KIDWCKED
09-21-2010, 10:56 PM
c/p from nascar.com by Dave Rodman.
LOUDON, N.H. -- In the aftermath of a brutally abusive opening race in the seventh annual Chase, "tight" was the best way to describe the air around Jimmie Johnson and his four-time defending champion Hendrick Motorsports team.
After a one-lap-down, 25th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 -- at the same New Hampshire Motor Speedway venue where Johnson had won this summer -- Johnson and his crew were left with tightly-focused eyes, tightly-pursed lips and maybe a little tightness in the stomach thanks to an unofficial 92-point deficit to Chase leader Denny Hamlin.
“
I can't see what the future holds. All I know is this team did everything it could and we'll work very hard over this week and come back next week and go again.
”
-- JIMMIE JOHNSON"No, it wasn't [the kind of day we wanted]," said Johnson, who leaves NHMS seventh in the standings. "It's just unfortunate, but it is the way it is. We showed up, we did everything that we could. We had a decent car and got up to the top five, top 10 but just didn't turn out with the finish we wanted. We'll go home, get to work and come back next week and try to do it again."
Johnson wore a steely-eyed look -- and he wasn't smiling -- when he confronted the points gap.
"I know everyone wants some crazy answer or for me to have some foreshadowing for the future," Johnson said. "But hell, I don't know what's going to happen. We showed up, we had a good car and could've run top five -- I got caught up in some incidents and then we had a right front come loose and we slid back.
"So I can't see what the future holds. All I know is this team did everything it could and we'll work very hard over this week and come back next week and go again."
Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus was looking grim as he walked down the back of pit road, still speaking into his radio headset as he was surrounded by myriad crewmen moving equipment and personal belongings. He said he "didn't know yet" what had caused the vibration that compelled Johnson to hit pit road on Lap 255, dropping him a lap and a half behind.
Earlier this season, Johnson had opined that his team was possibly the best it's ever been. It might get a chance to prove it. In his first championship season, 2006, Johnson was 139 points out of first after New Hampshire.
"I don't know [if we're better] -- I guess we'll find out," Knaus said. "[The day] got a lot more exciting than what I had anticipated. It looked like it was gonna be a pretty nice, top-10 day -- just kind of cruise through. But stuff changes pretty quick when you've got people spinning out and weird stuff like that happens.
"It's unfortunate, but it's the way it is and how it played out. So we'll roll on to Dover and see what we got."
LOUDON, N.H. -- In the aftermath of a brutally abusive opening race in the seventh annual Chase, "tight" was the best way to describe the air around Jimmie Johnson and his four-time defending champion Hendrick Motorsports team.
After a one-lap-down, 25th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 -- at the same New Hampshire Motor Speedway venue where Johnson had won this summer -- Johnson and his crew were left with tightly-focused eyes, tightly-pursed lips and maybe a little tightness in the stomach thanks to an unofficial 92-point deficit to Chase leader Denny Hamlin.
“
I can't see what the future holds. All I know is this team did everything it could and we'll work very hard over this week and come back next week and go again.
”
-- JIMMIE JOHNSON"No, it wasn't [the kind of day we wanted]," said Johnson, who leaves NHMS seventh in the standings. "It's just unfortunate, but it is the way it is. We showed up, we did everything that we could. We had a decent car and got up to the top five, top 10 but just didn't turn out with the finish we wanted. We'll go home, get to work and come back next week and try to do it again."
Johnson wore a steely-eyed look -- and he wasn't smiling -- when he confronted the points gap.
"I know everyone wants some crazy answer or for me to have some foreshadowing for the future," Johnson said. "But hell, I don't know what's going to happen. We showed up, we had a good car and could've run top five -- I got caught up in some incidents and then we had a right front come loose and we slid back.
"So I can't see what the future holds. All I know is this team did everything it could and we'll work very hard over this week and come back next week and go again."
Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus was looking grim as he walked down the back of pit road, still speaking into his radio headset as he was surrounded by myriad crewmen moving equipment and personal belongings. He said he "didn't know yet" what had caused the vibration that compelled Johnson to hit pit road on Lap 255, dropping him a lap and a half behind.
Earlier this season, Johnson had opined that his team was possibly the best it's ever been. It might get a chance to prove it. In his first championship season, 2006, Johnson was 139 points out of first after New Hampshire.
"I don't know [if we're better] -- I guess we'll find out," Knaus said. "[The day] got a lot more exciting than what I had anticipated. It looked like it was gonna be a pretty nice, top-10 day -- just kind of cruise through. But stuff changes pretty quick when you've got people spinning out and weird stuff like that happens.
"It's unfortunate, but it's the way it is and how it played out. So we'll roll on to Dover and see what we got."