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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Johnson Eyes Bristol Breakthrough
Jimmie Johnson needs one more win to reach a milestone...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 18, 2010   Bristol, TN
Bristol Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's Food City 500, is one of six tracks Jimmie Johnson has never won at. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
There aren’t many barriers in Jimmie Johnson’s path these days.

He’s won two of the first four races of the Sprint Cup season, and, until someone proves otherwise, he’s the favorite to win a fifth straight championship this year.

He is one victory from his landmark 50th career win.

It is notable, then, when Johnson stares at a hurdle, and he runs into one this week. In 16 races, he has never won at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson has failed to score a Sprint Cup win at only five other tracks – Michigan, Chicago, Watkins Glen, Homestead and Infineon. He has been in the top five at each of the six tracks, so, in some cases, it’s been a matter of not closing the deal.

At Bristol, he’s come close to winning, with three top fives and eight top 10s. He’s completed 98 percent of the laps run in his starts there, but he hasn’t found the magic to break through to victory lane.

“We're getting close winning at Bristol,” Johnson said. “It’s taken a lot for me as a driver to change my habits and the way I drive that race track. I’ve had to completely switch over to a different driving style. It was easy for us to look at what worked for the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) for so many years, but I just couldn’t make that work.

“I feel like in the fall race last year we had a really good shot at it (he finished eighth), but unfortunately a lugnut had hung up in the wheel and we couldn’t get the wheel to index back on the hub. If we didn’t have that hang up, I think we could have done it. I’m excited to look at our two chances at it this year and hopefully we can get it done.”

Part of Johnson’s difficulty at Bristol centers on qualifying. His average start is 16.6.

If he happens to solve Bristol Sunday and log win No. 50, he’ll join NASCAR legends Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett at that number and can target the next driver on the list – pioneer driver Lee Petty (54).

“I cannot say it enough that I definitely never dreamed of being in this position,” Johnson said. “To be here and living this is pretty damn cool, and weird, and amazing. I’m very proud of what I’ve done as a driver and very proud of what we’ve done as a team and how we’ve worked together over the years.

“The success we’ve had isn't because of any one person. It’s because of teamwork and people and lots of people and lots of hours, and it’s just an accumulation of things. To have so much go right for us in 300 starts; well, not necessarily go right for us because I feel we’ve created a lot of where we’re at today. So to have so many people working in the right direction and have their career paths peaking at the same point collectively as a group is pretty cool. And it doesn’t happen often in sports. And that’s why we’ve been fortunate to be in this position.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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