But the two-time NASCAR champion was one of the many drivers to struggle with Darlington's repaved surface, which is smooth and speedy and caused Johnson to wreck twice during Friday's two practice sessions.
"I really have no idea what happened," said Johnson, a two-time Darlington winner. "I guess it's a combination of the track, the tires and this car, and I have a feeling my wreck was one of many we're going to see Saturday night."
Based on the first two days of action, Johnson probably is right. He went to a backup car after smacking the wall on the third lap of Friday morning's session, then had to change the splitter on his second car after his second accident.
Reed Sorenson spun in the first session and wrecked in the second, as did Paul Menard and Robby Gordon.
"I think if you look through the garage, there's more cars that have hit the wall then not, and I'm in that category -- I hit it twice," said Kevin Harvick.
It's set the stage for what could be an interesting race Saturday night on the egg-shaped, 1.366-mile superspeedway.
Darlington officials spent about $7 million to repave the surface late last year, and the trick was keeping intact the quirky characteristics of the track "Too Tough to Tame." One of the most difficult tracks on the NASCAR circuit, Darlington remains a throwback because it has stayed true to Harold Brasington's 1949 design despite the move toward identical 1.5-mile tracks that currently crowd the schedule.
Track officials succeeded in leaving the layout intact, but the new asphalt smoothed out the trademark -- but pesky -- bumps that drove drivers nuts and gave all of them their fair share of "Darlington Stripes."
In the process, though, the track became scary fast because of the tremendous grip on the new surface, and Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman hit speeds faster than 200 mph along the backstretch during a March tire test.
Goodyear brought a very hard compound it expects to withstand the speeds. The tires are slick until drivers can generate enough heat in them, which likely takes several laps and should make the rubber last much longer than usual.
That could put an extra emphasis on strategy instead of driver talent.
Although Jeff Gordon, a seven-time Darlington winner, has raved about the repave, he wonders what kind of race fans will see Saturday night.
"It's going to be a tough race," the four-time series champion said. "I think this is going to be an exciting race, but I think it's going to come down to crew chiefs making very, very good decisions in the pits about how many tires to take, not taking tires and getting track position.
"The track is very fast, the tire is very hard and the groove is very narrow. So I think that we're going to see a great race, but it's not going to be a lot of passing."
That seemed to be the overall agreement Friday, although Harvick thought the race would "definitely be made-for-TV, exciting and fun to watch."
Although he concedes passing will be difficult, Harvick believes many drivers will struggle to find the proper balance of managing the speeds, maneuvering the narrow line and keeping all four wheels on the smooth surface.
"You are just right on the edge, and when you go over the edge, there's no warning. It just goes," Harvick said. "That's just the hard tire and the new race track and the high speeds, and it's magnified at this place because you run right against the wall. It's going to be all about track position and keeping yourself out of trouble."
Not everyone is thrilled with the repave.
After NASCAR opened the track Thursday for the Cup Series to run a pair of practice sessions, Carl Edwards said he felt like wearing all black when he returned on Friday.
"I felt like we were going to have a funeral because we killed my favorite race track," he said. "I was really frustrated. But the surface is growing on me and our car is actually getting pretty fast, so I'm feeling better about it."
Mark Martin, frustrated with a lack of tire wear, wasn't warming up to the changes.
"It makes you sick to your stomach to think about what you have to do here with the new pavement versus the old," Martin said. "I don't think there's any driver that probably wouldn't trade back for the old stuff right now."
That included Denny Hamlin, who scored a pair of top-10s in his only two Darlington starts but worries the new surface will make it difficult for drivers to stay off the wall.
"With the surface the way it is and the hard tire that we have, if you get sideways, it's going to be very hard to recover," Hamlin said. "When you're running right up against the way, there's really just no room for error. You've really got to stay on your toes at all times.
"It's going to be interesting to see how many crashes there are with guys trying to run side by side."
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