Gluck: Six-time champ Jimmie Johnson looking like a contender again
JOLIET, Ill. — Saturday was already going to be a good day for Jimmie Johnson, even before his No. 48 car showed the kind of speed that has made him a six-time NASCAR champion.
Johnson turned 41 Saturday and spent the first part of his birthday behind the wheel of what seems to be a very fast car for Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
After practice, he walked into a hauler decorated with balloons (including a Cars balloon that read “Birthday Champ”), a “Happy Birthday Jimmie” sheet cake and a card signed by his team.
But the bigger celebration, the team hopes, will come after the checkered flag Sunday.
It certainly seems possible after Johnson had the fastest 10-lap average in two of the three practice sessions at Chicagoland and was second-fastest in the other.
That’s more than was expected from the No. 48, which hasn’t exactly looked like a championship team this year. Entering the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend, Johnson has been somewhat of an afterthought when it comes to picking favorites.
Maybe we should have known better. After all, he and his team have had quiet summers on several occasions before suddenly showing up for the Chase with fast cars.
The thing is, this time was harder to predict. All of Hendrick Motorsports has seemed off this year. Johnson has the team’s only two victories and is on pace for career lows in several categories. Meanwhile, the team got only two cars in the playoff (rookie Chase Elliott is the other).
But the heavy favorites entering the Chase — the Toyota cars of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing — weren’t declaring victory even before Johnson showed his speed.
Last week at Richmond International Raceway, after Toyota wrapped up a regular season in which its cars won half the races, Denny Hamlin was asked an obvious question: Could anyone stop the Toyotas in the Chase for the Sprint Cup?
“You don't know what (the competition has) got at the shop waiting to come to the racetrack,” Hamlin said. “I think it's really hard to predict what happens from this point on. I mean, is it a continuation of the regular season or has somebody been laying in the weeds?”
Further, Hamlin cautioned, anyone wanting to get a hint of who might be good in the Chase should wait until practice starts at Chicagoland and watch how the race unfolds.
“That’s the barometer of where we’re really at,” he said.
As it turns out, the early returns at Chicagoland have offered some interesting results — most notably when it comes to Hendrick.
Not only has Johnson shown speed, but so has Elliott (who had the second-fastest 10-lap average in final practice) and Alex Bowman (who had the sixth-fastest single lap in opening practice Friday).
It’s always dangerous to read too much into practice results because it can be misleading. Teams have different agendas, and there’s not always a correlation to which cars are fastest in the race.
But it’s hard not to pay attention when Johnson shows up looking like a contender at the start of the Chase, just because he’s done this before.
This wasn’t supposed to be the year when Johnson could win his record-tying seventh title, but perhaps he’s on the verge of pulling off his biggest fall surprise yet.
Then it might be time to re-learn an important NASCAR lesson: Never count out the No. 48 team.
“We’re working hard,” Johnson said Thursday. “There's a lot of optimism and a lot of great things happening. We just need to deliver consistently and execute at the track.”
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck