NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson has gotten Michael Jordan’s attention.
“You haven’t won anything until you’ve won six titles,” Jordan recently teased Johnson, winner of five straight NASCAR Sprint Cup titles.
Johnson, though, could help pave the way to his Jordan-tying sixth title with a win in the former Bulls superstar’s backyard. Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet hosts the opening race in the Chase for the Cup on Sept. 18, kicking off NASCAR’s “playoffs.” The San Diego native spoke with RedEye before tossing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field last week about domination and why being a parent is tougher than being a NASCAR driver.
What’s your experience with Chicago?
Anymore I just come up here for the race. I used to live in Milwaukee for three summers racing off-road trucks and I’d drive through the traffic of Chicago and had my fair share of dislikes relative to the traffic of Wisconsin, but I’ve spent some time here for races and I enjoy it. I wish I had more time to hang out here.
There was a headline in a newspaper last week that read “Don’t forget about Jimmie Johnson.” Considering you’ve won five titles in a row, is it weird to read something like that?
I did see some headlines like that, and in the back of my mind I’m thinking “I’m in better shape than I was last year. So, let’s see what happens.” But, that kind of talk happens every year and at some point, we’re not going to win the championship, so I get it.
Would you consider yourself a clutch driver?
We have had some races and even some years where we’ve pulled through and that phrase was put on me for a period of time. I didn’t know I had that ability within myself and was happy to find it, and I hope that it doesn’t go anywhere.
How do you feel about battling these labels or comments that you’re making winning boring or that you don’t have many fans compared to some other drivers?
We all are faced with different things as athletes. Most of us are given a stereotype or label put upon us. People may think Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. has a great situation with his fan base, but his fan base is also very hungry for a win right now. So when you look at the person who is most popular, he has his own issues with pleasing everyone. In my situation, my fan base has grown tremendously over the past few years, and I think it’s underrated how big that fan base is.
People have also wanted to say that I’m boring or vanilla or whatever.
Oddly enough though, I think with social media, I’ve been able to get my personality out more. I know who I am and I can only imagine when other pro teams went on their runs, the fans of other teams disliked it and there were articles written in the same vein.
I’ve watched it before with Jeff Gordon when he won his championships. I remember when [Dale] Earnhardt dominated, people were tired of him winning. So I don’t think it’s just me, I think it’s what happens to a team or individual who continues to dominate. Golf may be one of the few sports where when Tiger was on his run, people wanted to see more. But in a lot of cases, people back off.
You’ve had some recent run-ins with Kurt Busch on the track. When drivers have these disagreements how bad can these feuds get? Can you have a beer with some of these guys the next day?
It depends on the guy and the circumstances. I would say the bulk of the field you can be frustrated with someone and exchange some words and talk it out and even yell at each other. I mean, we’re all professionals and we’ve all been yelled at or yelled at someone, but you work through stuff. I built up a lot of respect for some guys who I’ve had run-ins with; we’ve talked through it and worked through it and certainly I’d have a beer with them afterward.
You have the possibility of winning your sixth championship. Would this make you the Michael Jordan of NASCAR?
Man, I don’t know. I saw (Jordan) not long ago and he was real complimentary about all the championships and started teasing me a little bit about winning six. He’s like, “You haven’t won anything until you’ve won six.” And I’m like “I won five in a row, I think I got you beat on that front” and so we had some good banter back and forth on that. But it’s so tough to talk about yourself, for one.
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No. 2, when you’re still competing it’s hard to look back on it and draw comparisons. Outside of the sport, I mean Jordan did so much for the sport of basketball, I feel like I’m doing my share and trying to do all I can for the sport. Only time will tell.
Could you give the Cubs any advice on how to win?
I don’t know enough about baseball to get involved.
Considering your name, would you ever pursue an endorsement with Jimmy John’s?
The sub shop? No, but whenever Kevin Harvick talks about it, I think he’s trying to say my name and it catches my ear every time.
It’s pretty funny.
What’s more difficult, being a NASCAR driver or being a new parent?
A parent, man. Crashing a car is one thing. You do something wrong and adjust the car the way you don’t need to and it’s just a mechanical piece. But if you don’t program your child right, you got a lot of issues.
Ryan Smith is a RedEye special contributor.