Jimmie Johnson's helmet delivers his message: Chasing 7

Jimmie Johnson had a playful moment with FOX Sports analyst Larry McReynolds on Sunday’s ‘RaceDay’ show on FS1, hinting in the end that maybe, just maybe, he and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are more focused on earning a record-tying seventh NASCAR Premier Series championship than they’ve been letting on.

McReynolds noted that Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, had in an interview last week quickly dismissed the notion that the team is focused on earning the record-tying title.

“Look, we don’t think about it. We don’t talk about it. We don’t dwell on it,” said Knaus, according to McReynolds.

McReynolds, a former crew chief himself, then noted that he had caught a glimpse of Johnson’s helmet for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, which had a very interesting design.

On the back of it, on one side a slogan read “Chasing 7” with a photo of the late Dale Earnhardt and on the other was one of Richard Petty, the two drivers who are currently tied with the most titles of all time with seven apiece.

“Are you on the same page as your crew chief?” McReynolds asked of Johnson.

“Well, you know from being on a race team that you might put out a different message than what’s going on inside the walls of your race team,” replied Johnson, chuckling a little. “But to back Chad up, for sure, we’re not focused on looking at (the Championship 4, season-ending race at) Homestead. We’re looking at today.”

Johnson's helmet appeared to tell a little bit of a different story.