Jimmie Johnson ready to take flight at Phoenix
After a wreck and disappointing 38th-place finish last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and his entire No. 48 team have got to be breathing a sigh of relief as they head for Phoenix this weekend because Johnson's statistics at Phoenix International Raceway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are hard to ignore.
The three-time and defending Cup champion has three victories at the 1-mile track, the most of any active driver. What is equally impressive is his average finish of 5.4 at PIR.
Of all the tracks that Cup competes on, Phoenix is Johnson's second best when considering average finish, trailing only Martinsville Speedway, where he sports an average finish of 5.1.
In just 12 starts at Phoenix, Johnson has amassed seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. Teammate Mark Martin, who enters this weekend’s race trailing Johnson by 73 points in the Chase For The Sprint Cup, sports numbers that may even be a little better – two wins, 10 top-fives and 16 top-10s - but Martin has made 13 more starts at Phoenix than Johnson.
Johnson’s strong history at Phoenix has to give the team reason to hope for a better finish this time out.
