Jimmie Johnson chickens out of running the 500; blames his wife

[Fro]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110128/SPORTS01/101280332/1052/SPORTS01/Johnson-says-no-Indy-500-Coca-Cola-600-double

Jimmie Johnson, the five-time reigning NASCAR champion who has never driven an Indy car, said he would decline for family reasons.
"I really, really want to do it," Johnson said this week during NASCAR's preseason media tour in Charlotte, N.C. "I'm just not sure if it's going to work for me. (Chandra, his wife) and I talked about it and (said) if the opportunity came along before we had kids, it was something I needed to do."
Their first child, Genevieve Marie Johnson, was born in July.
Team owner Rick Hendrick said that is the deal-breaker for Johnson. "His wife's against it, and she's got a lot of stroke in that deal," he said.

Bernard needs to hire someone to follow Jimmie Johnson around with a chicken suit on.

[irvinefan]

Reminds me more of this.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M-6EVXKITg

[hotdog1]

Seems like a marketing opportunity to me.

Not everyone has the guts to do it.

[brickyard1911]

Ah, the old "wife's against" it excuse. Can you imagine guys like A.J. Foyt, The Unser's, Mario, Johnny, Vuky, etc letting their wives decide what they drove. Mario's wife finally won out after his little flying experiment at Indy when he was around 54 years old.

[skypigeon]

Today's trivia question: What do Jimmie Johnson and Sam Hornish have in common?

[pb]

Was anybody really buying the notion that he was going to do it to begin with? To me this is a total non-story. In the interest of fairness, the whole thing has been a lot of smoke and very little fire from the onset.

I guess I'll just have to make the best of it and try to enjoy the race anyway, since the tickets are already bought. -cap

[JMFVET]

So, the way I read it the champion of champions in NASCAR is scared to drive an IndyCar. There might be a bit more risk because he is not real familiar with the cars, but really speed and lack of fender bumping is intimidating to him. It is a lot harder to drive fast and close when the protection of fenders and bumpers is not available.

I know he blames his wife, but if he was confident he would transfer that confidence to his wife and she would not object.

[pb]

Today's trivia question: What do Jimmie Johnson and Sam Hornish have in common?

Wives, kids and big bank accounts courtesy of running in NASCAR?

[gonzo]

Indy Car needs to grab this and ride it like there is no tomorrow. This is exactly one of those intangible things that people don't realize. It takes a tremndous amount of skill and bravery to race open wheels at 230 plus miles per hour.

Jimmie is chicken and Randy needs to let the world know that a NASCAR champion is afraid.

[philbert3a]

1911, i think he was 63 when he did that

Ah, the old "wife's against" it excuse. Can you imagine guys like A.J. Foyt, The Unser's, Mario, Johnny, Vuky, etc letting their wives decide what they drove. Mario's wife finally won out after his little flying experiment at Indy when he was around 54 years old.

[texacostar05]

Indy Car needs to grab this and ride it like there is no tomorrow. This is exactly one of those intangible things that people don't realize. It takes a tremndous amount of skill and bravery to race open wheels at 230 plus miles per hour.

Jimmie is chicken and Randy needs to let the world know that a NASCAR champion is afraid.

I agree..lets use this to our advantage, although I dont think Rnady will as he wants to keep the dialogue openI think it would be a great advertising opp.

[11rowsof3]

Wives, kids and big bank accounts courtesy of running in NASCAR?

Yup. That's why IndyCar needs to compete with NASCAR in getting young, brave, aggressive talent. There is no more Mario, AJ and Al Sr that have some real stones. And the ship has sailed on guys like Kahne, Newman, Johnson, Gordon and Stewart. Harvick and McMurray would have made great IndyCar drivers too. No way they ever run... millions of dollars, advisors and many of this new crop haven't even had a broken bone. They are lucky enough to be "set" in NASCAR.

I am disappointed with Michael Andretti, Raul Boesel, Al Jr (letting himself go) and a dozen other guys too. I would be working out every day and running at least the Indy 500 until I was 55.

Kudos to PT for wanting this so badly still, he deserves a top-flight ride. It's a crime.


I mean these guys LED the race at thier age until mechanical gremlins got them!

[indyrjc]

Yup. That's why IndyCar needs to compete with NASCAR in getting young, brave, aggressive talent. There is no more Mario, AJ and Al Sr that have some real stones. .....

Agreed. But brave and aggressive talent doesn't really have much of a chance to show their stuff at tracks like Indy where the engineers are the real stars today and drivers never have to lift off of the throttle or touch a brake pedal. I agree with you but the technical rules really need to be changed to make the driver more important at Indy. And there's nothing in the 2012 rules that change anything right now.

BTW, whatever Jimmie Johnson might do in an IndyCar you can bet he would show better in the 500 than did Franchitti or Hornish in NASCAR. The guy flat knows how to win and like past driving greats (Andretti, Foyt, Unsers, etc.) he would be competitive in anything he drives once he gets a feel for it.

[TimmyZ1]

Johnson made the same comments to Michael Knight about 2 weeks ago, I was dumb and posted it in the train wreck Hornish thread, instead of creating a new post

http://spindoctor500blog.blogspot.com/2011/01/breaking-news-no-jimmie-johnson-in-indy.html

I've got no use for Johnson but I respect his abilities, his beliefs, and his main interest in a peaceful and happy marriage. I'm a Loan officer and I just lost a big fee because even though it was a great loan for the client, his wife got in the way. The client very nicely put it, I love this loan and I agree its a great loan, but I love my wife more and I know her enough to know not to push it. Ive been happily married for over 30 years (the clients words) and that's probably the main reason why.


Anyways here's my comments below from the Hornish thread and how the article pertains to Johnson and Hornish

Read it in its entirety. The 1st person he talks to if he had a good opportunity to go back is his wife. He told his wife he would love to do it but it was something they wanted to do before having a kids (he had a daughter in the summer) He also states he gets nervous just watching the Indy Cars go side by side on TV much less doing it in person.

At the end of the day, its about family and health first. I wouldn't doubt this is the 1st thing that goes through Hornish's and his wife's mind when considering going back to Indycars. In less than a 1 1/2 years we've had 3 drivers seriously injured. While over in Cab land the only thing I can really remember is Regan Smith breaking his wrist in that pile-up in Sonoma this year. At the end of the day these are fenderless open cockpit design weighing 1,500lbs? Compare that to a 4000 lb? tank with a full roll cage. Do what Elliot Sadler did at Pocono is an Indy car and the driver is dead. Sadler had sore ribs and was back racing in his usual 25th place next week (sorry couldn't help myself) The gap in safety has closed substantially but there's always going to be a gap.

Sam's also made the point that' while the season is much longer in NASCAR, it does way less wear and tear on the body than 17 races in Indycar. WE all love INDYCAR with a passion and if WE all of had the skill and talent I'm sure all of us would race here. But lets be honest, if your a professional driver who's busted his/her ass to get where you did, as much as you love this series, you seriously would have to consider the other series if shown in black and white It's safer, better paying, more races, and less wear and tear on the body extending your career and earning potential.

[Spike]

Was anybody really buying the notion that he was going to do it to begin with?

No.