Early-2008 difficulties continue for champion Johnson

HAMPTON, Ga. — It seemed like a typical Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus race at Atlanta. The Lowe’s Hendrick Motorsports team struggled through the first half of Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, but strong pit calls by Knaus and Johnson’s ability to steer away from trouble had the team right where it usually is late in a race.

It was reminiscent of October’s Atlanta race. Johnson was well off the pace in the first half of the race, nearly going a lap down, but continual adjustments and a changing track combined to spring the car to life and Johnson completed a sweep of 2007 races at AMS on his way to a second consecutive points championship.

There would, however, be no signature rally on this Sunday. Johnson used NASCAR’s Lucky Dog rule to get back on the lead lap with 92 laps to go, at which point Knaus keyed his radio and said, “This is your shot, buddy.”

However, in less than 30 laps Johnson was again put a lap down by leader Carl Edwards, and though he got the free pass for the second time on lap 262, he never got in contention to win. He finished 13th, the final car on the lead lap.

“We struggled today, but the good thing is we never gave up,” Johnson said. “We got back on the lead lap and were able to come out with a top-15 finish. We’re going to just keep working, and I know we’ll hit on something.”

Those aren’t words heard from Johnson very often the past two seasons, and while many teams struggled to find a balance Sunday with Goodyear’s very hard, slick tire, Johnson’s struggles have been more widespread. In fact, he’s led just 77 laps this year, including 76 in a runner-up finish at California.

His other finishes have been 27th at Daytona and 29th at Las Vegas. Between those two and Atlanta, he won four times last season. His points standing after four races is the lowest since his rookie season. Remember, this is a team that has never finished worse than fifth in the final series standings.

So where is the problem? Very little changed within the team from last season, but Knaus may have seen a slow start coming in January at the annual Media Tour visit to Hendrick Motorsports.

“Because we had a championship and three drivers in the Chase, we’ve actually gotten behind some teams with the new car,” Knaus said. “While other teams were preparing for this year, we didn’t have that luxury.”

Johnson and Knaus were impatient during Sunday’s race as frustration set in. Knaus at one point said the team needed to straighten its qualifying out, to which Johnson replied, “Look, just because we’re ticked off, we don’t need to start yelling at each other. We started 11th, which isn’t that bad. The car is just out of control.”

Johnson remains optimistic the team’s struggles will turn around soon, but as he sits 13th, Jeff Gordon 15th and Casey Mears 30th in points, it seems clear the problems aren’t just relegated to one Hendrick team. Only newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in the top 10 (sixth), and he’s been just as frustrated with the handling of his car as the others have been.

However, Johnson may have to wait to begin a turnaround since the series heads to Bristol for Sunday’s Food City 500. Johnson finished outside the top 15 in each Bristol race last season. Still, he thinks it’s just a matter of time before things begin to click.

“We had a great race at California and at Vegas, but things didn’t go as we wanted,” he said. “And we had some back luck in Daytona and Atlanta was hard to gauge because of the handling.

“We knew that the competition was closing up. We knew that this year we were going to have challenges with the Car of Tomorrow on larger tracks, and we’re not where we want to be, but we’re working very, very hard to get on top of things. I wouldn’t expect us to have a poor performance much longer.”