“Of all of them, this is probably the best.” That is what Johnny O’Connell had to say about winning the 2014 Driver’s Championship in the Pirelli World Challenge for Cadillac.
Johnny is a multiple championship winner in his long career. In fact this was his tenth Championship, with seven of those coming since joining with GM in 2001, so the above statement is pretty significant.
“We simply didn’t have an equal car with the rest of the field. Because of that, we had to perform flawlessly. For me, every lap was at the limit. There simply was no room for anything else. Because of this, this has probably been the most enjoyable season I’ve had racing. But that said, winning the manufacturers championship is the most important thing – we as a team wanted to take that championship too.”
“This Cadillac team simply operates at a high level, every single person is as important as the next. There are no egos. It is a team in the greatest way possible. I’ve got to give credit to Steve Cole (Team Technical Director). He has brought in the right people and led them in the right way.”
Another reason for success is Johnny’s relationship with his Engineer, John Lankes. “He really is in my head. Our communication has become quite special. I have no need to tell him what the car needs. I tell him what the car is doing and he knows what I’m talking about. Some of this is possible because I took him through the Bondurant Driving School, where he learned what it is like to be in the driver’s seat. Now when I say the car is doing something, he understands perfectly what I’m talking about. It has been a huge advantage for us.”
Anybody that knows Johnny realizes he is very motivated. He is likely one of the most motivated in the sport and you have to be motivated to be winning championships when you are 52 years old. “I’ve studied guys and see that as they age, they fail because their motivation is gone. They’re not hungry for success any longer and the results show that.
For some time, Johnny was bitter at being let go from Corvette Racing, as feels that he would still be competitive, but those days are gone now. He no longer feels he has to prove anything. “I used to use that as motivation, to show that I still had what it takes, but that is now in the past. I now have other things to motivate me. I’m happy with what I was able to accomplish while racing with them. I’ve been honored for my accomplishments racing the Corvettes and I’d always thought that I’d be remembered for that, but now I’m beginning to think that after my career is over, I may be more remembered for my accomplishments while racing for Cadillac.”
But this season, Johnny had some extra motivation, he felt the BOP really put he and teammate Andy Pilgrim at a huge disadvantage throughout the season. “I’m as hungry as ever, but the actions taken this season made me even more hungry and even angry. This caused me to dig even deeper to stay on top. There isn’t a day that I don’t think of former competitor and friend Jeff Krosnoff. He was always saying ‘stay hungry’ and I’ve tried to heed his advice.”
Johnny has been around long enough to have raced in the pre-BOP era, where it was up to the team to make the best and fastest car possible and not to get help from the rules makers to catch up to the rest. And he is not really sure it improves the show at all. “I think the advent of all of the drivers aids, traction control, ABS, etc… put us on that road. Back then, you could tell who could drive better. It was easily visible. I don’t think the game of BOP improves the sport at all, in fact I think it cheapens the show. Think back to Mark Donahue and his unfair advantage. You can’t have that now. If you work hard and create yourself an unfair advantage it will simply be taken away.”
“In the case of where we are now, I think the BOP is simply in place to create a show. I had a pretty good lead in the points, but after Road America, where we were a second a lap slower than the competitors, we were handed a 130 pound weight penalty. We were the fastest cars at Long Beach and at Detroit, but we were clearly off the pace elsewhere. In fact our only two poles were at Long Beach and Detroit. At most of the other races we’d qualify somewhere between 6th and 10th, but still work our way to the podium and then eventually we’d still win the championship. That’s doing your job right.”
“The way it felt this season was that we had a big lead and things needed to be done to bring the championship down to the wire. I sometimes wonder if it might be better to go away from the BOP and go back to the “rewards” program, where ballast is added to the car based upon your level of success. Call it the anti-political BOP.”
But even with those complaints, Johnny is quite pleased to be racing in the Pirelli World Challenge. “It is the best racing and the most fun I’ve had in racing for quite some time. The series is growing and on the right path. Bringing in more factory efforts will do nothing but raise the visibility and presence of the series in the sport of auto racing.”
While Johnny is quite satisfied with racing in the World Challenge, he feels he has some unfinished business. He has a burning to get back to Le Mans. “I consider Le Mans unfinished business. I’ve raced there 14 times and I’ve got the most wins (4) and the most podiums (9) of any other US driver. The record I don’t have is the most appearances at Le Mans. Masten Gregory raced there 16 times and I want to top that.”
He realizes that he’ll have to do it away from Corvette Racing, so he’ll have to find another way to get back to the 24 hour race. “There are options out there and I’m working on things. Whatever I end up with, it will have to be with GM’s blessings.”
Maybe for a day or two, Johnny will allow himself to enjoy yet another championship, but you can be sure that won’t be for long. Johnny is motived to stay on top and there will be additional challenges coming his way next season – that is for sure. As always, he’ll “stay hungry.”
