New champion Johnson knows secret to success

Now that Jimmie Johnson has had time to think about winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship after coming so close previously, he’s discovered the secret to his team’s success.

“I don’t think it is overly complicated,” said Johnson, who will collect about $13 million at next Friday night’s NASCAR awards dinner in New York. “I think we all just matured as a race team.”

It goes back to the season-opening race at Daytona when crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended after being caught cheating on the setup of the No. 48 Chevrolet in qualifying. Knaus, who has been with Johnson since his 2002 rookie season and is the unquestioned team leader, was sent home for four weeks.

That might have destroyed another team, but it didn’t slow down the 48 at all. Johnson won the Daytona 500 and added a win, a second and a sixth while Knaus watched on TV from his Charlotte, N.C., home.

“At the beginning of the season, when Chad was suspended for those four races, we had a plan in place how we were going to do things different, and that sped things up,” Johnson said “He did a phenomenal job putting this deal together. This has been his baby since day one.

“One of the things I am most proud of is how this Lowe’s team never gave up even when things were looking pretty bleak. We were 256 points behind the leader [early in the Chase for the championship], and nobody conceded anything. I think we knew in our hearts we could do this.”

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The field for the 29th annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway is set.

There will be at least 21 drivers eligible for the 2007 Shootout on Saturday, Feb. 10.

The non-points NASCAR Nextel Cup event features the previous season’s pole winners and past Shootout champions.

Fifteen drivers won poles in 2006, led by Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, who each won six. Others include new Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, rookie of the year and defending race winner Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, Scott Riggs, Ryan Newman, rookie David Gilliland and road racing ace Boris Said.

Past Shootout champions eligible for the 2007 event include Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader and Bill Elliott.

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Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Hampton is a good friend of Jimmie Johnson and was on hand last Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to celebrate Johnson’s championship.

But Hampton also had something to celebrate.

The player won a celebrity Chase Tracker game, successfully picking the final position of four drivers, including Johnson, in the Chase for the championship. He entered the final week of the 10-race Chase in fifth place but wound up beating runner-up and former Green Bay Packer Aaron Taylor 138-136.

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After Tony Stewart failed to make the 2006 Chase, the two-time Cup champion set his sights on finishing strong.

The 2005 champ had three wins and five top-five finishes in the final 10 races and easily wrapped up the bonus for finishing 11th in the standings, beating 12th-place Carl Edwards by 299 points.

Stewart finished 15th last Sunday at Homestead, struggling with his car’s handling throughout the race. That finish was not what Stewart had in mind, but, as he crossed the finish line, he told his team: “I’m proud of you guys. This is why we were champions last year and why we’ll be champions again.”

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The five-car Roush team had a frustrating 2006 season, getting only two entries into the Chase after putting all five in last year.

On the positive side, Matt Kenseth finished second in the points standings and Roush entries won all three races on the final weekend.