Jimmie Johnson helmet paint scheme inspirational in quest for title No. 7

For the past six weeks, Jimmie Johnson has been wearing a helmet with an unmistakable message on the back. The blue Lowe’s helmet has a picture of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the left rear and an image of Richard Petty on the right.

In the middle, it reads: Chasing 7.

Johnson’s chance to put himself alongside Earnhardt and Petty as NASCAR’s greatest champions arrives Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and he’s not exactly shying away from the potential history.

“I want to do it,” Johnson said recently. “The desire to accomplish it is very intense and very real.”

But the Hendrick Motorsports driver said it’s not necessarily about the number of championships alone. More than anything, he said, it’s a carrot for him to chase.

He’s already won more than he ever dreamed, so he’s had to keep raising the bar to pursue new goals. This is only the latest.

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“The fact I have Richard and Dale’s faces on my helmet is one, respect to them, and two, just to put a target on something,” Johnson said. “That’s the goal. That’s what I want to do.”

Crew chief Chad Knaus was surprised when he walked into the garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway and saw the helmet sitting atop the No. 48 car before practice. Before that, he didn’t know anything about it.

“I don't know if he kept it from me intentionally or not, but when the first one showed up … I was like, ‘Oh, boy,’ ” Knaus said Wednesday. “Everybody has different things in their mind that gets them going in the morning or continues to motivate them throughout the course of the day. I think it's not only a motivation for him to have that stuff on his helmet, I also think it's a show of respect to the people that he is chasing.”

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Johnson acknowledged the motivation level of going after his seventh title, but said it’s “not making me dig any deeper” because he’s already still performing at his highest level each week. That hasn’t changed through the years, and it doesn’t seem like it will any time soon.

“That’s why I still know I’m going to race for a long time,” the 41-year-old said. “It’s not like I’m trying to get to something so I can stop, that I’m getting to the peak of whatever it is and then I’m good. It’s more of a target where I want something to focus on.”

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