Is Jimmie Johnson Killing NASCAR? No Way (According To Jimmie Johnson)

Jimmie Johnson was asked about the perception that because he’s dominated the Chase for the last four years – and has been vanilla while doing so – that he’s responsible for the declining TV ratings and attendance.

Obviously, Johnson disagreed with that assertion when asked by a reporter on Thursday.

This was his response:

Well, I know that I’m not the reason for those things and I sure as hell know I’m not vanilla. I think it takes anybody some time to get comfortable in their shoes and their sport and with where I went from being like a C-level driver in Nationwide and through all the other things in my career, to drive for Hendrick Motorsports to having success early, at the end of the day I want to be a professional and do my job.

And some people formed opinions then and it’s unfortunate that if it still lingers around because I think I’ve done plenty to show that I’m far from vanilla. And at the same time, I’m getting more comfortable as each year goes by in how I act and what I do and with who I am.

I have my own securities like anyone else and when I come to the track I just want to make sure I’m doing my best job and representing my sponsors. I think I’m finding a better balance of that. And from the success that we’ve had, it’s just unfair to put it on a driver’s success.

When you look at the economy and the challenges that it’s posed on people, there’s a lot of conversations about the prices being too high for hotel rooms. The tracks have worked very hard to get their price point down and that hasn’t really moved the needle all that much.

We have an amazing television package and people aren’t tuning in to watch. We don’t know why. And it’s not just our sport, it’s all sports and it’s all television.

It’s not me and I know that. So I just kind of chuckle about it and if people want to spend time talking about it, they can.