CUP: Johnson Ready For Prime Time

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Ready For Prime Time

Jimmie Johnson has finished 15th or better in 27 consecutive Chase races...

Tom Jensen | Posted September 25, 2009 Dover, DE

Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jimmie Johnson, crew chiefs Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are gamers. Cash money.

The bigger the game, the higher the stakes, the better this team is. And this is their time of year. The statistics are irrefutable:

• Johnson has won three consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, one of only two drivers to do so in NASCAR’s 62-year history.

• He’s the only driver to make all six Chases.

• Johnson has finished in the top 15 for 27 consecutive Chase races.

• He has won at every Chase track except Homestead-Miami Speedway, where his best finish is second.

• In seven full seasons in Sprint Cup, Johnson has finished first in points three times, second twice and fifth twice. And he’s posted those results with the old pre-Chase scoring rules and with two different Chase formats; and he’s done it with the old car, the car of tomorrow and both in the same season.

So now that the 2009 edition of the Chase is here, it’s hardly surprising that Johnson already is second in points, trailing only his Hendrick teammate Mark Martin by a mere 35 points.

Nor is it surprising that Johnson claimed the pole and topped the speed charts in the first round of practice for the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, the very same track where he led 298 of 400 laps in winning back in May. And if Johnson can stay hot this weekend and score another strong finish, he can turn the heat up on his fellow Chasers.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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