A rare foray into the Craftsman Truck Series provided a new view for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson. He discovered how the level of respect has wildly changed over the decades.
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Back when Johnson was a young buck, he learned some lessons from the NASCAR veterans. He learned how to balance aggressiveness with restraint in order to maximize his day.
But he didn't see these lessons in play on Friday while battling Truck Series drivers on Naval Base Coronado.
"When I came in it was the era of pointing people by, and I got my butt chewed by numerous guys, even in the Busch Series, that I raced them too hard," Johnson said on Saturday morning. "And I was like, 'Really? I'm here to race.'
"But as time went on, I realized that when I was going forward and had a chance to pass them, they could make life really tough on me and if you were respectful of one another and just work together.
"That's completely out the window now. I think stage racing and all of these other elements where the car performance and air disadvantage, you can defend a lot more and it's kind of created this culture."
As Johnson noted this culture of crashing has brought attention to the sport. He wants eyeballs on the racing, which helps the sport stay healthy. Yet, he also doesn't want drivers tearing up equipment at such a pace.
This chaos is a two-edged sword, which he experienced firsthand during the second and third stages of Friday night's Truck Series race. It created exciting moments for those watching, but it made for an unpleasant experience behind the wheel.
The interesting part for Johnson is that the approach of the drivers varied depending on track position.
"I just couldn't believe the disrespect that everybody had from the jump," Johnson added. "I mean, just gouging each other nonstop and I was up at the front racing away and we were pointing each other by and I was like, 'This is old school Cup, this makes sense.'
"The way the fuel cycle worked out, I entered mid pack, and I look around and I saw these trucks all twisted up, and I thought (they) had hit the wall. And I guess maybe some did, but it was all from bashing into one another on the track.
"And then I got turned around twice, just last-second lunges into areas that nobody should have been. So, it is what it is. When I look at my Instagram feed or my Twitter feed and see the local short tracks and behavior there, man it's just wild."
But while Johnson dealt with the chaos on Friday, it didn't dissuade him from potentially doing more Truck Series starts. He said that he had "so much fun" during the race, so he would be open to more.
He would just have to prepare for even more chaos while racing an entirely different generation of drivers.
