NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400
KANSAS SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 3, 2014

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed is view of the three races in the ‘Contender’ round of the Chase, the importance of winning prior to Talladega, his expectations of the race track at Kansas, the importance of track position, and more. Full Transcript:

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHT ABOUT BEING HERE AT KANSAS AND THREE RACES IN THE ‘CONTENDER’ ROUND?
“I’m ready to get going. These three tracks should be a lot of fun. The first two, I feel that we really have a good chance. We have a good chance at all three of winning, but the first two would make the experience of the third race of the ‘Contender’ round much more enjoyable. The track has been slowly losing that newly paved kind of tough-track-to-get-ahold-of thing that goes on. Hopefully we can move the groove out. It doesn’t look like the temperatures are going to be all that hot to help encourage that. But, it’s been months since we’ve been here. In some respects, I look back on our spring race and think okay, we’ve got a good foundation to start from; but with the new rules package in play, things have just moved on down the road. So, we’re really coming back, it feels like to me, for the first time this year.”

CLINT BOWYER AND HIS WIFE JUST HAD A NEW BABY. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL CHANGE HIM AS A DRIVER? HOW HAS IT CHANGED YOU AS A DRIVER?
“I’m sure it’s a little different for everybody. Getting started in the infant stage, you really don’t want to be away from home. And when you do leave, you make sure that it’s something that’s really important; and obviously, our jobs are. Through that experience, I found that it made me, in some ways, enjoy my job more and like the racing atmosphere even more because I’m now truly providing for my family, in that kind of mindset. And then as time goes on and your children start to recognize the car on television and kind of get what’s going on at the track, without wanting to, you start racing for a little bit of a different cause and seeing your children experience the success with you. And then also their honesty and their questions of, ‘Daddy, you haven’t won in a while. Why is Leo and Ella’s daddy winning all the time?’ (laughter). Really? All right, that’s cool; I get it. It just becomes much more of a family environment instead of kind of a solo environment. Inside the car though, for me, when my helmet is on, I’ve always been able to put that aside and race with a clear mind. And I think that’s important. I think it will be the same for Clint.”

LOOKING AT KANSAS, CHARLOTTE AND TALLADEGA, IS IT MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO WIN ONE OR TWO OR EVEN THREE OF THOSE RACES AS YOU MAKE THAT PATH TO HOMESTEAD?
“Yeah, winning is great. There is so much upside to winning; clearly the trophy and clearly the fact that you advance; but most importantly the message you send in the garage area; all of that matters. But the way the structure of the Chase is, you can go all the way through and not win a race. You’ve just got to play the cards that are dealt to you. In some ways I look at the Chase environment now and think that it could be more forgiving in some situations. And then in other situations, it could be a little more difficult to succeed. The way the first round went for us, it was forgiving. We had three quality races. No wins, unfortunately. I’d love to get a win here this weekend or next to eliminate the Talladega thing.

“And then I feel like the following round, the importance of winning as the Chase goes on and on, gets higher and higher. When you get to Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix, you need to be knocking on that door if not, be the guy standing there in Victory Lane and then certainly going to Homestead, that’s the goal.”

TWO OF THREE RACES IN THE CONTENDER ROUND ARE1.5-MILE TRACKS. HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT FOR WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO IN THE LAST SEVEN RACES IN THE CHASE?
“Yeah, the 1.5-mile tracks are our bread and butter. They’ve really been a strong suit for the No. 48 over the years. This year we’ve been competitive, but not dominant. And that’s what we’re looking to get sorted out here pretty late in the season. And we can run well, but we would prefer to have more control than we do right not. And with as many 1.5-miles that are left on the schedule, we’ve got to get there.”

YOU’VE WON SEVERAL DIFFERENT CHAMPIONSHIPS UNDER VARIOUS CHASE FORMATS. ARE YOU FOND OF THIS FORMAT? DO YOU THINK IT BENEFITS THE DRIVERS AS WELL AS THE FANS?
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHASE FORMAT?
“It would be hard for me to argue against the Chase formats when I’ve won championships (laughs). This on, honestly, at the end of the day, I want what the fans find exciting and what keeps our sponsors around and what keeps the sport growing. I’m probably the worst guy to ask if he likes this point system, but all indications show that there’s a lot of excitement. Ad buys are going up. Sponsorships are renewing. New sponsors are coming in. So, as long as we see that trend, I don’t care what the format is.”

YOU HINTED AT THE TALLADEGA MONSTER. HOW CRITICAL IS IT THIS WEEKEND AT KANSAS AND NEXT WEEKEND AT CHARLOTTE TO PUT YOURSELF IN GOOD POSITION IN CASE YOU HAVE A BAD RACE AT TALLADEGA?
“You still have to collect as many points as you can each and every week. And if you can have two solid weeks here, a crash at Talladega might not hurt you as bad; especially if all the guys you’re racing are in that wreck as well. But the best way to avoid any concerns at Talladega is to win. One, maybe two, will have that opportunity. But the other 10 Chasers will show up over there with a lot of pressure on them just to get to the checkered flag.”

RACING SEEMS SO MUCH MORE INTENSE. IS THAT DUE TO ANXIETY LEVEL OR JUST BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH ON THE LINE?
“I don’t know what it is. I just think it’s the end of the year and everybody is hungry and everybody is trying to get what they can. You have the Chasers going their job and then you look at a team like the Ganassi guys that aren’t in the Chase, but that have a lot of speed. Kyle (Larson) is trying to win his first (race) and (Jamie) McMurray is trying to be back on top of his game. So, I just think it’s the end of the year and everybody is ready to go. I feel like for a lot of the Chasers in that first round of event, you just really kind of had to be ahead of that bottom four. And then we all moved on. And as we get closer to Homestead, I think the intensity for the Chasers is going to start multiplying a bunch as we go. I think it starts here. With Talladega at the end of this block, I think the pressure is really going to start ramping up for everybody.”

DO YOU HAVE A STEERING WHEEL PREFERENCE?
“I don’t really have a big preference. I know that weight is an issue from a team perspective. When I was racing off-road trucks, we used a real cool-looking wheel. It was small. And then I came here and got this big old wheel that looked like it came out of a school bus. Some wheels have come along lately that look cool and are lighter and smaller and there’s like a visual reference there that I’m into, but I’ve not pushed back on my team and said that I had to have a certain wheel. At the end of the day, the team is really looking for the lightest wheel and that’s what has driven us to where we are today with our steering wheel.”

DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO DALE EARNHARDT, JR’S STEERING WHEEL AT DOVER LAST WEEKEND?
“Yeah, I heard about it and saw the steering wheel. It had to be an exciting corner when that all went wrong (laughs).”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT, OR ANY STEERING WHEEL ISSUES YOU CAN REMEMBER?
“No, I don’t think I have. I scared the hell out of a reporter one time in my off-road truck. I took the steering wheel off and handed it to her when we were going down the road (laughter). That went over well on a press ride. She started beating me with the steering wheel (laughter). I put it back on; like okay, okay!”

YOU MENTIONED THE COOLER TEMPERATURES AND THAT MAYBE BECAUSE OF THAT THE RACING GROOVE MIGHT NOT WIDEN OUT. HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR PREPARATION? ALSO, CAN YOU SEARCH AROUND TO FIND SPEED LIKE YOU NORMALLY WOULD; AND WOULD THAT MAKE TRACK POSITION EVEN MORE IMPORTANT?
“Yeah, it does. And it puts a huge importance on today in qualifying and the pit road pick. And then when you get in the race the strategy. We saw a lot of two-tire stuff when we were in the spring and I would imagine it would be the same. So, track position is really going to be the name of the game.”

INAUDIBLE
“I would think good sunshine and weather in the 80’s would really help us.”

YOU HAVE A HIGH DRIVER RATING AT KANSAS AND SEEM ENTHUSED ABOUT BEING HERE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER GUYS WHO HAVE NOT FARED WELL HERE. DOES IT GIVE YOU ANY SENSE OF ADVANTAGE KNOWING THAT YOU COME IN WITH A GOOD OUTLOOK AND ATTITUDE THAN OTHERS WHO JUST WANT TO SURVIVE AND ADVANCE IN THE CHASE?
“Yeah, I think so. I think we’ve had examples of tracks and drivers over the years that some people just don’t like going to them and that black cloud follows them around and they have a bad day. It’s one small piece I think, of our success and our championships is that the races in the Chase have been good tracks for us. And we show up with smiles on our faces and we kind of know what we’re looking for if we’re off base. We have notes and also I have sensations of a successful weekend and know what to kind of search for and look for. There are some tracks in the middle of the summer that I go to and I don’t know where to lead the team. And I’m thankful that we don’t have any of those tracks in the Chase.”