THE CONTENDERS: With a second-place finish in Sunday’s Ford 400, Jimmie Johnson (center) vaulted to his fifth-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title ahead of Denny Hamlin (left) and Kevin Harvick. (Jerry Markland/Getty Images Photo)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Entering the final race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season 15 points out of the lead, Jimmie Johnson took the attitude that he didn’t have anything to lose while constantly reminding Denny Hamlin that he had everything to lose. And that’s exactly what happened.
Like a kinder, gentler Darrell Waltrip, Johnson brought some psychological gamesmanship into this year’s Chase for the Championship and the result was his fifth-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
“From the psyche standpoint, absolutely,” Johnson admitted. “I think each year that I’ve been in the sport, I’ve become more comfortable with my role. The way I was raised in racing, I had to earn the right to say things and I had to earn the right to have confidence and to act a certain way. I see guys step out of line from time to time with very little years of experience and from my standpoint, I don’t think that’s right.
“I’ve accomplished so much more than I ever thought I would. I may as well have some fun with it. That’s what this Chase was about and that’s what this week was about. And when it dawned on me that I could remind Denny that he had everything to lose, I thought, that’s a great idea and off I went. Again, I didn’t want to be disrespectful to him and I didn’t want to do that to be disrespectful to Kevin Harvick or their teams, but what’s wrong with a little bit of discussion or a reminder or two about what’s on the line?
“So I had a lot more fun with this championship battle than any other.”
And that allowed Johnson to have the last laugh over Hamlin and Harvick. While a driver such as Johnson could have felt the pressure of entering the final race of the season 15 points behind Hamlin and with Harvick third in the standings 46 points out of the lead, Johnson simply drove his own race and watched the other two drivers deal with their mistakes.
Johnson’s “head games” actually began one week earlier when Hamlin’s apparent win at Phoenix came to an abrupt end when he had to pit for fuel late in the race. That dropped him to a 12th-place finish, so instead of having a commanding lead entering the final race of the season it created the closest margin in Chase history.
Johnson refused to let up, reminding Hamlin every time he saw him that he had everything to lose.
“The gloves came off amongst the teams,” Johnson said, especially after Hamlin won at Texas and Knaus switched pit crews with teammate Jeff Gordon midway through that race. “Rolling forward from there, it’s not my deal to play games. But it’s not out of my line of thought to tell the truth in what I think is going on, and that’s all that I did. If it worked and it played mind games on them, right on. I’m not sure it did. I saw them before the race started, we were backstage and he gave me some credit for trying to give him a hard time during the week. He said, ‘The stress had not hit me until about 30 minutes [ago] when I put my suit on.’
“I guess at some point it finally showed up and he did a good job of staying away from it. I was just pointing out the obvious that he had everything to lose and we didn’t. It was fun to be in that space mentally and not be so worried about the championship like I had been in other years. And [I] believe that comes from the fact that we didn’t have to protect down here. We came in behind, and we knew what we had to do. So it completely changed my minds set.”
The two drivers even had to ride in the back of the same pickup truck as they circled the track during pre-race driver introductions just minutes before the race.
“At that point there was probably more awkwardness being around one another than there was at — behind the stage before we went across for driver intros and then into the truck,” Johnson said. “I guess in our minds you work up such a competitive — there’s so much competitive juices flowing that you don’t want to tear the other guy apart in a sense. And we see each other and [were] both kind of distant and said hellos, and things like that.
“In the truck, before we went across the stage, I shook Kevin’s hand and wished him good luck and said, ‘You’ve had a hell of a year,’ and shook Denny’s and said the same. When we rode in the truck, there were some boos right out of gate, and I turned to Denny and said, ‘You’re probably not used to being booed so much, but probably it’s not you; it’s me.’”
But once the battle was over, Hamlin’s team was among the first to congratulate Johnson for the championship.
“We stopped at his car, his guys were there, [crew chief] Mike Ford was standing with a big thumbs up and [we] sent a thumbs up back and went back to our car and did our thing,” Johnson said. “We are very competitive, and at the end of the day, I mean, even though there were shots thrown at us from the decision we made, a change of crew guys, and certainly gave Denny a hard time when I could this week and all the stuff that goes on, there’s a great deal of respect for each team out there, and especially the Gibbs team.
“Denny has been studying us hard over the years and is a serious threat, and same with the 29 (Harvick). Those guys did a lot. You look where they were last year to where they are this year. You have to respect the ability those teams have. At the end of the day, I like to show my respect for other teams.”
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