NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA 400 DRIVE FOR AUTISM
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 13, 2016

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed his immense success at Dover, the addition of safer barriers at Dover, how the changes to the All-Star race format will affect that event and many other topics. Full Transcript:

THIS IS A TRACK YOU HAVE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS AT. TALK ABOUT YOUR SUCCESS HERE, THE NEW LOWER DOWNFORCE PACKAGE HERE AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR SUNDAY’S RACE:
“I’ve been very fortunate to have success at the Cup level and to have this incredible success here at Dover is something that I’m very proud of and enjoy. Just experiencing the car to have my favorite track to drive turn out to be one of my most successful race tracks at this point in my career it’s just cool to see it all converge and come together. The experience around the track is so intense and so fun I guess it’s the only track that we compete on that really reminds me of my motocross or off-road roots with the transitions into the corners and off the corners. I came here in an ASA car in maybe ‘97/’98 and just fell in love with the track then and was very fast and competitive then. It’s stuck with me through the then Busch Series and then to the Cup Series here. Practice was really short today, obviously, with the issues the SHR cars or I guess the No. 10 car and collected the other two. With some rain and stuff we only made three runs. Things didn’t go as we had hoped in qualifying trim, just those three quick runs we made we were looking for some more balance and comfort in the car. We will see how things progress throughout the afternoon if we get on track to qualify, but as everybody knows the forecast looks good moving forward into tomorrow. Once we get into race trim here and get into a rhythm we will get a better understanding of the aero balance, the tire combination that goes with that and ideally hopefully the smaller spoilers will allow the cars to get closer to one another. The fastest way around this track is really chasing the bottom. If we can run closer to one another and get closer to the car in front of you hopefully it can set-up some more passing.”

WHEN IT COMES TO DOVER IS THERE A LITTLE EXTRA JUICE FOR YOU AND THE TEAM COMING HERE KNOWING YOU HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL HERE?
“Yeah, we definitely get fired up knowing this one is coming up. As we prep for it the week of, when we get here and then in moments like what we just had in practice where we didn’t have the speed we wanted it adds actually more frustration than it would at a normal track. Because we are like ‘man this is our place’ this is where we run well, why are we off? It has many pros, but there are some cons that exist with a track that you’ve been so good at.”

THIS IS A TRACK WHERE STUFF HAPPENS CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE BALANCE BETWEEN THE FUN OF DRIVING HERE AND THE STRESS OF DRIVING HERE?
“There is a balance of it for sure. You put in such an effort to make a lap you continue to challenge yourself in what you are comfortable with and then on concrete once the tire slips you usually don’t have a very good chance to catch it. You feel the car getting closer to the edge you kind of dance on that line of traction and then if something goes wrong you hope you have enough room to save it. We know these straightaways are kind of self-cleaning as well. There is a big penalty for the reward we are chasing here if you get it wrong.”

DO YOU ALL USE THE SAME GEARS AS STEWART-HAAS RACING USES?
“I don’t know that answer, but we didn’t have any issues today. I don’t know to be honest with you.”

DESPITE ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS HERE AT THIS RACE TRACK WITH ADDING MULTIPLE FEET OF SAFER BARRIERS, ARE YOU SURPRISED THERE ARE STILL AREAS WHERE THERE ARE NOT STILL SAFER BARRIERS?
“I knew there were some improvements made. I just assumed that every wall had a safer barrier attached to it. It sounds like that might not be the case. I didn’t pay attention watching the highlights where the cars hit and if were safer barriers or not. These straightaways are so narrow that the impact angle is very forgiving and I think that I’m less concerned here with the inside wall than I would be at some other tracks where you have hundreds of yards of distance for the car to change directions and really have a square shot at a wall.”

FOLLOWING UP ON THAT THEY ADDED SAFER BARRIER TO THE INSIDE OF TURN THREE HERE. THE WRECK TODAY HAPPENED ON THE FRONT STRETCH WHERE THE GUYS SPUN IN THE OIL AND HIT THE OUTSIDE WALL. DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF THEY ADDED SAFER BARRIER TO THAT OUTSIDE WALL HERE WOULD IT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT THE RACING GROOVE? SHOULD THAT BE A CONCERN?
“We would certainly adjust. The outside wall here doesn’t bother me too much that it doesn’t have the safer barrier on it. It’s not like a 1.5-mile where we have the D-shaped front straightaway and you actually get away from the wall and if something went wrong again have a terrible angle at the wall. With all that said, man, I would take a soft wall over a hard wall any day in any situation. I guess now seeing the video play up on the screen right there, there isn’t… I didn’t notice, but I did hear there were some improvements made, but I’m not overly concerned here. I guess I understand why there isn’t on the front stretch here.”

THE RULES FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE SEEM TO BE EVER CHANGING. HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE HOW THE NATURE OF THAT RACE IS GOING TO CHANGE WITH THESE CHANGES?
“I think the nature of the race really depends on tire falloff. And for the teams that are required to pit based on where they finish, hopefully there’s a ton of tire falloff and you can make up those positions lost in a very short final segment. I’d say that the conversation right now among the drivers is there’s a race for 9th, 10th, 11th, whatever that transfer spot is and wherever that ends up being, that everybody is joking that’s the spot to be right now (laughs). But, hopefully we get to the track and we see that the tire wear is far different and people don’t have to play that game.”

YOU HAVE WON SO MUCH HERE. LAST YEAR’S RESULTS WEREN’T WHAT YOU WANTED AND OBVIOUSLY HAD A GREAT AFFECT ON YOUR CHASE HOPES. HOW DO YOU GET PAST THAT? DO YOU STILL LOVE THIS PLACE EVEN THOUGH IT KIND OF ENDED THINGS LAST YEAR?
“Yeah, absolutely. That was human error. It was something that we did wrong as a race team and cost ourselves a shot at the Chase when we were in the fall race. You’re going to have bad experiences at all tracks. People are going to make mistakes. Drivers are going to make mistakes even if it’s at their favorite track. It doesn’t matter. My love for this track; I feel in love with it on my first lap in an ASA car back in the ‘90’s and it’s still just as cool now as it ever has been.”

WHEN YOU CAME BACK IN HERE TODAY, DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE WINS OR DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS PLACE DID TO YOU LATELY?
“All of our preparation was based on the spring race. The fall race, we knew we had a fast race car, but knowing we were showing up in qualifying trim and last fall, qualifying was rained out, and my mental space was all spring and the qualifying effort we made here. So, I guess in the back of my mind I knew what happened in the fall, but it hasn’t entered my mind until the other question just surfaced.”

YOU ARE GREAT ON TWITTER AND HAVE LOTS OF FOLLOWERS. HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT TO YOU TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT KIND OF COMMUNICATION, ONE-ON-ONE WITH YOUR FANS?
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR ROLE ON TWITTER?
“For me, I think over the years I’ve had a chance to get to know most everyone in the room. Through my exchanges on television interviews I haven’t had that chance with fans. So, social media has been that opportunity for me. I think I was labeled and accused of being many things that I wasn’t due to my focus and my job, and then I think the world of social media has opened me up and shown the far more relaxed side that exists. And in today’s world and where everything is going, every sponsor is so focused on the social space and interaction reach and followers and all the stuff that goes on, so it’s a big part of society today and it’s been a big help for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen fans say, ‘I’ve always hated the No. 48, but now I like you.’ And that’s very common, especially after a drink or two on the flight home and having a little fun with people (laughter).”

WITH THE RECENT INCIDENT WITH THE GIBBS TEAM WITH ONE DRIVER NUDGING THE OTHER OUT OF THE WAY FOR A VICTORY, HAS THAT CONVERSATION EVER COME UP AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN A SIMILAR SITUATION?
“I can recall an event at Martinsville with (Jeff) Gordon, aggressively trying to move me out of the way. Our deal has always been don’t crash the teammate. So, if we take it under that context and the Gibbs guys stayed in line with that. The guy on the losing end always thinks it’s unfair and the guy on the winning end just thinks it’s just great short track racing. It’s a tough environment and we know with multi-car teams that at some point you’re going to have to race a teammate for a win and you just kind of file that away and know how you can race your teammate or others, for that matter, when you get down to the end of a short track race.”

WHEN YOU WERE ON TOP OF THE WORLD AND WINNING SIX CHAMPIONSHIPS, A LOT OF LABELS CAME OUT FOR YOU; AND NOW KYLE BUSCH COMES BACK AND PEOPLE ARE LABELING HIM. WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT FANS ARE SO FICKLE WITH DRIVERS AND GET DOWN ON THEM WHEN THEY DO WELL?
“Yeah, I know. It’s weird. You win a couple and people are like wow, I like him. You win a lot, and it’s he’s cheating, there’s no way, I hate him, don’t like him (laughs); and I guess later in your career, it all comes back. I saw the tail end of (Dale) Earnhardt go through some of that. I’ve watched a lot of Jeff (Gordon) through all of that, as well. Kyle and I were in a truck together recently and we were laughing about how many cheers I had and how little he had. So, it’s hard to understand really why, but I guess I’ve seen it enough to kind of get it.”