Tommy Johnson
Tommy Johnson
attention chase excited final finish given goal good hopes point race racing showing sure three top
Not that I've given up on the title, but I know that our hopes are a little diminished, ... My goal is to buckle down and make sure that we finish in the top five. I'm excited about the final three race swing. My attention is off the point chase and back to racing each race. We need to have a good showing and finish strong.
aggressive allowed came car few good learned looking position race run second tires
We had a really good qualifying position on Friday, which allowed us to try a few things on Saturday, ... We learned that we can't be as aggressive as we wanted to be. We got a little aggressive with the tune-up on the first run and the tires came loose. It just about made it on the second run. We've got a good race car for Sunday. I'm looking to go some rounds.
certainly easier favors five friday good known lane might narrow night ourselves races round run sun sure time track
There are only five races remaining, so we need to make sure that we don't have any more first round losses, ... We certainly didn't do ourselves any favors at Indy. Qualifying will be really important at Reading. It has been known to be a one lane race track with a narrow groove. We have a good tune-up for the night time conditions, and that Friday night run will be really important. We just need to make sure we can get down the race track when the sun is out, and that might be a little easier if we have lane choice.
against car elevate force guy handle race short three time tough toughest weekend
We had a tough weekend getting a handle on the race track, ... This time of year, (John) Force is the toughest car and you have to elevate your game. We've come up just a little short against them three times lately. We're still a competitive car. He's always a tough guy to run, but especially at this time of year.
best car driven good happy last night race ran repeat run sun
Our first run was a really good run, ... To repeat what we ran last night during the day with the sun on the track, I'm really happy with that. This is the best race car that I've driven in a long time.
confident decent dropped high hole john last pass problem qualified race racing run setup smoking tire
The last pass was actually a pretty decent one, ... It dropped a hole (cylinder) about 500-feet into the run. We addressed the tire smoking problem and I think we can go down there and run a high 4.70 in the first round. Even racing John Force, I'm as confident as I can be. We qualified ok, but we've got the setup to race on Sunday.
against student
It'll be interesting to see the student go up against the teacher.
bad came ours time
Any time you have a turnover, it hurts. Ours came at bad times.
issue resolved
The issue has been resolved to our satisfaction.
compete consistency consistent shown
We need to show more consistency as a team. We can compete with these teams, but we haven't shown that we can be as consistent as they are, but we will get there.
mix seen though took
I've seen what he does as a coach. Even though I took a lot of what I do from him, I mix in some of my own. He's never seen me as a coach.
good great indy itself rest run separates special win
You run the whole season, and then you run Indy. It's that special that it separates itself from the rest of the season. We're having a good year, but if we can win Indy or the Skoal Showdown, it will be a great year.
good great itself rest run season separates special win
You run the whole season and then you run Indy, ... It's that special that it separates itself from the rest of the season. We're having a good year, but if we can win Indy, it will be a great year.
bring character cleaned coaching college couple decided demand guys last learn lives move season seven six towards
So from the 2003 season to the 2004 season we cleaned house. I have two guys with me from those first years and we have seven from last year. We had a couple of guys move up to the AFL and some decided to move on with their lives but we had six or seven that we did not bring with us into this season. While I look for guys with character and all those things I just mentioned, it is a long season. Most guys are use to a 10-week season in college and we play sixteen. Some guys taper down towards the end of the season. That was something we couldn't see in guys when we recruited. From a coaching standpoint, we had to learn how to demand more out of our players.