Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 team reclaim their mojo with Atlanta win
HAMPTON, Ga. — Six Sprint Cup Series championships and a decade of oppressing his peers would seemingly earn a guy a little leeway.
Not so for Jimmie Johnson, who for the first 11 races of the 2014 season had to assure everyone who asked — and many did — that he would indeed win, and that everything would be fine in his latest title defense. He won — four times, in fact — but his eventual 11th-place points finish was far below the standards he and crew chief Chad Knaus had set in 12 years together. Johnson even questioned this offseason if they could ever recapture their "magic."
He might have gotten an indication on a misty Sunday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway. And he didn't have to wait nearly as long this year.
Johnson rebuffed a brief rush for the lead by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a restart with 13 laps to go and ran off to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
"This does a lot for us," Johnson said after winning his 71st Cup race.
Johnson led six times for 92 laps, including 26 of the last 29 to better defending series champion Kevin Harvick by 1.8 seconds. Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Daytona 500-winner Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth.
Johnson's first victory of the season doesn't necessarily signal that his No. 48 Chevrolet team has remedied the ills that plagued it in a frustrating 2014. But it sure felt like the good old days for driver and crew chief. Fast car from Knaus, superlative drive by Johnson, big trophy.
"It is pretty wild after all these years we're able to do that and still impress one another," Johnson said, "but we did it today."
Johnson's win has tangible and intangible effects. It provides 24 races of momentum-building potential for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, for which he is virtually assured entry as a race-winner. And it seemed to allow driver and crew chief to rekindle, for the evening at least, the dynamics of a relationship that has been wildly successful for both.
"When he's on, he's switched on, the car is in his comfort zone, it's amazing what he can do with a racecar," Knaus smiled.
Knaus marveled at Johnson's comeback from a 37th starting spot — he was one of 13 who started from the back of the field after not passing inspection Friday in time to post a qualifying lap — to stand eighth by Lap 51, take his first lead on Lap 198 and spend the rest of the 325 laps among the leaders.
As exuberant as Knaus often was about the win, he was tempered about a longer-term projection. There is much effort yet to expend, he said, to recover from a career-worst points finish. But this was a start.
"I just know we're going to continue to work and do the best we possibly can," he said. "That's the vintage 48 methodology. If you win, you just put your head down, keep digging, try to get the next one. That's kind of how we're going to approach the season.
"Just because we won today doesn't mean we're going to go to Vegas and knock it out of the park. I think we have the ability to, but I don't think there's any givens by any stretch."
Kenseth — who had led, gone a lap down, and rejoined the lead lap with a wave-around — Clint Bowyer and newcomer Brett Moffitt eschewed a pit stop on Lap 296 to assume the first three spots on a restart with 21 laps left, but Johnson vaulted back to the lead quickly on new tires and held the lead when the race was immediately red-flagged because of a six-car accident well behind him.
"I think what we did here we can take to a lot of the racetracks ahead," Johnson said. "Excited about it. It takes pressure off in some ways. We don't have the questions of, 'Are you going to win this year?,' the stuff that is from the fans and what goes on in here. It's nice to dodge that.
"We'll have to win again in six to eight weeks or else those questions will come around. Buys us a little bit of a reprieve. It's nice to know we're locked into the Chase. There's a lot of good things that come with it."
Follow James on Twitter @brantjames
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