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A NASCAR BLOG BY Art Weinstein
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Don’t forget about Johnson
Aug
6
Kyle Busch will obviously enter the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup as the heavy favorite.
Two or three weeks ago, I would have agreed with that assessment. Now, I’m having serious doubts.
Busch is still top dog in the Sprint Cup standings, with a 176-point lead over second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., and with seven wins, he’ll start the Chase as the No. 1 seed (barring an explosion of wins by Carl Edwards in the next few weeks).
But as everyone has oohed and aahed week after week as Busch led tons of laps and piled up wins, Jimmie Johnson has been quietly going about his business. You may have heard of Johnson, the two-time defending series champion who is going for a record-tying third title in a row. Earlier this year, everyone was asking, “What’s wrong with Jimmie Johnson?”
In fact, there was nothing wrong with Johnson, but such were the standards Johnson set last year (10 wins and 20 top-fives), it was easy to think the wheels had fallen off the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Not true. In the past eight races, in which Kyle Busch has won three times, Johnson has outscored Busch in points by a wide margin, 1,215 to 1,009. Sure, Busch has had some problems during that time, including in both Pocono races, where he crashed in the first race and finished 43rd and then ran out of gas in the second race, turning a potential top-10 into a 36th-place finish.
But hey, Johnson’s had his woes this year, too. It’s part of the sport.
Meanwhile, in the past three races, Johnson finished second (Chicago), won at Indianapolis and was third at Pocono.
It’s worth noting that Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus seem to reach another performance level in the final 10 races of the year. From 2004 through last year, Johnson had a total of 27 victories. Eleven of those came during the Chase.
Busch has been phenomenal this year, but don’t forget about the man who has been the top driver in the sport the past six years and seems to be getting hot at just the right time.
Two or three weeks ago, I would have agreed with that assessment. Now, I’m having serious doubts.
Busch is still top dog in the Sprint Cup standings, with a 176-point lead over second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., and with seven wins, he’ll start the Chase as the No. 1 seed (barring an explosion of wins by Carl Edwards in the next few weeks).
But as everyone has oohed and aahed week after week as Busch led tons of laps and piled up wins, Jimmie Johnson has been quietly going about his business. You may have heard of Johnson, the two-time defending series champion who is going for a record-tying third title in a row. Earlier this year, everyone was asking, “What’s wrong with Jimmie Johnson?”
In fact, there was nothing wrong with Johnson, but such were the standards Johnson set last year (10 wins and 20 top-fives), it was easy to think the wheels had fallen off the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Not true. In the past eight races, in which Kyle Busch has won three times, Johnson has outscored Busch in points by a wide margin, 1,215 to 1,009. Sure, Busch has had some problems during that time, including in both Pocono races, where he crashed in the first race and finished 43rd and then ran out of gas in the second race, turning a potential top-10 into a 36th-place finish.
But hey, Johnson’s had his woes this year, too. It’s part of the sport.
Meanwhile, in the past three races, Johnson finished second (Chicago), won at Indianapolis and was third at Pocono.
It’s worth noting that Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus seem to reach another performance level in the final 10 races of the year. From 2004 through last year, Johnson had a total of 27 victories. Eleven of those came during the Chase.
Busch has been phenomenal this year, but don’t forget about the man who has been the top driver in the sport the past six years and seems to be getting hot at just the right time.
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Poll Position
Which NASCAR competitor should be Driver of the Year?
Comments
5 responses to "Don’t forget about Johnson"
Danny Thomas said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 3:07 PMIt will probably be a Hendrick or Gibbs driver who will win the Chase but my money is on Jr or Hamlin
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJulie Luoma said:
Aug 6, 2008 at 5:46 PMThe 48 team, probably better than any other team out there - knows how this Chase system works. Even the benefit of 40 or 50 bonus points over a ten race period means little. Those 26 races up to now? Only significant in making sure you're in the top 12 - apart from that, all bets are off. No one should be surprised to see the 48 team starting to wake up at this point in the season, with only a handful of races left till the start of the Chase. Anyone who considers Busch the championship favorite hasn't paid attention to the 48 for the last several years...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJoshua Rainier said:
Aug 7, 2008 at 2:27 PMJohnson is a sleeper. He and Knaus know that wins really don't mean as much as finishing in the top five. They have been trying things out and preparing for the chase while Kyle drives the wheels off his car week after week. Johnson will be there at the end just like the last 5 years. At Johnson isn't the only one with that mentality. Busch may find the competition steps up a bit at the start of the chase.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportalan Moody said:
Aug 19, 2008 at 7:24 AMand i thought everybody in nascar were just stupid it is good to see that some people know what is going on.......kyle is a time bomb.. we all know what happens to bombs.......THEY BLOW UP it will be fun to watch
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» Confirm Abuse Report4da88 said:
Aug 22, 2008 at 2:07 AMQuietly he has been on the move. Careful not to show his hand. He will have the car. JJ has made one mistake in racing KB and it cost him. I don't think he will let it happen again.
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