Hendrick driver racked up huge numbers in 2004
By Lee Montgomery
If there was a dominant driver in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004, his name was Jimmie Johnson.
His eight victories were two more than the next driver. His 20 top-five finishes were four more than the next driver.
And Johnson dominated the Chase for the Nextel Cup, too, winning four of the 10 races.
Yet, when the season was over and the points were counted, someone else was the champion.
Johnson ended up second, a scant eight points behind Kurt Busch.
Eight points. That's two positions. Or one in the season finale, if you can believe that.
Had Johnson been able to pass Greg Biffle in the closing laps of the Ford 400, the extra points for winning would have made Johnson the champion.
Of course, that didn't happen. So for the second consecutive season, Johnson was left a bridesmaid. (Well, until December, when he married fiancé Chandra Janway).
"It was an incredible season for this whole Lowe's team," Johnson said. "We won a lot of races. That's something I'm very proud of. I set a personal goal to try to win five races this year and then to have eight and four in the Chase is pretty amazing.
"We were eight points away from the championship. I'm definitely disappointed in that but we did all that we could.
"If we look back on the season and try to pick apart should-of would-ofs, it wouldn't be right to do that. We showed up at Loudon and gave 100 percent. It is what is."
Picking apart the season is pretty simple. There's the first part, the first 20 races, when Johnson won four races and led Jeff Gordon by 232 points.
Then there's the short second part, when Johnson blew engines in three consecutives races to drop to second in points.
And then there's the third part, the start of the Chase, when Johnson finished 10th, 37th and 32nd to fall all the way to ninth in the points.
Finally, there's the final part, when Johnson won four of the final six races, finishing second and sixth in the other two.
That final part also includes the tragic plane crash that took the lives of nine Hendrick Motorsports employees -- including owner Rick Hendrick's brother John and son Ricky -- and a pilot for Tony Stewart.
Johnson won at Martinsville that fateful day and was informed of the crash moments after he took the checkered flag.
It was a crushing blow for Hendrick Motorsports, but somehow the team responded the following week to win at Atlanta, too.
That victory -- his third on a row -- moved Johnson within 59 points of Busch with three races remaining.
Delivering a championship for Rick Hendrick became the driving force behind the No. 48 team, but Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus fell short.
"The one thing that Jeff and I can both look back and say is our teams - and Rick in his heart feels this way too - we did everything we could possibly," Johnson said.
"When you go to bed at night knowing that you sleep a lot easier. The other thing is it's meant to be. It wasn't in the cards for us this year."
The turning point of Johnson's season came at Kansas Speedway in the third Chase race. Johnson had engine problems the week before at Talladega, and after spinning and crashing at Kansas, his championship hopes seemed doomed.
"From my standpoint, I feel like I kind of let go of the championship after Kansas," Johnson said. "I felt that I was out of it and there was no way between the three drivers up front that they would have enough problems to let us be back in it."
But Johnson and Knaus didn't give up, deciding to go full bore after victories. The close to the season was certainly impressive.
"When we were leading the points, every time we hit the track we felt like we had a target on our backs," Johnson said. "It's our own fault. We wanted to be the fastest in practice.
"If we didn't, we were nervous. If we didn't qualify in the top five, we were nervous. If the race didn't start off just right, we were nervous. There's just something with leading the championship that gets inside your head. It's a tough thing."
Johnson said it was a burden leading the points, but after falling behind, the burden was lifted. The final six races proved that.
Now, all Johnson can do is look forward to 2005, when he hopes he can finally move up one more spot in the points.
"A championship at this level is all that I've ever wanted since I was a kid," Johnson said. "Growing up in Southern California racing in the deserts, all I would do was watch and at the time it was Jeff winning his championships.
"I thought, 'How in the world am I going to get there? I'm out here in the Nevada desert and it's a 120 degrees and I'm beating around in an off road truck and that's where I want to be. How do I get there?'
"I worked and sacrificed a lot like everyone else giving everything that I've ever had for it. I want to be a champion. ... There's many more years that I feel in my career to hopefully achieve that.
"Since I was a kid this is everything that I wanted to do is be a champion at the Cup level."
By Lee Montgomery
If there was a dominant driver in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004, his name was Jimmie Johnson.
His eight victories were two more than the next driver. His 20 top-five finishes were four more than the next driver.
And Johnson dominated the Chase for the Nextel Cup, too, winning four of the 10 races.
Yet, when the season was over and the points were counted, someone else was the champion.
Johnson ended up second, a scant eight points behind Kurt Busch.
Eight points. That's two positions. Or one in the season finale, if you can believe that.
Had Johnson been able to pass Greg Biffle in the closing laps of the Ford 400, the extra points for winning would have made Johnson the champion.
Of course, that didn't happen. So for the second consecutive season, Johnson was left a bridesmaid. (Well, until December, when he married fiancé Chandra Janway).
"It was an incredible season for this whole Lowe's team," Johnson said. "We won a lot of races. That's something I'm very proud of. I set a personal goal to try to win five races this year and then to have eight and four in the Chase is pretty amazing.
"We were eight points away from the championship. I'm definitely disappointed in that but we did all that we could.
"If we look back on the season and try to pick apart should-of would-ofs, it wouldn't be right to do that. We showed up at Loudon and gave 100 percent. It is what is."
Picking apart the season is pretty simple. There's the first part, the first 20 races, when Johnson won four races and led Jeff Gordon by 232 points.
Then there's the short second part, when Johnson blew engines in three consecutives races to drop to second in points.
And then there's the third part, the start of the Chase, when Johnson finished 10th, 37th and 32nd to fall all the way to ninth in the points.
Finally, there's the final part, when Johnson won four of the final six races, finishing second and sixth in the other two.
That final part also includes the tragic plane crash that took the lives of nine Hendrick Motorsports employees -- including owner Rick Hendrick's brother John and son Ricky -- and a pilot for Tony Stewart.
Johnson won at Martinsville that fateful day and was informed of the crash moments after he took the checkered flag.
It was a crushing blow for Hendrick Motorsports, but somehow the team responded the following week to win at Atlanta, too.
That victory -- his third on a row -- moved Johnson within 59 points of Busch with three races remaining.
Delivering a championship for Rick Hendrick became the driving force behind the No. 48 team, but Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus fell short.
"The one thing that Jeff and I can both look back and say is our teams - and Rick in his heart feels this way too - we did everything we could possibly," Johnson said.
"When you go to bed at night knowing that you sleep a lot easier. The other thing is it's meant to be. It wasn't in the cards for us this year."
The turning point of Johnson's season came at Kansas Speedway in the third Chase race. Johnson had engine problems the week before at Talladega, and after spinning and crashing at Kansas, his championship hopes seemed doomed.
"From my standpoint, I feel like I kind of let go of the championship after Kansas," Johnson said. "I felt that I was out of it and there was no way between the three drivers up front that they would have enough problems to let us be back in it."
But Johnson and Knaus didn't give up, deciding to go full bore after victories. The close to the season was certainly impressive.
"When we were leading the points, every time we hit the track we felt like we had a target on our backs," Johnson said. "It's our own fault. We wanted to be the fastest in practice.
"If we didn't, we were nervous. If we didn't qualify in the top five, we were nervous. If the race didn't start off just right, we were nervous. There's just something with leading the championship that gets inside your head. It's a tough thing."
Johnson said it was a burden leading the points, but after falling behind, the burden was lifted. The final six races proved that.
Now, all Johnson can do is look forward to 2005, when he hopes he can finally move up one more spot in the points.
"A championship at this level is all that I've ever wanted since I was a kid," Johnson said. "Growing up in Southern California racing in the deserts, all I would do was watch and at the time it was Jeff winning his championships.
"I thought, 'How in the world am I going to get there? I'm out here in the Nevada desert and it's a 120 degrees and I'm beating around in an off road truck and that's where I want to be. How do I get there?'
"I worked and sacrificed a lot like everyone else giving everything that I've ever had for it. I want to be a champion. ... There's many more years that I feel in my career to hopefully achieve that.
"Since I was a kid this is everything that I wanted to do is be a champion at the Cup level."