Jimmie Johnson has five career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and would love to add another this weekend.
However, Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 will provide Johnson and the rest of the field with a unique challenge as it’s the first race using the new dramatically different rules package. Johnson knows that the new package will be a game changer.
“This track is unlike any other track as we all know, with the surface and bumps and just the character this track has,” Johnson said. “That’s been my focus with a few race friends that I made in that opening practice session to get drivability right; and then make speed a secondary item. We’ll see how it all plays out. This package is so new to all of us.”
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However Sunday’s race plays out there is one thing Johnson is sure about. Nobody will know everything about how the new rules impact the cars or the racing until at least a few races down the road. Johnson like many others in the garage and around the industry is preaching patience, no matter how difficult that may be.
“I know none of us were really raised in this industry to have patience, or even our fan base for that matter,” Johnson laughed. “Honestly I think this is one of the more challenging tracks for this rules package. I think California is going to be really challenging for this rules package. When you have a lot of tire falloff and the lower horsepower, I think that will just be tougher and more difficult to race and to get things sorted out.
“I think when we go to a track like Las Vegas, it’s going to put on a heck of a show. Just in the test session with 13 cars, I was four-wide multiple times in those little small races that they had. So, I think we’ll have a good flavor of things here in the first five races.”
Johnson had a adventurous but ultimately solid day in last week’s Daytona 500, his first with new crew chief Kevin Meendering. Despite receiving damage on pit road in an accident, Johnson was able to wheel his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet home to a top-10 finish. The promising outing has Johnson optimistic about what lies ahead.
“I thought it went really well, obviously, to get the win in the Clash,” Johnson said. “That was a nice confidence boost. The fast cars in general, helped. But the 500 itself with all the challenges thrown at Kevin and the crew, there was no better way to test where we’re at as a group than to go through that.
“We had a good week of learning and conversation on how to handle some of those situations a little bit better. But, we were put under the gun with multiple attempts at fixing the car under that six-minute window and got it done. So, I think the guys did really good and especially with Kevin leading them.”
