NASCAR Atlanta 2015 recap: No statement win for Jimmie Johnson, just business as usual

The victory was vintage in its execution. Despite being forced to start at the rear of the field following a problem in qualifying, Jimmie Johnson combined dogged determination and a methodical approach to win Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

It’s exactly the kind of victory where it’s easy to think Johnson has recaptured the form he used to win six championships in an eight-year span. And the troubles of 2014 where Johnson struggled to adapt to a new rules package and he and crew chief Chad Knaus frequently bickered on the radio to the point there was open speculation about their relationship together are now a mere footnote.

The win was Johnson’s 71st of his career and virtually guarantees he’ll be in the Chase for the Sprint for the 12th consecutive year.

However, while Sunday was impressive in its scope, what it isn’t is season-defining nor a statement about what’s to come. What confounded Johnson and his No. 48 last year may still exist and an answer to whether they’re resolved won’t be determined until the sample size is larger.

Johnson struggled in 2014 with a rules package that made the cars tighter, whereas he prefers a loose setup. That issue was most noticeable on tracks without severe tire wear and where drivers can essentially go flat-out for an entirety of a run. The exact opposite of the kind of track Atlanta represents.

At 1.54-miles in length the venerable speedway is among the fastest on the schedule, but it is also among the roughest. Tires quickly become chewed up if a driver doesn’t manage them well and unlike most other tracks, Atlanta rarely will see crew chiefs forego four fresh tires because doing so almost ensures doom.

Having to pace and preserve his tires over a long run has always played into Johnson’s strengths. This was true even if the rules package turned the handling of his car into the antithesis of what he favored, like what happened last year. Despite the lack of comfortabilty, he still won races in 2014 on tracks where tire management was paramount to success with victories at Dover International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

A change in rules this season including the lowering of the rear spoiler by 25 percent gave the perception the cars would go back to being harder to control and more in line with Johnson’s preference. Sunday’s win seemed to reinforce that theory.

Except Atlanta was always going to be a strength of the 48 team, which is exactly how events played out.

With the knowledge NASCAR would throw a competition caution Lap 25 due to rain, Johnson was aggressive early in overcoming his 37th starting position. Utilizing whatever groove was available, he passed cars sometimes two and three at a time. From there, Johnson became more conservative. Mindful of tire wear, he gradually climbed up the leaderboard not taking the lead until Lap 198.

“Damn, that was awesome,” said Knaus of Johnson’s dash from the back. “We’re talking three-wide up at the top, down to the bottom, going through the middle. It was just fantastic.”

The real test to see if Johnson can recapture the dominance that escaped last season will come in the weeks ahead. Foremost is next weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an intermediate oval like Atlanta, except with an ultra-smooth surface where tire wear is negligible.

“I think next weekend in Vegas will really be a telling sign which teams are kind of geared up for the meat of the season and what our season’s based on,” Johnson said. “This doesn’t hurt by any means. I’m feeling really good, but I’m not 100 percent there yet. We’ll figure that out next weekend.”

A strong effort in Vegas and the idea that 2014 was an anomaly will justifiably gain more traction. But until then, Johnson was most certainly going to win at some juncture this season, and that it came at Atlanta is of no surprise.

Johnson and Knaus are too good not to have some semblance of success. This, however, isn’t a team measured in race wins but championships. And anything less than a record-tying seventh title will be seen by them as a disappointment, even if Sunday was a solid first step.

“I just know we’re going to continue to work and do the best we possibly can -- that’s the vintage 48 (team) methodology,” Knaus said. “If you win, you just put your head down, keep digging and try to get the next one. That’s kind of how we’re going to approach the season.

“Just because we won today doesn’t mean we’re going to go to Vegas and knock it out of the park. I think we have the ability to, but I don’t think there’s any givens by any stretch.”

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