RELATED: Johnson loses lead at Dover after costly pit road penalty
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Despite a cumulative 208 laps led throughout the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's first three races, Jimmie Johnson remains frustratingly winless thanks to a string of costly mistakes during the playoff's first round.
To be more precise, pit road mistakes.
Albeit frustrating, it has been highly motivating.
The Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway saw the dominant No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet atop the leaderboard for 118 circuits -- a race high -- in the 270-lap event. A pit road speeding penalty changed everything, though, preventing "Six-Time" from reaching Victory Lane.
During the race, Johnson could be heard bellowing "No! No!" on the team radio when he learned of the penalty. After rallying to a disappointing 12th-place finish, Johnson admitted post-race that he was "dumbfounded" by the penalty.
Fast forward to two weeks later at Dover International Speedway, Johnson again served a pass-through after NASCAR tagged the team with having crew members over the wall too soon. Following the gaffe, Johnson -- who had led for 90 laps -- ended the day eighth.
Chris Krieg, head coach of the Nos. 48 and 88 pit crew teams, has refused to let these playoff errors lessen the morale of his championship-contending team.
"In athletics you're going to have negative things happen and you have the ability to either stand back up and put your chin up and get 'em next time or you can choose to go in the corner and run from it," an upbeat Krieg said Wednesday at the Nos. 48 and 88 shop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Our guys are standing up and they're working harder than they ever had. And we will absolutely bounce back."
Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the team's chance to put the hard work to practice at a track where Johnson has collected seven wins.
"Our goal is just to be consistent and give our car and our driver the best ability to finish a race well and win a race," Krieg said. "(We want to) go out there and be consistent and clean and smooth and if we can do that, we'll have a good ending to the race."
Wednesday, Krieg also welcomed five new pit crew members during Hendrick's second-annual pit crew signing day. The group joining the four-car organization are: TJ Semke, Mason Harris, Austin Holland, Timmy Hall and Dylan Intemann.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Despite a cumulative 208 laps led throughout the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's first three races, Jimmie Johnson remains frustratingly winless thanks to a string of costly mistakes during the playoff's first round.
To be more precise, pit road mistakes.
Albeit frustrating, it has been highly motivating.
The Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway saw the dominant No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet atop the leaderboard for 118 circuits -- a race high -- in the 270-lap event. A pit road speeding penalty changed everything, though, preventing "Six-Time" from reaching Victory Lane.
During the race, Johnson could be heard bellowing "No! No!" on the team radio when he learned of the penalty. After rallying to a disappointing 12th-place finish, Johnson admitted post-race that he was "dumbfounded" by the penalty.
Fast forward to two weeks later at Dover International Speedway, Johnson again served a pass-through after NASCAR tagged the team with having crew members over the wall too soon. Following the gaffe, Johnson -- who had led for 90 laps -- ended the day eighth.
Chris Krieg, head coach of the Nos. 48 and 88 pit crew teams, has refused to let these playoff errors lessen the morale of his championship-contending team.
"In athletics you're going to have negative things happen and you have the ability to either stand back up and put your chin up and get 'em next time or you can choose to go in the corner and run from it," an upbeat Krieg said Wednesday at the Nos. 48 and 88 shop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Our guys are standing up and they're working harder than they ever had. And we will absolutely bounce back."
Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the team's chance to put the hard work to practice at a track where Johnson has collected seven wins.
"Our goal is just to be consistent and give our car and our driver the best ability to finish a race well and win a race," Krieg said. "(We want to) go out there and be consistent and clean and smooth and if we can do that, we'll have a good ending to the race."
Wednesday, Krieg also welcomed five new pit crew members during Hendrick's second-annual pit crew signing day. The group joining the four-car organization are: TJ Semke, Mason Harris, Austin Holland, Timmy Hall and Dylan Intemann.
