Johnson pleased with start to season

The Hendrick Motorsports driver crashed out of the season-opening Daytona 500, but he has already climbed up to fourth in the standings with a third place and a victory in the following races.

"We've got room to improve, but we are off to a decent start," said Johnson. "We're not exactly where we wanted to be, but we can't complain too much."

Johnson feels that he didn't have a strong enough package to repeat his Daytona 500 victory from last year, but he has been happy with the performance of his car at Fontana and Las Vegas.

"Performance-wise, Daytona was not what we wanted," he said. "But at California and Vegas we were real proud of how the car performed."

However, the reigning champion is already looking to the end of the season, when five of 10 races that make up the Chase for the championship will be contested with the new Car of Tomorrow.

"After our last downforce races, we know that we're doing the right things there, but what does the Car of Tomorrow hold for us?" he said.

"That's a big focus for us in making sure we're right there. There are a lot of Car of Tomorrow races in the Chase so we're really focused on that."