SpeedPagan
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"The championship seems so far away," Johnson said. "I had a shot at it last year and that opportunity came and went. It hasn't even been on my mind."
"Honestly, it's because of the format," the Hendrick Motorsports driver told FOXSports.com. "You can dominate the regular season. You can win the first round of (the Chase) . . . what's the first goofy name of the whole thing? What's the second goofy name? . . . and not be one of the final four at the whatever round. I'm just trying to manage my frustration throughout the course of the year.
"Why the hell start worrying now about something that's so different in how you get there? So with that in mind, the real pressure's to win a race. If you can win two, you're guaranteed in (the Chase). When you look at the year and think, 'OK, first off, I've got to walk before I run, I'm going to win two races and then think about the championship,' it just takes a ton of pressure off of you. There's no sense at looking at the end result, at Daytona -- and it's just because of the format. Now, if it was the old Winston Cup-style points system, absolutely, every race counted and it was a different environment."
"I would be foolish to like any other format than the one in which I've won six championships in," he said. "I'll be honest. Call a spade a spade."
"I entered this new phase of the playoff system thinking I want full grandstands, I want sponsorship revenue where it was in the '90s. I want our sport to thrive and be strong," Johnson said. "I've seen stats recently that show me that this format boosted ratings, boosted attendance, (created) a lot of hype, a lot of excitement.
"I'm putting on the what's-best-for-the-sport hat. And if this is better for the sport, I'm in. I want out sport to succeed. But again, I won six championships with a different format, so I'd much rather see it go back to that."