NASCAR notebook

Johnson isn't buying the argument.

“Well I know that I'm not the reason for those things, and I sure as [expletive] know I'm not vanilla,” he said at Charlotte last week. “I think it takes anybody some time to get comfortable in their shoes and their sport. I went from being like a C-level driver in Nationwide ... to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, and at the end of the day I want to be a professional and do my job. ... It's unfortunate that it still lingers around because I think I've done plenty to show that I'm far from vanilla.”

And he said he’s getting more comfortable in his role as a superstar. Johnson said he initially had to come across as a squeaky clean all-American because that was one of the tools he used to attract the backing needed to advance his career in motorsports.

“When I come to the track I just want to make sure I'm doing my best job and representing my sponsors,” he said. “I think I'm finding a better balance of that. And from the success that we've had, it's just unfair to put it on a driver's success.”

He pointed to the economy and the high costs of attending races for waning interest.

“There are a lot of conversations about the prices being too high for hotel rooms,” he said. “The tracks have worked very hard to get their price point down, and that hasn't really moved the needle all that much.”

He also defended the TV coverage.

“We have an amazing television package, and people aren't tuning in to watch,” he said. “We don't know why. And it's not just our sport, it's all sports and it's all television. It's not me, and I know that. So I just kind of chuckle about it, and if people want to spend time talking about it they can."

Johnson finished third in Saturday’s Bank of America 500, overcoming an early race spin to pad his points lead.

The ratings came out Tuesday. The 500 earned a final national rating of 3.2, averaging 5,345,135 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. That was down from last year’s 3.5 rating.

Title vengeance

Brad Keselowski, wrecked by Carl Edwards in the most recent Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway, could get revenge this weekend. He carries a 450-point lead over Edwards into this weekend's race and can win the title if he can add 33 points to his lead. He simply will need to start the three remaining races.

Keselowski heads to Gateway after a victory at Charlotte. It was the 11th of his career and his fifth of the season to go with five poles, 22 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes.

Edwards has two victories, 16 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes and with two poles.

Kyle Busch is third in the standings, 61 points behind Edwards, but will race his truck at Martinsville this weekend instead of traveling to Gateway for the Nationwide race.