MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jimmie Johnson took his customary spot Friday at a media center dais and smiled devilishly as NASCAR moderator Kerry Tharp began a preamble introducing the six-time series champion.
"You know what, Kerry? I've always heard you were considered a second-rate citizen if you didn't make the Chase," Johnson said, glancing at a group of about a dozen news reporters gathered before practice at Martinsville Speedway. "And I'm kicked out, and you guys are all still here talking to me. You've all been lying all this time. I guess it does matter. I still do matter. It's fantastic!"
There was a good reason Johnson was in a good mood despite being eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup with four races remaining in the season.
He's been mulling the prospect for three weeks.
Though a 24th Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway effectively ended his bid for a second consecutive championship, Johnson could see the writing on the wall as early as the 40th at Kansas Speedway that opened the three-race Contender Round. After a 17th at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the outlook darkened further for his No. 48 Chevrolet.
"That was really when I came to grips with not advancing and not being a championship contender," Johnson said. "We got to Talladega, you're rolling the dice there anyway with restrictor-plate racing, and it's an all or nothing thing, so it put me in an easy position to relax and enjoy the weekend.
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"It wasn't fun leaving Kansas or Charlotte. It was relatively dark, not a lot of sunlight floating around. But you have that. I truly believe those moments make you stronger. They make you dig in deeper. It's great medicine for the (team). I don't want to be in this position. This is great medicine to sit and watch this championship unfold. It's going to motivate me (and) all of us on the 48 team. We'll be back next year and ready to roll."
This is uncharted territory for Johnson, who has won six of the 10 championship of the Chase era. In 2004, '05 and '12, he still was title-eligible entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2011, he was eliminated in the penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway.
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Johnson mathematically remained alive for the championship with two races remaining in each of his first two seasons (prior to the Chase being implemented).
His elimination is mostly a byproduct of the reformatting of the Chase with knockout rounds and points resets, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver isn't dwelling on its significance while looking ahead to next season. Johnson has struggled to adapt to a new set of rules that have changed the handling of Cup cars this year. He has 18 top 10s in 32 of 36 starts , putting him in danger of a career-low (he had 20 in 2003).
"The mindset is simple," he said. "We want to close out the year well. We want to finish as high as we can in points. We want to win races. We did not have a good last three races for a variety of reasons.
"This does open up an opportunity to work on '15 from a personnel standpoint. Testing is gone next year, so anything we can do to work on the 2015 package will suit us well. We're not slowing down any. These last four weeks are going to be as busy as any as we're getting geared up for 2015."
Johnson was eliminated with teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne at Talladega, leaving Jeff Gordon as Hendrick's lone title contender. But Johnson said there isn't much he can do to help Gordon.
"We've had different setups under our cars throughout the year," he said. "We're relatively far apart. Of course, I'll be aware of where he is on the racetrack and try not to give him a hard time.
"I've always won championships by keeping it simple. Overthinking things creates problems for me. I'm not sure how Jeff wants to go about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just keep to themselves and keep doing what they can. That's what got them in this position and will win them the championship."
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