We all know the vast backlash that NASCAR’s Next-Gen car has received. Ranging from aerodynamic difficulties that omit passing to dwindling horsepower levels, this car commands a lot of hate. But how exactly were the older cars different? Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson dropped an answer to that question at Las Vegas. Following a 28th-place finish in yet another modern-day Cup Series race, Johnson felt nostalgic about his old runs.

Ironically, the Legacy Motor Club owner has been the strongest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Johnson fetched four race victories between 2005 and 2010. Most notably in 2006 where he led only the final lap after passing Matt Kenseth on a green-white-checkered restart. However, those golden days are long gone in the Next-Gen era – and Johnson is trying to pinpoint the reason.

Jimmie Johnson roots out ‘backdated’ habit

When the 7-time Cup Series winner announced his comeback plans in 2024, the NASCAR crowd waited with bated breath. Jimmie Johnson was expected to take the garage by storm again after he retired in 2020 but a lot had transpired amidst his four-year absence. The Next-Gen car debuted, caused severe wrecks, and underwent changes – but never escaped the critical radar. Drivers kept lobbying for more horsepower which NASCAR did not yield – so most of them got used to the car. However, Johnson still harbored his “old mentality” and struggled to keep up.

Jimmie Johnson finished either 28th or 29th in four of the five races he could finish. So expectations did not soar for the No. 84 LMC Toyota at the South Point 400. Johnson stuck to his 28th-place pattern and, post-race explained why he could not keep up with times. “We already make speed in this car for a long long time. Easy in, first one back to the gas – that mentality worked with the old-generation car. It’s not the case with this car. It’s a much different approach with corner entry, with a whole lot of throttle controlling the car in. Slowly getting the hang of that. It’s pretty amazing how sensitive your right foot is to control that.”

However, the Legacy Motor Club owner chose to see the glass as half-full. “We’re learning a lot, getting our car put together, getting our program together.” Meanwhile, Legacy driver Erik Jones suffered a similar fate, finishing 25th. But his teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, put up a strong run, slicing his way from 26th to a top-ten finish. Johnson lauded them: “Made a great run with the 42 car. The 43 car had some speed. And we weren’t doing too bad – just sadly missed a lucky dog scenario and got trapped out of a lap and could really never get it back. All in all, a decent run – excited to run in Phoenix in a couple of more weeks.”

Despite Johnson’s miserable 2024 run, he attained glory much like this year’s winner, albeit 14 years ago.

When Johnson made a pit gamble

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Joey Logano did not expect to see the trophy in his line of sight. The Charlotte Roval race saw the Team Penske driver ejected from the playoffs – but only for 3 hours. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman failed the post-race weight inspection and had to make way for Logano. But the South Point 400 race involved another high-stakes situation – on lap 195, the 22 Ford decided to make a final pit stop for fuel. That paved the way to victory as Logano beat Christopher Bell in a fuel mileage game. Similarly, Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 HMS team gambled on a four-tire pit stop with 37 laps to go in Las Vegas back in 2010.

Jeff Gordon led 219 laps, but his two-tire pit stop lost traction to Johnson’s four-tire strength. Johnson restarted third with 33 laps remaining and eventually overtook Gordon. The latter knew his HMS teammate would cook him: “I knew I was a sitting duck. It was a matter of time. I ran so hard trying to get his car to tighten up. I blocked him…did everything I could, but it took everything out of the right-front [tire].” he added, “It was a dominating performance. It’s very disappointing to get beat in a two- versus four-tire stop. We came here to win. We knew we had to take chances…thought more people would take two tires.”

Evidently, Jimmie Johnson had already lived Joey Logano’s jaw-dropping Las Vegas gamble. Johnsons’ maneuver saw him power towards his fifth consecutive Cup series championship with HMS in 2010. He remains the only driver to ever win five consecutive Cup series championships but will need to up his game if he wishes to get used to the Next-Gen car’s ways.