Rivals shouldn't get too excited about J.J. 'slump'
Folks are asking if there is anyone who can knock the No. 48 car off the top of the hill. Jimmie Johnson and his team have been the absolute best in our sport for the past four years. Jimmie is a hardcore racer and he has earned every one of those championship trophies.
Let’s face it though, folks want to see someone challenge the No. 48 for the top spot.
I think a lot of fans are rallying around Jeff Gordon. They appreciate his renewed passion and the fire in his eyes to win again. He and crew chief Steve Letarte are right there on the edge of breaking through. Personally I am happy to see that out of Gordon too.
In the last few weeks, Johnson has finished 31st at Talladega, 10th at Richmond and lost his perch atop the point standings.
But let’s not get too excited quite yet.
Folks need to remember that this is just our regular season. Sure, Johnson hasn’t won in five weeks, but don’t forget that of the 10 Sprint Cup races so far this year, three have been won by the No. 48.
It’s nice to see challengers out there like Gordon and recent winner Kyle Busch who are taking the fight to Johnson — but it’s way too early to crown a new champ.
Busch and Co. on the right road
On Saturday night at Richmond I was happy for Kyle Busch, but even more so for new crew chief Dave Rogers.
Dave got his first win as a Cup crew chief and, trust me, I know how special that first one is.
This gives them some great momentum through the rest of 2010, as well as making them more consistent, to the point of leading the No. 18 car back into the Chase this year.
Richmond was a well earned race win for that team. They dominated the race early on, struggled late, trying to make the car better. Dave then made a good call in the pits while Kyle just made the most of it when it counted.
Now, Dave and Kyle had won together before in the Nationwide Series, but this was their first together on the Cup level.
Coming up to the Cup Series is no different than any other major league sport. It is a different world. Maybe you were good in AAA baseball. Maybe you were good on the scout team. Once you get to the top, things are different.
So for Dave to get his first win in Cup, should give him renewed confidence, as well as for Kyle.
History shows us other crew chiefs or engineers who have moved up to the Sprint Cup crew chief level haven't always made it. It is a tough road up here when you come play with the big boys.
On Saturday night, as I mentioned, Dave made a tough call late in the race that had a lot of folks, myself included, kind of scratching their heads. It was a good call though and it gave Kyle that little bit of extra edge that he needed and he took it to Victory Lane.
Gut calls
You always hear us talking about how fine a line it is running a Sprint Cup race. Kyle Busch was a perfect example of that — even though he dominated the first part of Saturday’s race, he either got a bad set of tires or or a problematic adjustment on the car and the next thing you knew, he was on the outside looking in.
It’s not an easy call to sort through these race cars and figure out 100% of the time what makes them happy. They are very temperamental.
That’s one of the things I love about our sport. The guys don’t have on-board computers to tell them what the car needs. They literally are making seat-of-the-pants decisions to figure out how to fix it.
Technically, these cars do have on-board computers — they are called drivers. The crew chief gets feedback from the driver. They talk to the engineers on the team, but honestly a lot of times it comes down to what the crew chief, through his experience, believes will work best.
As an ex-crew chief, I love watching these guys work their magic. They never quit fighting. They work and struggle to make that car good all the way to the end.
Now this weekend, one thing you can trust is there will be a lot of calls made.
Darlington, the Lady in Black, is one track like no other. Drivers will be knocking the sides off their race cars this weekend and folks, it won’t always be due to their competitors. That race track is just so challenging and difficult. As we like to say “My Darlington, she hits back.”
