SPORTS
Saturday, April 21, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Jimmie Johnson has long career ahead to sell to sponsors
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
Jimmie Johnson has a repu-
tation as a bland and boring
NASCAR champion, a guy
who loves his ice cream
the same way he presents
himself — plain and vanilla.
The reputation was earned
through his workmanlike
approach while winning five
straight NASCAR titles.
Boring he is not.
Johnson’s commitment
to excellence in everything
he does makes him not just
one of the greatest drivers in
NASCAR history but also
one of the most well-rounded
and interesting athletes in
the world. Now he gets to
show that because Lowe’s
is leaving the sport after 18
years as the only Cup Series
sponsor Johnson has ever
had.
Eighty-three victories in
that Lowes-branded No. 48
Chevrolet.
All those titles. A unique
sportsman for Hendrick
Motorsports to sell.
And Johnson believes
he is more than just a driver
looking for a new paint
scheme that can be auctioned
off to the highest bidder.
At 42, Johnson is still a
top driver and adamant that
retirement is nowhere on
his radar. Yet the statistics
and history of NASCAR
are clear: The twilight of his
career has arrived and he’s
got to sell something besides
winning.
“I think for this seller’s
market, clearly someone has
a golden opportunity to close
out with me,” Johnson said
during an interview with The
Associated Press.
Johnson doesn’t know
when that is, but he does
have a grand plan that
Truex claims
pole at Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr.
won the pole Friday for the NASCAR Cup Series
race Saturday at Richmond Raceway, edging
Chase Elliott.
The pole is the series-best third of the season
for Truex, the 18th of his career and his first at the
0.75-mile oval.
It’s also a nice turnaround after finishing 37th
and 30th in the past two races. Before that, he’d
had five straight top-five finishes.
Truex’s winning lap came at 123.859 mph.
Defending race winner Joey Logano will start
third, followed by Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch,
seeking his third consecutive victory in the series,
made a miscalculation during the opening round
of qualifying, making only two laps and thinking
it would be enough. It wasn’t, and he finished 31st
in the round.
Busch isn’t the only prominent name starting
in the back half of the field. Brad Keselowski will
start 28th and Kasey Kahne 29th.
Saturday’s race is expected to start at 3:30 p.m.
and will be televised on FOX.
AP Photo/AJ Mast
In this July 26, 2015, file photo, Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) runs
to his car before the NASCAR Brickyard 400 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speed-
way in Indianapolis. Johnson’s alarm clock beeps at 4:30 a.m. His wife and two
daughters are still sleeping. So are his fellow NASCAR drivers.
could include everything
from driving Le Mans and
the Rolex 24 at Daytona
to competitive mountain
biking — anything that
allows the California son of
two working parents to chase
his desire to win and avoid
retirement.
“I know I can’t turn off
the competition,” he said. “I
don’t think I’ve ever been
more motivated; I don’t think
I’ve ever wanted anything
more. I want to race and I
want to win and I want to
do that for a very long time.
Me being selfish about what
I want to do, the next sponsor
transitions with me.”
Johnson has matured
from the rookie who did
the things young men just
becoming famous sometimes
do. Like the time he broke
his wrist but lied about how
it happened so he didn’t have
to tell Lowe’s or team owner
Rick Hendrick he was surfing
on top of a golf cart during
a rowdy outing with his
friends. He still has fun, but
now he runs triathlons, takes
team members mountain
biking in the woods and will
do anything to get a workout
in.
Alas, he is mired in the
longest losing streak of
his Cup career: 31 races
stretching back almost a year.
He turns 43 in September
and has two years remaining
on his Hendrick contract;
there might be another short
NASCAR contract after that.
“I’ve got a handful of
years in Cup,” he said,
leaving himself wiggle room
regarding just how many. “If
we can find the right sponsor
to transition from full-time
NASCAR ... I mean, I can’t
stop racing. I’m always going
to be racing something. I’m
going to step down from the
NASCAR merry-go-round
at some point, but I’ve got a
bucket list.”
Johnson got to thinking
after a chance encounter
in January with two-time
Formula One champion
Fernando Alonso, who is on a
quest to race in the top events
around the world. Alonso
entered the Indianapolis 500
last year, led laps, but failed
to finish after his engine blew.
What about the Indianap-
olis 500, the race he most
admired as a child but has
been barred from racing by
his wife?
“I like those halos in
Formula One. Those could
get me a little closer to that
race,” Johnson said.
For now, Johnson remains
firmly committed to himself
and pursuit of a record eighth
championship.
But he knows what he is
up against.
There has been a total
rebuild at Hendrick Motor-
sports and Chevrolet rolled
out a new Camaro. Johnson
blames neither the car nor his
young new teammates for his
struggles. He has used this
period to take on a bigger role
and fill the shoes of four-time
champion Jeff Gordon.
Johnson sought help
from former NFL player
Leonard Wheeler, who is
now a performance coach,
and he learned how to better
communicate with crew chief
Chad Knaus.
“I’m one that clams up and
gets quiet when things get
tough, and Chad can make
things tough,” Johnson said.
“I found that the team doesn’t
need me to be quiet and the
team suffers from it, so I’ve
made some huge strides in
growth in that department.”
A swimmer, diver and
water polo player in high
school, Johnson realized he
did best in a locker-room
environment, which doesn’t
exist in racing. He has
learned to recognize what
triggers Knaus and come to
understand how to confront
each issue.
At the end of last season,
he said, he was so shut down
that he and Knaus were not
discussing problems. Crew
members began whispering
about friction and “it was just
toxic,” Johnson said.
“I know I am going to
flourish and do a better job
and be who I need to be in
that type of (locker-room)
environment, so I am going
to create it,” Johnson said.
Roundup: Echo softball thumps Umatilla with 23 hits, 35 runs in DH
Continued from 1B
while tallying eight strike-
outs. Adrian Roa pitched a
perfect seventh for the save.
Lino Covarrubia led
the Knights with two hits
including a home run, while
Johnny Phillips had two hits
with a double and Keith
Fleming had a double.
The Knights’ pitching
didn’t fare as well in Game
2, as five different pitchers
combined to walk 15 batters
and allow five hits with
12 runs. The defense also
recorded a whopping eight
errors.
Covarrubia was the team’s
only multi-hit performance
going 2-for-3.
————
Game 1
R H E
BHS
000 200
0 — 2 6 0
IHS
001 022 X — 5 7 1
(B) Tiller, L. Bailey (6). (I) Z. Henrichs, A.
Roa (7). W — Henrichs, L — Tiller.
2B — Case (BHS); K. Fleming, J. Phillips
(IHS). HR — L. Covarrubia (IHS).
Game 2
R H E
BHS
253 011 — 12 5 0
IHS
010 010 —
2 6 8
(B) Z. Bailey, Winn (2). (I) L. Covarrubia,
B. Harrington (1), M. Moreno (2), J. Phillips
(4), A. Roa (5). W — Winn, L — Harrington.
2B — T. Case, Winn (BHS).
VALE 8-11, UMATILLA
4-8 — At Umatilla, the home
Vikings fought hard but just
didn’t have enough to take
down the Vale Vikings on
Friday afternoon, losing a
doubleheader 8-4 and 11-8.
Seth Cranston and Andrew
Wilson each had three hits
on the day to lead Umatilla
(5-7 overall, 1-6 Eastern
Oregon League), while Noah
Holford had two hits with a
double, Uriel Garcia had two
hits with a double and two
RBI and Cody Samson had
two hits with a triple and two
RBI.
Kole Keller pitched seven
strong innings in Game 1,
allowing nine hits with eight
runs (three earned) and eight
strikeouts. Cody Samson
pitched a complete game in
Game 2.
Keegan Mizuta hit a triple
and a grand slam home run to
lead Vale (8-6, 6-1).
————
Game 1
R H E
VHS
100 221
2 — 8 9 1
UHS
010 000
3 — 4 7 6
(V) M. McBride, K. Mizuta (7). (U) K.
Keller. W — McBride, L — Keller.
2B — S. Cranston, N. Holford (UHS). 3B
— K. Mizuta (VHS).
Game 2
R H E
VHS
005 303
0 — 11 11 1
UHS
060 002
0 — 8 7 3
(V) K. Brown, C. Kesey (6). (U) C. Samson.
W — Brown, L — Samson.
2B — U. Garcia (UHS). 3B — C. Samson
(UHS). HR — K. Mizuta (VHS).
SOFTBALL
RIVERSIDE
4-5,
WESTON-MCEWEN
3-1 — At Boardman, the
Riverside Pirates notched
their first league victories
of the season by sweeping
Weston-McEwen 4-3 and
7-2 on Friday.
In Game 1, the Pirates
(5-5 overall, 2-1 Special
District 1) trailed the Tiger-
Scots (2-10, 1-3) 3-2 in the
bottom of the seventh before
it got a rally going. Skylar
Wightman was hit by a pitch
and then JoJo Hernandez and
Ray Elliott each singled to
load the bases. Next, Megan
Hegar stepped to the plate
and delivered a single to right
field to score Wightman and
Hernandez to deliver the 4-3
win.
Hernandez, Elliot and
Hegar each had two hits in
the game for the Pirates, and
Wightman earned the win
with 10 strikeouts in seven
innings while allowing nine
hits and three runs.
Lilyan Duckett had two
hits for the TigerScots and
pitched a solid seven innings
allowing 11 hits and four
runs.
In Game 2, the Pirates
controlled from the start to
lead 5-0 after three innings.
Abby
Hernandez
and
Wightman each had three
hits to lead the Pirates, while
JoJo Hernandez had two hits
and Delmy Barrera had a
double. Tyree Burke led the
TigerScots with two hits.
Wightman also earned
the win for the Pirates and
punched out 11 batters while
allowing only four hits with
two runs.
————
Game 1
R H
W-M
000 101
1 — 3 9
RHS
000 020
2 — 4 11
W — S. Wightman, L — L. Duckett.
2B — J. Lambert (W-M).
E
0
0
Game 2
R H
W-M
000 110
0 — 2 4
RHS
203 200 X — 7 10
W — S. Wightman, L — S. Walter.
2B — A. Hernandez, S. Wightman, D.
Barrera (RHS).
E
1
4
ECHO
19-16,
UMATILLA 1-1 — At
Umatilla, the Echo Cougars
tallied 23 hits and scored 35
runs as they thumped the
Umatilla Vikings in a league
Mariners: Hernandez gave up four
hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings
Continued from 1B
Kela hadn’t given up a run
in his first six appearances
covering 5 1/3 innings. The
hard-throwing right-hander
fell behind all four hitters, and
three of the four runs in the
ninth were charged to him.
“Coming in a 2-2 game,
I nitpicked a little bit,” Kela
said. “I was trying to make
the best pitch instead of
just focus on making the
most quality pitch that I
could. I guess I could say
that I’m glad I got it out of
the way now. I take this as a
learning step.”
Nomar Mazara hit a
tying single and scored the
go-ahead run on a fielder’s
choice by Ronald Guzman in
the sixth for Texas.
Felix Hernandez gave
up four hits and two runs in
5 1/3 innings, leaving after
hitting friend and former
teammate Adrian Beltre with
a pitch following Mazara’s
tying hit.
Texas lefty Mike Minor,
trying to become the first
pitcher in the 24-year
history of the Rangers’ home
ballpark with three straight
starts allowing three hits or
less, gave up six hits and a
run in 5 1/3 innings with six
strikeouts.
doubleheader on Friday.
The
Cougars
(11-2
overall, 6-0 Special District
1) were led by dazzling starts
by pitchers Alyssa Ray and
Kendra Hart. Ray threw five
innings and struck out seven
while allowing two hits and
one run in Game 1, and Hart
struck out 10 in five innings
with four hits and one run
allowed in Game 2.
Hart was the team’s top
hitter with four hits, a home
run and a triple, two RBI and
six runs scored. Ray also had
four hits with six RBI, while
Alex Putman homered and
Monique Montoya tallied
three hits with three RBI.
Charlene Alvarez and
Stephanie Griggs each had
two hits to lead the Vikings
(0-9, 0-5)
————
Game 1
R H E
EHS
673 12 — 19 10 2
UHS
000 10 —
1 2 6
(E) A. Ray and A. Putman. (U) K. Holz, B.
Martinez (3), Gabriella Rodarte (5). W —
Ray, L — Holz.
2B — K. perkins, A. Putman (EHS). 3B —
K. Hart (EHS).
Game 2
R H E
EHS
534 40 — 16 13 1
UHS
000 01 —
1 4 5
(E) K. Hart and A. Putman. (U) P. Picker, K.
Holz (2). W — Hart, L — Picker.
2B — L. Keltz, M. Montoya (EHS); C.
Alvarez (UHS). HR — K. Hart, A. Putman
(EHS).
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