Jimmie Johnson answers questions from the media prior to practice for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/NASCAR via Getty Images
Where Jimmie Johnson is concerned, last week’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Charlotte means more than the end of a 24-race dry spell and a ticket into the Chase’s Round of 8.
Guaranteed to be one of the final eight drivers eligible for the series title this year, Johnson can start to entertain the possibility of a seventh championship that would tie him for the all-time record with two icons of the sport—Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
“Yeah it’s definitely more realistic, because we are alive and transferring to the Round of 8,” said Johnson, the only driver to qualify for the Chase every season since the inception of the playoff format in 2004. “There is still so much racing between now and then. We’ve had some consistent runs, so definitely building confidence in that.
“The victory is a huge boost. We’re definitely building momentum at the right time. It’s probably later than we would’ve liked, but at least it’s going in the right direction. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Though Johnson won a record five straight titles from 2006 through 2010 and added another in 2013, he has yet to win under the elimination format that debuted in 2014. In fact, he failed to advance beyond the Round of 12 in each of the first two years of the current system.
That all changed at Charlotte.
“We clearly are in that Round of 8, but, man, this Chase… I think some felt like it got off to a calm start. Then last weekend, with half the Chasers having issues in the race (five Chase drivers finished 30th or worse), I think it just shows anything can happen.
“The guys that are living it day in and day out—we don’t take it for granted. I’m certainly not taking it for granted and don’t think I’m in a layup situation for Homestead (the Championship 4 race) by any stretch. We need to make sure we’re part of that final four, and there is a lot of work between now and then.”
NASCAR Continues Trend Toward Lower Downforce With 2017 Rules
With the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in full swing, driver Carl Edwards hasn’t had time to review or digest the 2017 rules package released to Sprint Cup teams this week.
But Edwards did applaud the continued direction NASCAR is taking with measures that will remove downforce from the cars that race in the sanctioning body’s premier series.
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“Anything we can do to take aerodynamic dependency away from these cars I believe makes the racing better and makes it more fun and showcases the driver’s talent and crew chief’s ability to change. That’s good stuff. Less aero-dependency is good, so good job, NASCAR – sounds like it’s going to be fun.”
Highlighted changes to the competition package include a reduction in spoiler height from 3.5 inches to 2.375 inches. The latter figure is .125 inches lower than the test height of 2.5 inches used at Kentucky and in both Michigan races this year.
The spoiler will be 61 inches wide next season, matching current specs, but an increase of eight inches over the spoiler used at Michigan. The wider spoiler should provide greater stability on the right rear of the Cup cars than the 53-inch version.
Other competition changes include a three-inch reduction in splitter size on the outboard regions, as well as tapering of the rear deck fin and mandating changes to suspension construction to achieve a net rear steer of zero.
At the Daytona and Talladega superspeedways, NASCAR is reducing the restrictor-plate from 57/64 inches to 7/8 inches (56/64) to offset gains in horsepower achieved by the Cup teams. Plate sizes, however, are subject to change after final practice, at NASCAR’s discretion.
The weight of superspeedway cars will increase by 20 pounds to accommodate structural changes.
“We gave the teams the package that they will be racing next year, so that they can start to construct their cars for next year’s season,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “It’s basically what we raced in Michigan, with a different-sized spoiler.”
Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development, said the combination of a smaller spoiler and splitter should reduce downforce on the cars by approximately 500 pounds.
“Our objective here is to get more off-throttle time for the drivers,” Stefanyshyn said. “When you take downforce off, the corner speed will slow down, because you’re off-throttle more.”
From a safety standpoint, NASCAR is introducing an enhanced steering column mounting at all tracks. Anti-intrusion plating and a structural foot box, toe board foam and escape hatches in the roofs of the cars will be mandatory at superspeedways and optional at all other tracks.
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