FYI WIRZ: NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar is often Johnson, Force and Franchitti

One race is hard enough to win in NASCAR, NHRA or IndyCar. Try 23 championships.

Drivers like Jimmie Johnson (five-time Sprint Cup champion), John Force (15-time Funny Car champion) and Dario Franchitti (three-time Indy Car Series champion) all belong to a very special club—many wins, multi-championships.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts its season a few weeks earlier than NHRA Full Throttle Racing Series. Both begin a month earlier than IZOD IndyCar Series. But as for the champions of the previous year, the momentum of the Big Win has an offseason much longer than sanctions. 

Preparation for championships is a year-round quest.

In an attempt to reveal the effect of momentum and repeat victories, Racetake.com asked Johnson, Force and Franchitti questions in various situations—teleconferences, one-on-one interviews and race venues—to gather not so common answers about racing success.
 
Prior to the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Franchitti was asked if the first race of the year means more than any other. His answer was simple. 

“No,” Franchitti said.

When Johnson was asked about momentum and consistency, his answer was telling.

“As a team and a driver, you can watch momentum carry a team or take a team down,” he said. “Consistency trends with that momentum. Don't know why. It's not a tangible object that you can touch and feel and see.

“I don't know what it is. It's there. We all want momentum working for us in the right direction, and that typically brings consistency or, to the point, that consistency brings momentum. I don't know the order in which, but I do know they both exist and I've experienced the good and the bad that go with it."

It’s sometimes tough to ask a question of publicly spirited John Force, as he tends to veer off topic to his present thoughts—often with very humorous results.  But he did share his opinion of what it’s like to be a champion. 
 
“Anybody with a dream,” Force said. “It’s really the journey to be a champion. Once you get there, you don’t know what the hell to do with yourself. Do it again.”

The always-entertaining Force is well accustomed to adoring fans, but he takes their attention very seriously. 

“It’s the win light, the cheers, the pay check and the trophy,” Force said. “That’s the four things you get. It’s the adrenaline that makes you hair stand up on the back of your neck. It’s a turn-on for me, the cheer of the crowd.” 

In a teleconference after winning his third championship, Dario Franchitti was candid about feeling the impact of the big moment.  

“We're celebrating this championship right now,” Franchitti said. “There's going to become a point here fairly soon, and I'm trying to hold it back, but there's going to come a point where I start thinking about next year's championship. I just want to enjoy this one a little first.

“I just feel I'm a driver who has been lucky enough to drive some great equipment and gotten the job done.”

Franchitti will attempt to bring his Target Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 IZOD IndyCar to victory lane during the Honda Grand Prix and beyond. He brings with him the momentum of the past.

Like Johnson and Force, he has known what winning means many times.  As for the future, the next race can be one more victory in a chosen journey.  

The checkered flag and the win-light await all.            

FYI WIRZ is the swift presentation of pertinent motorsports topics by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com. 

Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com