NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 31, 2014
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S RED VEST CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Texas Motor Speedway and discussed his special Lowe’s Red Vest paint scheme this weekend at Texas, not being in the 2014 championship title picture and many other topics. Full Transcript:
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE LOWE’S RED VEST PROGRAM AND WHAT YOU HAVE GOING ON TODAY:
“On a funny note (Chad) Knaus (crew chief) is even in one of these (red vests). So everybody should leave here immediately and go see it firsthand themselves. Then on a serious note the red race car and wearing the vest and all the red this weekend in general is really to honor the 260,000 plus employees at Lowe’s, that put on the vest every day and go to work and make all the magic happen in the stores. It’s a cool program. I’m of course having a little fun with it and going to wear the vest and so are the crew guys, but in all seriousness they are what make it all happen and it’s neat to see Lowe’s utilize the relationship from a marketing stand point, but also internally amongst all their employees really kind of worldwide now.”
TO AN OUTSIDER IT SEEMS LIKE IN THE FIRST TWO ROUNDS IN THE CHASE THE INTENSITY PICKED UP DRAMATICALLY FROM RACE ONE TO RACE TWO. IF YOU AGREE WITH THAT, IF YOU NOTICED THAT ANYTHING YOU MIGHT ATTRIBUTE IT TO? WAS IT PEOPLE JUST DON’T WANT TO GET IN A BIND WHEN THEY GO INTO THAT THIRD RACE?
“I really feel like it’s the tracks we go to. The tracks kind of create the chaos. Short-tracks tempers flare there is a whole different element there. There are some tracks that breed cautions and are very treacherous, like Kansas. You have Talladega and who knows what can happen there. So, I honestly feel like the tracks themselves create the drama or give us the opportunity to live out the drama. Certainly we are the ones turning the steering wheels and emotions are flaring making the decisions that we do on the race track, but the types of tracks, the way you race these tracks that is what really creates the drama.”
IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAP LEADERS THIS SEASON THE DRIVERS WHO HAVE LED THE MOST LAPS ARE EITHER OUT OF THE CHASE OR LOW IN POINTS RIGHT NOW. THE GUYS WHO HAS LED 41 LAPS ALL YEAR LONG IS SECOND IN POINTS. AS A RACER DOES THIS SYSTEM SEEM BIZARRE TO YOU GUYS?
“It has seemed bizarre since the onset. I though feel that I need to take a different approach and think of it differently and think of what is good for the sport. We all have different opinions and when certain tracks listen to drivers and what we think makes good racing you go from a two race sell out venue at Bristol to now only one race sells out. Others have opinions and kind of live out their thoughts and we see success readily, often times we don’t. So, this is really being put back in the fans hands. At the end of the day if there are more people tuning in and watching, we are creating the drama, sponsorship is in the sport then it is what we need to do. I made that conscious decision when Brian France called me and told me where things were going for this year.
“I understand that from an economic stand point tracks, NASCAR, the race teams for sure, are in a bind and we are in a tough situation. So we need to make some change. This is the decision they made and we have certainly seen the drama. It seems like attendance is going in the right way, ad buys are going the right way and TV viewership is up. Is it what we all as racers think should happen and is it the best way to go about, falling back on the history of our sport in determining a champion? No, but we have to pay attention to who is sitting out in the stands. In my opinion.”
WITH NO PRESSURE ON YOU GOING INTO HOMESTEAD, YOU WIN THE RACE; YOU HAVE NEVER WON THERE BEFORE. YOU ARE IN VICTORY LANE, BUT NOBODY REALLY CARES THAT YOU ARE THE WINNER BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS CELEBRATING THE CHAMPIONSHIP. YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE REVERSE POSITION OF THAT BEFORE. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THAT OUT?
“Well I’ve been on the side where I got all the attention, that doesn’t suck, that is a lot of fun. I’ve never been in that other position so I don’t know how anticlimactic it really is. This year though the way the champion is going to be crowned it’s going to put more attention on the championship I believe than in year’s past. The drama, the headlines will all follow that. So, I don’t know to be honest. But if I am fortunate enough to win, it’s been a track I’ve always wanted to win at and to close the year out with a win I think the team and the individuals involved will have such pride that you won’t really notice the outside. I would have to assume and the eyes that are on you.”
SO, YOUR OWN PRIVATE PARTY?
“Oh yeah, I’m still going to party. There will be a big party. Actually, it would probably be more fun because NASCAR doesn’t own you at 7:00 a.m. and you have to surface. You can play your evening much different on Sunday night if you just win the race and not the championship. I’ve gone all night with no sleep. You guys have seen me on Monday, it isn’t pretty, but sometimes it’s what a champion has to do.”
AFTER TALLADEGA AND ALL THE FALL OUT FROM THAT AND EVERYTHING, I’M SURE YOU WERE DISAPPOINTED, BUT WAS THERE ANY SENSE OF RELIEF? WHAT WAS IT LIKE COMING OUT OF THAT AND KNOWING GOING FORWARD YOU GUYS WERE NOT APART OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE?
“It was a letdown, but to be honest with you the two weeks before that were harder on me and I think the team than I think Talladega was. Because Talladega is a plate track, I don’t think you put a lot of stock in leading the most laps or dominating a race. Yes, it’s difficult to do so, but you don’t have as much of a guaranteed outcome as you would at Martinsville if you led all the laps or Charlotte or something like that. Our peak of frustration was Kansas and Charlotte it wasn’t at Talladega. At Talladega I felt like I was given an opportunity I’ve never had in a championship battle before.
“I had three chances to advance, three chances to stay in it. I think my first championship I won I had two bad races and was let back in the way it all played out, but since then you have had to have like a 5.0 or better average to win the championship. I truthfully felt like I was given an opportunity that I probably shouldn’t have had or would never have had before to be a part of this championship and continue on.
“It was more relaxed now, but pressure shows up in a lot of ways. We know have a four race stretch to get our act together for 2015. We are looking at personnel options. We are looking at the 2015 package. We spend a day and a half in Homestead working on just the 2015 package. So pressure is still there, but it’s just in a different shape and form right now.”
WHEN YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR SEASON SO FAR BEFORE THE LAST THREE RACES CAN YOU MAYBE POINT TO A RACE WHERE YOU SEE YOU LOST THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR WAS IT A COMBINATION OF LITTLE THINGS AT EVERY RACE?
“I mean with such a bad Kansas, Charlotte and then the poor finish at Talladega I can’t look at just one race. I can look at one thing and say that we didn’t have the speed in our cars like we are accustom to or what we expected to have at the end of the year. Late spring, early summer we won three races in short order. It seemed like we were on the right path and just weren’t able to sustain that and keep that speed in our cars. When I look back that is the thing that stands out to me and is really obvious, but when I look at the three races in whatever round, contender round is that what it was called? Challenger round, something like that. Those three races in the second round, round two that is much easier to remember, in round two there is not just one thing that pops out there.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK FANS WANT TO SEE? WHAT DO YOU PERCEIVE MAKES THEM HAPPY WHEN THEY COME TO THE RACE TRACK, TUNE IN OR LISTEN?
“It’s hard to say all, but the majority wants to see wrecks. They want to see arguments; they want to see pushing and shoving after the race, bump and runs. The physical side, the raw emotion is what the majority are after. Again, I’m careful to not say all. I know my (Twitter) timeline is going to blow up here with fans that don’t want to see that, but I think they are in the minority. I just feel that the world has changed the way people view anything and everything is different and no one has the special sauce. We are all trying to learn and understand what it is, but when a few drivers make a fool out of themselves on the race track there always seems to be a good spike in ratings.”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT ISLE THE LIGHT BLUBS ARE ON BY THE WAY?
“No, not a clue. I did buy some appliances recently I can tell you that is in the back corner.”
WHAT DOES NOT RUNNING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP OPEN UP YOU AND CHAD (KNAUS, CREW CHIEF) THESE NEXT FEW WEEKS?
“Truthfully the first thing that comes to mind is just to take the pressure off and have some fun. We haven’t had much fun in the last couple of months. We have always performed better when we are having fun and make better decisions in that space. So, we are there. We are trying to enjoy these last few races. Unfortunately, Martinsville was kind of short lived. We had a fast car and got down two laps and had some damage and that is our model this weekend. Go out there and have fun and just try to end the year strong, but be relaxed and get ready for 2015.”
WHAT AM I GOING TO EXPECT FROM A NASCAR RACE WEEKEND COMING FROM A FORMULA 1 BACKGROUND?
“It’s still racing. At the end of the day technology drives our sport. Our sanctioning body limits the tools we are able to use at the race track, but in our race shops I think that it would impress most F1 factories, the technology we have and the way we advance our race cars. You will see that aspect in the lack of technology trackside, but I promise you it’s really there. You will also see NASCAR’s efforts to create parity. They really want all 43 cars on the track – that is another big change is so many cars on the track, but they really want all 43 cars to have the same opportunity to win the race. They work hard to create rules and a package on the race car to do that.”
I NEED SOME TIPS I’M DRIVING A NASCAR CAR WITH DAMON HILL WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO BEAT HIM?
“To beat him? Chances are it’s a school car and they always put a rev chip in the ignition box to slow you down. So on your way in just clumsily find your way over near the MSD box and knock the chip out and I promise you will go faster. (Laughs).”
WHAT DEPARTMENT SHOULD LOWE’S PUT YOU IN?
“Hand me a broom or something. I think I would be in the way in most situations. I was in store for a function not long ago and they had me answering phones. We naturally thought people would realize I was the race car driver and I answered five calls and no one had a clue who I was. It was awesome.”
DID YOU GIVE THEM ANY GOOD ADVICE?
“No, they wanted to speak to someone. In fact I had one on the phone that wanted to speak to the CEO immediately and wanted his personal cell phone number. I’m like yeah, I have it, but I can’t give it to you. It has been a lot of fun going in the stores and from a variety of things working with the stores in Moore, Oklahoma to help rebuild the neighborhoods that were affected by the big tornadoes.
“We were just at their big call center in North Wilkesboro (North Carolina) last week working through some things. We had a lot of fun with them.”
SINCE IT IS HALLOWEEN HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EMBARRASSING COSTUME THAT YOUR PARENTS PUT YOU IN OR ANYTHING YOU CAN REMEMBER AS A KID THAT YOU DIDN’T REALLY CARE MUCH FOR?
“No, my Mom was spot on; she did a great job with it. We always had our face painted and were some kind of character. She did a great job, spent a lot of time painting my brother and me up. Occasionally we would come home with a little blue ribbon or something from the school Halloween contest or whatever it was. My Mom did a good job.”
WHO WERE YOU? DO YOU REMEMBER?
“Dracula was a very successful character for us, but I can give my Mom a hard time for dressing me up going to school every day. I had these short little corduroy shorts and my knee-high socks with the stripe on them. I just saw some pictures recently and I’m like ‘really? That was in style? How?’ I don’t get it. California thing I guess.”
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