No Reason For Johnson To Worry

No Reason For Johnson To Worry

Success, or lack thereof, comes in cycles, especially for Jimmie Johnson in 2014.

First, he started the season with a supposed championship hangover, failing to win any of the first 11 races – which matched his longest drought to start a season.

Then, he won. And won again. And after a minor “blip,” he won again. Three wins in four races, and all was right with the world once again.

But over the last two weeks, trouble has hunted down Johnson. In his entire NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Johnson has finished 40th or worse 11 times. Two of those have come in the last two races, thanks to consecutive DNFs that have allowed him to run only 31 of a possible 417 laps.

The last time he had consecutive DNFs was 2007, after back-to-back accidents at Chicagoland Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The last time he had three consecutive races with a DNF: 2004.

Don’t expect that to happen again, a decade later. His next stop is Indianapolis, where he sits atop the all-time wins list with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Statistically speaking, Johnson is ready to trend back upward.