Johnson Ready for a Change for Food City 500

Fair or not, Jimmie Johnson knew the question was coming.

Through the first four Sprint Cup races this season, the two-time defending Cup series champion has posted just one top-five finish.

Fans and media are eager to know if there is a problem with Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports team.

"We wish we were winning," Johnson said. "We’re not excited to be driving our hearts out to finish 13^th at Atlanta, and then the week before at Vegas was a disaster.

"We’re not happy to be in that position, but it’s racing. Everybody goes through lulls."

Since Friday’s qualifying session was rained out at Bristol Motor Speedway, the starting lineup for today’s Food City 500 was established by 2007 points. That gave Johnson the pole position.

Johnson is still searching for a breakthrough at Bristol, where his average finish is 15^th. Johnson qualified sixth and finished 16^th in the Car of Tomorrow debut last March at BMS, then started ninth and finished 21^st in the Sharpie 500 in August.

As all drivers search for better handling with NASCAR’s next generation ride, Johnson feels he and crew chief Chad Knaus are close to finding some answers.

"It’s uncharacteristic for us to start the season like that, but we feel like in the last few weeks we’ve identified the problem and the areas where we need to work and we’re making good gains," Johnson said. "So, I’m not happy to be where we’re at, but we found a direction and we’re going the right way."

Both of the Sprint Cup races at BMS last season featured a twist. Kyle Busch won in the spring, then blasted his COT car. Carl Edwards took the fall race on the newly resurfaced track.

Since the end of Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, this week’s headlines have focused on Tony Stewart and his pointed critiques of Goodyear tires.

While the smooth concrete surface at Bristol is not as demanding on tires as abrasive track surfaces such as Darlington, the focus remains on Goodyear, according to veteran Dale Jarrett.

"This is a tire that has not been tested [at Bristol], and a lot will depend, again, on if that tire was developed for the Nationwide cars or was it developed for the COTs. And I don’t think that it was exactly developed for that," said Jarrett, who will make his final start in a points race today. Due to the lack of cautions and multi-groove action, some fans actually dubbed the last race at Bristol as boring. Jarrett feels drivers will eventually adapt to the new-look BMS, which features gradual banking and more room for error.

Drivers such as Kasey Kahne used both the bottom and high grooves on the half-mile track in Saturday’s Nationwide Series Sharpie MINI 300.

"I know that a lot of people went away from the fall race last year at Bristol not really liking the changes that were made in the racetrack," Jarrett said. "In defense of the racetrack, the changes should only enhance the racing competition.

"I know that’s what everybody goes to see, especially at Bristol, is that excitement. But it wasn’t the racetrack’s fault that that race wasn’t as exciting as a lot of the previous races there. It goes back to that combination of car and tire, and just didn’t allow itself for that to happen."

Johnson hopes he can silence his critics by solving both the Goodyear puzzle and the new-look track.

"I’m hopeful [Bristol] goes back to the days of old where you watched on television and you saw all the guys running side-by-side with no problems," Johnson said. "I just don’t know what’s to be expected as this track develops.

"But it’s Bristol and the energy is here and it’s still this crazy little half-mile track. I think the intensity will continue to come back over each race that we have here. Before, this was one of the tracks that I absolutely hated entering the race. It’s turned into a racier track."