HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Jimmie Johnson knows he’s on the precipice of history.
If he wins the championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it would tie him with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty atop the record books. A seventh career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title under his belt.
“I’m not running from it,” Johnson said Thursday. “I’m not hiding from it.”
At the same time, the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS is not going to let the moment get too big.
Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt said Johnson has been “California cool,” and No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus went as far as to say Johnson is “as calm as I've ever seen him going into any event.”
Johnson explained that his calm confidence comes from the teammates around him.
“The last couple of years, the group of guys that have come together, the way we've worked together, the way all of Hendrick Motorsports has worked together, there's something -- it's kind of crazy to even say, but at least in the way I'm living my life right now -- there's something bigger than that seven right now that's going on,” he said. “And it's much more vivid in my mind. So, I'm ready to go to war with these guys. We're fired up.”
That’s not to say that the historic milestone isn’t important to him.
“Of course I would love to tie them,” Johnson said. “I'm honored to have this opportunity and it would be a massive honor to join Petty and Earnhardt. Without a doubt. And I hope that I can do that someday. If it's not this year, we'll be back next year and we're going to try again. It would be a huge honor. But it's not my ultimate motivation and why I'm climbing in the car as hungry as I am."
For now, even in the face of history, Johnson’s focus is on the present. He said his mindset is on trying to qualify on the pole. Working to understand what his car will need in the middle of the day versus the early evening when the sun begins to set. And above all, doing everything he can to approach this weekend like any other – and go out and win the race.
"I know it's here,” he said of the chance at a seventh championship. “I know I'm as close to this opportunity as I've ever been, but I'm not climbing into that car Sunday saying, 'I've got to win seven.'
“I'm saying, 'I've got to win a championship.'”