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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Chase Bio — Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson is seeking his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup title...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 10, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson usually saves his best for the Chase. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
JIMMIE JOHNSON, Hendrick Motorsports
Points position: 7th
2010 season: 5 wins, 9 top-fives, 13 top-10s
Defining moment: Spring Bristol race

Every year is the year Jimmie Johnson is going to finally surrender the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Except he never does, which makes for an exceptionally intriguing story line this time around, because he truly does seem vulnerable this time around.

PHOTOS: 2010 Chase Contenders - Jimmie Johnson

On the plus side of the ledger for Johnson, he already has 50 bonus points earned for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ties him with Denny Hamlin for the most among the 12 Chase drivers. Johnson’s worst-case scenario is he leaves Richmond International Raceway 10 points behind Hamlin, but still ahead of the other 10 Chase drivers.

Sprint Cup Chase Driver Bios

And let’s overlook for a moment Johnson’s already well-known career records: In eight prior full-time Sprint Cup seasons, Johnson has four consecutive championships, two runner-up finishes and two fifth places. To go through eight seasons like that is nothing short of amazing.

In fact, it’s safe to say that Johnson is the best closer in NASCAR history, having won 18 of the 60 Chase races run to date, a winning percentage of 30 percent.

Johnson also conquered two of his biggest demons this year, winning for the first time at both Bristol Motor Speedway and on a road course, at Infineon Raceway.
PHOTOS: 2010 Chase Contenders - Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet. (Photo: Getty Images)

On the debit side of the ledger, Johnson has been running extremely poorly of late. He was third at Atlanta last weekend, but his prior seven finishes were 35th, 12th, 28th, 10th, 22nd, 25th and 31st.

So which Johnson will show up over the final 10 races of the year, the lethal closer or the guy who struggled through the summer? That, right now, is the biggest question in NASCAR.

“You have a lot of teams getting their stuff right just in time for the Chase to start,” said Johnson. “There (are) a lot of unknowns. We aren’t where we want to be yet, but we’ve been in this position before in years past and gone into the Chase looking for a little bit of speed and we’ve found it, so I’m not too concerned with where we are. I think it’s going to be exciting. You’ve got Jeff (Gordon) who has been real consistent, you’ve got Roush cars coming back, you’ve got all three RCR cars showing a lot of speed, and Gibbs cars ... I think it’s going to be a very interesting Chase.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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