By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports had Chase Elliott earn his first non-plate pole, William Byron secure the front row and Jimmie Johnson round out the top 10 in 10th.
More importantly, Friday was the second straight race where HMS swept the front row, doing so last week at Texas with Johnson and Byron. Now with aparent short-track speed at the faster-than-ever Bristol, HMS is arguably showing their brightest shines of life in the last year. Johnson is staying humble through these times of improvement.
“I’m trying to control my emotions,” Johnson said. “This sport is very humbling. I feel good but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I know we still have a lot of work to do.”
Scoring his first top five of the year one week ago at Texas, Johnson was happy to roll into the historic half-mile with similar pace. Not only from his No. 48, but the entire HMS organization.
“It’s pretty fresh for all of us,” he said of the improvement. “I think all four cars were in the top 15, two on the front row again. A mile-and-a-half track, a short track, we know our superspeedway stuff is good.
“We’re moving in the right direction, I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet. But, we’re making up some ground in a hurry which is nice. Hard to do.”
From 10th, Johnson knows where to improve for Sunday’s’ 500-lapper. Finishing third in this event last year, the seven-time champion is itching to keep the weekend rolling.
“The car was great,” he said. “We ran really well. I think our lap count on the tires was a little high and it took me two or three to get my fast lap.
“Top-10 starting spot, we’ll take it.”