-ending 10-race playoff. Johnson, who lost the title to Kurt Busch a year ago by eight points despite winning four of the last six races, looked like the driver to beat in 2005 when he started strong and led the points in 16 of the first 20 races of the season.
Since then, though, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has struggled. Johnson’s last six races have produced finishes of 38th, fifth, 10th, 36th, 16th and 25th – not the kind of consistency that Johnson knows it will take to beat out the other nine contenders for his first Nextel Cup title.
“It’s in our hands to change it, and we’re working hard to do that,” said Johnson, who goes into Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway fourth in the points – his lowest standing since coming out of the season-opening Daytona 500 fifth.
“I’m not happy with not winning races right now, but I can’t ask any more,” he said. “My guys are working so hard. We’re trying to find that tenth of a second that we’re missing. It’s not much. It’s just a little bit but, in our sport today, a little bit takes you from winning races to running 10th.
“We’ve got the speed. We’re just a tick off. At the same time, we haven’t tested throughout the season. We’ve only used up one or two tests, so we have four more coming up. We’re actually real proud of where we are as a team without testing. Now, we’re just looking forward to the final 10.”
Johnson, who turned 30 on Saturday, said his team will be using some new cars in the last 10 races.
“The guys are excited,” he said. “It’s playoff time. We’re really pumped up.”
GETTING UP AND RUNNING: When four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon failed to qualify for the Chase, it turned out to be an opportunity for Steve Letarte.
The 26-year-old Letarte, a longtime member of the Hendrick Motorsports team and most recently Gordon’s car chief, was moved up to crew chief when Robbie Loomis stepped down. It’s a big change for Letarte, who until now has been able to work in virtual anonymity.
“Robbie has gone out of his way to teach me as much as I can possibly learn,” Letarte said Saturday before Gordon drove the No. 24 Chevrolet to second place in qualifying. “But, if you’re the guy and you have a decision to make in 5 seconds, you just kind of do it on your own.
“I’ll make mistakes and we’ll learn from those mistakes. We’ll make good calls and bad calls. We’ve been given the opportunity with the points system the way it is to have 10 good weeks here to learn.”
Gordon said he has a great deal of confidence in Letarte, who he predicts eventually will be a great crew chief.
“He knows these guys better than anybody,” Gordon said. “The tough part that comes on a crew chief is trying to deal with all these different personalities when you’ve got to make decisions on whether a guy is doing his job or whether you need to make a change. Those are big decisions.
“It’s all the people skills and the stuff that goes on at the race shop (that) is going to be the biggest learning curve for him. So far, every step of the way, he’s done so and then some. Every time we add more responsibility to him, he exceeds our expectations.”
BORROWED CAR: Mark Martin qualified 15th Saturday in a car built for Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch, a fact of which the reigning Cup champion is keenly aware.
“He has my car,” said Busch, who qualified 12th in a nearly identical Ford Taurus. “I guess he requested it months ago. We won with it at Richmond, so now it’s a better car just because it’s a proven winner now.
“I don’t mind Mark borrowing it, but I hope that he doesn’t scratch it up because I want to use it at Martinsville later on.”
NO SHOW: Mark Green practiced and qualified in place of Kyle Petty, who Petty Enterprises officials said was not feeling well.
Petty’s 19-year-old son, Adam, was killed in the crash of a Busch Series car at the New Hampshire track in May 2000 and the father has made no secret of the fact that coming to the track makes him uncomfortable. But the team said Petty planned to drive the No. 45 Dodge in Sunday’s race.
Green qualified 45th among the 49 drivers who made attempts Saturday, but the team was guaranteed a starting spot in the 43-car field because of being among the top 35 in the season points. With a driver change, Petty would have to start from the rear regardless of where the car qualified.
SPARK PLUGS: Among the 10 drivers qualified for the Chase, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle, 1-2 in the points, lead the way with five victories each. … Jimmie Johnson, fourth in the points, has failed to finish four races, the most among the top 10. … Five of the top 10 – Johnson (2), Kurt Busch, Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman and Stewart – have won at New Hampshire.